In part 2 of our conversation with Carlton Wing, Glen and April explore his thoughts on how to legislate from principle vs populism. Carlton bemoans the negative influences of extremists on both the left and right, and he cites the challenges politicians face in sometimes having to speak to the base of the party in order to be re-elected. Yet Carlton rejects name-calling as “an intellectual copout.” He also outlines a largely optimistic view of where he thinks Arkansas is headed politically. Carlton offers insights into how Arkansans can best provide feedback and have on impact on legislators, and he urges everyone to consider reaching out to their governmental officials. He finishes with a description of his poetic approach to lobbying for passage of his first bill as a freshman legislator.

Carlton Wing, Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from the 70th district, sits down with April and Glen to talk about his career in sports media, his role as a host several years for a worldwide fishing tournament, and as a legislator since 2016. Carlton traces his early influences on his views and then describes his current work in government as “servant leadership.” He strongly believes that his role in the legislature is to serve the people by focusing on principle before policies, and he believes the majority of Arkansans see things from somewhere in the middle, between extremes on both the left and right. Carlton feels all in government should work together, something he promotes by seeking to lower the temperature politically and to build bridges. After describing friendships he has made with Democrats, he outlines several key laws and issues that have been passed recently or that he feels must be addressed soon. Carlton focuses in particular on the need for addressing taxation policy that ensures all programs seen as important are able to be funded. He also praises recent work to promote the natural resources of Arkansas, given research showing the value to mental health of time spent in nature.

In part 2 of April and Glen’s conversation with Jonathan Seaborn, general manager of Little Rock Public Radio, Jonathan addresses criticisms from some listeners who complain of excessive coverage of some right-leaning figures such as Steve Bannon and President Trump. We also discuss the challenges of dealing with misinformation and disinformation in media, and how KUAR is working to meet that challenge. In discussing the past and current pushes to defund public media (e.g., NPR & PBS), Jonathan cites the relative contributions by public and private sources for KUAR’s operations and what recent threats to disable public funding of public media could mean in terms of what is likely to be lost within the community should that threat come to fruition. We also learn how the public radio stations in Arkansas are collaborating to serve the entire state of Arkansas, including more rural areas that may lack any alternative media options.