Bob Zadek hosted the same program for roughly fourteen years, and a set of phrases recurs across it: the branding lines read at every station break, the arguments compressed into a slogan and redeployed for a decade, and a handful of verbal habits. Counts below are of transcribed episodes in which the phrase appears, out of the 372 episodes with transcripts; the show’s own entity index reports higher totals because it also counts the Substack post text attached to later episodes.
”The show of ideas, not attitude”
The show’s primary self-description, read in the open and at most breaks, often with escalating qualifiers — “never once,” “never, ever once,” “never, ever, not once.” It states the program’s editorial rule: argument rather than invective. Some variants appear in the pre-recorded voiceover rather than in Zadek’s own reading. Appears in 194 episodes.
Welcome everyone. Welcome to the Bob Zadek Show, Sunday at noon on 910 AM Fox News Radio in the Bay Area and on the web around the country. I’m your host, Bob Zadek. We are the leading libertarian talk radio show in the Bay Area, the show of ideas, not attitude. If you have a point of view, 800-345-5639. All ideas are welcome.
— A Libertarian Plan (2010), [00:00]
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Bob Zadek Show, the longest-running live libertarian talk radio show in all of radio. Thank you so much for listening this Sunday morning. This is, this morning and always, the show of ideas, never once the show of attitude.
— Emperor Newsom’s New Clothes (2021), [00:17]
“Information, not talking points”
The companion rule, paired with “ideas, not attitude” in the later show open and in the Substack-era identifier. It marks the program’s method: reading the statute, brief or study under discussion rather than trading received positions. Appears in 15 episodes.
The Bob Zadek Show: Ideas, not attitude. Information, not talking points.
— Civil Asset Forfeiture Revisited (2023), [00:08]
Our standard: ideas, not attitude; information, not talking points.
— Confronting the ‘Cancelists’ with Alan Dershowitz (2023), [00:00]
“The longest-running live libertarian talk radio show”
The show’s claim to primacy, in several forms — “the only live libertarian talk radio show on the air all weekend,” “the leading libertarian talk radio show in the Bay Area,” “the longest-running live libertarian talk radio show in all of radio.” The wording tracks the show’s own history: the Bay Area framing dominates the early years, the longevity claim the later ones. Some form appears in 175 episodes; the “only live … all weekend” variant in 75.
Hello everyone, welcome to the Bob Zadek Show, every Sunday at 9:00 AM. I am your eponymous host, Bob Zadek. Thanks so much for listening. 800-345-5639 to join my conversation at any time. We are the only live libertarian talk radio show on the air all weekend, proudly and always the show of ideas, not attitude.
— Carol Berkin on The Bill of Rights No One Wanted (2016), [00:00]
“Stuff, not fluff”
A third identifier, used mainly in the 910 AM years, promising substance over chat. Appears in 6 episodes.
We are the show of ideas, not attitude; the show of stuff, not fluff. Thanks so much for listening.
— Let Them All In (2013), [00:22]
We are the leading Libertarian talk radio show in the Bay Area and around the country, the show of ideas, not attitude; stuff, not fluff.
— We Are All Libertarians (2013), [53:28]
“Essential Liberty”
The title of Zadek’s 2020 book, Essential Liberty: Finding Freedom in a Post-COVID World, and subsequently of his Substack publication; both take the phrase from Benjamin Franklin’s warning, which Zadek reads on air. It functions as the show’s standing test: whether a proposed safety measure is worth the liberty surrendered for it. The book and newsletter are named in 10 transcribed episodes.
And I just want to read quickly an appropriate, wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin, his warning to us: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” From Benjamin Franklin.
— Remember when kids were free to be kids? (2023), [18:52]
The book is called Essential Liberty: Finding Freedom in a Post-COVID World, and it features interviews that Bob has done with a variety of thinkers from economists to public policy makers on this very question of: what is a proportional response?
— Back to School: A History Lesson from the 1918 Pandemic (2020), [25:15] (spoken by guest host Charlie Deist)
“Look under the hood”
Zadek’s description of what the show does with a policy: take the stated purpose off and inspect the mechanism, usually finding an interest group underneath. Used to set up an interview and to justify spending an hour on a single statute. Appears in 9 episodes.
But let’s look under the hood this morning of the system of bail in America. You will be enraged, you will be surprised, and you will be embarrassed.
— How Bail Traps the Poor in Jail with Scott Shackford (2018), [00:00]
… that battle, that battle for the hearts and minds of Americans to ratify was, if you look under the hood, in some degrees a pretty nasty affair.
— [[episodes/crossroads_for_liberty__with_william_watkins_jr|Crossroads for Liberty with William Watkins Jr. (2017)]], [21:07]
“Which part do you oppose — the ‘illegal’ or the ‘immigrant’?”
Zadek’s standard cross-examination of immigration restrictionists, described on air as a deliberate rhetorical technique and reused across the immigration episodes. The move is to offer to legislate the “illegal” away and see whether the objection survives.
And then I ask them, “Well, what if a law was passed by Congress which made immigration legal? … So now we have just legislated away the ‘illegal.’” … And then I end the conversation by saying, “Aha! So it’s the ‘immigrant’ part you oppose, not the ‘illegal’ part.” And then the conversation gets unpleasant and we go our merry ways.
— Immigrants – The Ultimate Entrepreneurs (2013), [05:24]
If you oppose the illegal part, I agree with you; let’s make it all legal. If you oppose the immigrant part, then just admit that’s your problem.
— Immigration Myth-Busting - Redux (2020), [48:01]
“No one owns a job”
Zadek’s answer to the claim that immigrants, or competitors generally, “take” jobs: a job is a transaction that lasts only while the price is right, not a property right. Appears in 3 episodes, always in the immigration context.
And by the way, the comp— … No one owns a job. You have a job because somebody else decided you were selling a set of skills at exactly the right price, and therefore the employer wants to buy that set of skills from you at the price you want to sell it for. It is not your job. You are always, always in a marketplace competing against others.
— Daniel Di Martino on Immigration (2021), [28:50]
Oh my, no one owns a job. People are only entitled to a job if they do the best job for the lowest money. That’s the only thing that makes you entitled to a job. Erase the phrase “my job” as if you own the job from your vocabulary.
— Let Them All In (2013), [13:13]
“The right to earn an honest living”
The formula Zadek uses for economic liberty, borrowed from the Institute for Justice and Pacific Legal Foundation litigation he covered repeatedly. It recurs in the occupational-licensing, food-truck and certificate-of-need episodes. Appears in 11 episodes.
This whole concept of licensing, that you need to, as a supplicant, beg permission to earn an honest living. I can’t even say the words without the veins bulging in my neck. And those issues will resonate so strongly. “We support the right of people to earn an honest living without barriers.” That’s such a winning platform.
— Derek Khanna - What’s Stifling Innovation? (2014), [18:57]
“The unseen”
Frédéric Bastiat’s term, adopted by Zadek as the show’s standing analytical move: name the diffuse, invisible people a policy harms. Appears in 18 episodes, most often on tax and licensing.
… they are taxing the, as Frédéric Bastiat observed, the unseen. They are taxing workers and they are taxing equity holders directly and indirectly.
— Auditing the Corporate Income Tax (2021), [08:27]
Because IJ has been such a strong advocate for those which Frédéric Bastiat would call “the unseen.” All of the people, all of the citizens who want to do nothing more than earn a living, they are harmed, but they don’t make the headlines.
— The Presumption of Liberty & Occupational Licensing (2022), [38:53]
“Your money or your life”
Zadek’s characterization of conditional federal funding — the “Dear Colleague” letter and its successors — as an armed demand rather than guidance. Appears in 11 episodes.
So, when a university gets a letter, “Dear colleague, here’s what we think you should be doing,” that’s “your money or your life.”
— The New Face of Government Censorship (2023), [31:45]
It’s sort of like alleyway gun pointed at your head: “Your money or your life.” Not really a choice.
— Title IX’s Transformation: R. Shep Melnick on the New Civil Rights Debate (2018), [37:15]
“Don’t harm me and don’t take my stuff”
Zadek’s two-clause summary of libertarianism, offered as the minimum job description of government. Appears in 2 episodes.
The two-pronged libertarian approach is, as I said earlier: don’t harm me and don’t take my stuff.
— How to Stay Sane in a Statist World (2017), [37:30]
… such as “don’t harm me” and “don’t take my stuff,” the core libertarian principles.
— Secession: A How-to Guide (2020), [12:23]
“The shining city on the hill”
Used sincerely, for American exceptionalism, and as the thing at risk from the policy under discussion; occasionally applied to a smaller subject, such as the privatized city of Sandy Springs, Georgia. Appears in 13 episodes.
And Cato has managed to remain sane and preserve the shining city on a hill we all cherish.
— Immigration Myth-Busting - Redux (2020), [50:01]
Let’s talk about that, and when we come back, let’s talk about a city with no civil servants whatsoever: the shining city on the hill, Sandy Springs, Georgia.
— Fire All Government Workers (2011), [08:18]
“Vote intelligently or not at all”
Zadek’s rejection of a civic duty to vote, paired with an insistence on a duty to be informed if one does. Appears in 6 episodes, usually alongside the argument for devolving decisions to local government.
And I always find myself responding that no, you have no duty to vote whatsoever. Your duty is, if you do vote, spend an inordinate amount of time understanding the issues. That’s your duty. One citizen’s duty to another is to vote intelligently or not at all.
— [[episodes/john_marini_on__unmasking_the_administrative_state|John Marini on Unmasking the Administrative State (2019)]], [43:39]
“Perish forbid”
A deliberate malapropism, blending “perish the thought” and “heaven forbid,” used to mark a regulator’s stated fear as absurd. Appears in 11 episodes.
… they pick up some people who are conducting a massage parlor without a license (perish forbid, how will we ever survive, how will civilization survive?).
— Elizabeth Nolan Brown on the War on Sex Workers (2019), [14:43]
Perish forbid that a Georgia Tea Partier would dare to create a, quote, “problem for peanuts.”
— Farming Subsidies (2011), [26:30]
“Buckets of money”
Zadek’s unit of government spending, used to make an appropriation sound like what it is rather than like a line item. Appears in 26 episodes.
The National Endowment for the Arts was created in order to funnel buckets of money to artists who otherwise, my guess, could not earn an honest living producing their art.
— Nick Gillespie – The Voice of Reason (2011), [00:15]
Let’s declare amnesty if people confess their tax cheating sins, we’ll get buckets of money, we won’t incarcerate people, we won’t fine them, but we’ll get buckets of money.
— A Better America (2010), [20:51]
“30 incredibly short seconds”
The standard hand-off to a commercial break, promising that the break is brief and the conversation unfinished. Appears in 10 episodes.
Lots more to follow when we come back after 30 incredibly short seconds.
— Remember when kids were free to be kids? (2023), [12:41]
We’ll be back in 30 incredibly short seconds. Please stay tuned; there’s lots more to come.
— Rethinking Pax Americana with John Glaser (2017), [12:13]
“Beware of ‘fair’”
Zadek’s warning about political vocabulary: “fair,” like “public interest” and “beneficial,” is a word whose content is supplied by whoever holds power.
“Fair” is, in general, a scary word—a word by which those in holding political power hide. “Fair” is a safe place for politicians to hide and to bury the most unfair of laws, the most unfair of policies.
— The Radio Right and The Fairness Doctrine (2021), [00:17]
And to my friends out there, as you learn to fear the word “fair,” also “public interest” is, to borrow from a James Bond movie, is a license to prohibit.
— The Radio Right and The Fairness Doctrine (2021), [17:59]
“My favorite word is ‘why’”
Zadek’s statement of the interview method — not what a guest concludes but how they got there. Appears in 2 episodes.
This morning, I get to use my favorite word. My favorite word is “why.” … Everybody else’s opinion is always of interest to me. But it is far less interesting than why they feel that way, how they got there. … But once you look under the hood and learn why, now you get a chance to, on an intellectual level, understand how the person you are speaking to or listening to, how they got there.
— Liberalism vs. Nationalism (2018), [00:00]