Erick Erickson is the international man of mystery with a “spiritual gift” that he does not take for granted.
“I’m just living life with [my audience] on the radio,” Erickson told Barrett Media.
He believes he’s the luckiest man in radio, and its not just because he loves his job. The former attorney fell into the media world by accident.
“I was a lawyer in Macon, Georgia. The local morning show host on the local Cumulus talk station got arrested and they needed a fill-in. I was doing some political commentary on CNN at the time and started the political site RedState.com. So they called and asked if I could try my hand at radio. I’d never done it.”
He tried it for a day then, “They wound up firing the guy [who got arrested]. I did it two more days, and [Cumulus] asked if I just keep coming back. So I did…for 3 months.”
His luck doesn’t end there. During his fill-in radio stint, “The president of Cox Media Group was driving through Macon, Georgia, on his way to Disney World. Heard [me, and] thought it was my show. He liked what he heard.”
Looking for a replacement for Herman Cain, Cox asked “Rush Limbaugh and several others who were all friends, and they vouched for me and said I was a radio guy, even though I’d never done radio before and the rest is history. It’s now the longest job I’ve ever had.”
The former RedState.com editor first got in contact with Rush Limbaugh after the prestigious host read something Erick Erickson had written. “I emailed and got an email back from him from his private email and we started a friendship. He got me into radio.”
Erickson added, “In fact, when all this happened with Cox Media Group, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it because I was already running Red State and I was on CNN and I was a lawyer. [Rush] told me he would never talk to me again if I didn’t get into radio. So not only did I [stick with radio], I got to become one of his guest hosts as a result.”
Erickson worked at both RedState.com and 95.5 WSB for 10 years until the online outlet was bought by Salem Media Group. “I could very clearly see that they were a radio company [and] I was on a competitor in Atlanta. There was going to be a conflict eventually. So I stepped back from Red State and just started writing my Substack and running a website called The Resurgent for a time and started letting my radio show grow.”
Long before his radio tenure and stint at RedState.com, Erickson worked in political campaigns. Including working on President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004, local races, judicial races, and getting himself elected to his local city council. “The most miserable job I ever had was being a city councilman. You just always got ambushed. Local politics is far nastier than national politics.”
This experience helps not only differentiate his show but also how his listeners listen to political strategy. “I take a more analytical approach to stuff. For example, during the 2024 campaign, I could explain what the Democrat and Republican strategies were. How to read a poll, and whether the poll was actually worth believing or not, understanding how they needed to target voters, how the campaigns were targeting voters. I could take the partisanship out of it and relate to a broader audience.”
He added, “You may not like Donald Trump, or you may not like Kamala Harris, but pay attention to their strategy, who they’re reaching out to, the messages they’re doing, how they’re targeting people. I find it very fascinating. It’s just at a strategic level, how they target and being able to explain it. At one of my jobs, I had to do polling. So I understand how is a poll good, is it not good, are the questions written well.”
Erickson grew up around the world and has spent time in 55 countries. This upbringing gives the former campaign manager a greater perspective when it comes to the world outside of the Washington D.C. mindset.
“I’ve still been to more countries than States. So I expanded that approach to the news in general. I don’t just talk about Washington, DC, and the raw politics of DC. There’s a whole world out there that affects us and being able to explain stuff [is key].”
Part of his approach to the mic includes, “Let me give you the actual analysis of here’s what’s happening, and then I’ll tell you my opinion on it. But let’s all get on the same page on what’s happening first.”
Like Erickson, his show is more than just politics. “There’s a cultural malaise. I guess you could say out there, people feel like, maybe the world is against them. I’m actually working on a degree in seminary right now. And I spend a lot of time talking about cultural issues, even spiritual issues, and I live life [with people].”
Part of this ‘living life’ mentality includes sharing, “probably more than anybody else on radio about my family and I try not to be transactional with listeners. I’m exactly on the air like I am off the air.”
He added, “There’s more to life than the politics in Washington, and we should talk about that stuff as well. I’m a little frustrated with just everything’s got to be an obsession about Washington when there’s so much more out there. And I mean, I’m raising kids in this world. So I try to be a little more multifaceted than just what’s happening in Washington today. Life is not all politics. If I can help you put your meatball together, I’m happy to answer that question, too.
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Krystina Alarcon Carroll contributes features and columns for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
