Christopher Lydon will be back on WBUR Thursday nights starting tonight!   Years ago he hosted a morning program on BUR, The Connection, which was the best radio show I’ve ever listened to.  The show covered just about every topic you could imagine and Lydon was a great host – got good guests and actually did his homework before the show so that he and his guest could have an intelligent on-air conversation.  He took the job very seriously.  The Connection started off as a local program then went national after a few years – still had a Boston focus though.  Anyhow, Lydon was let go after he and the station couldn’t negotiate a new contract.  The new host was decent but the show wasn’t nearly as good as when Lydon was host.  Lydon went off to create Radio Open Source, which is what BUR will be broadcasting on Thursday nights.  I listened to a number of episodes when it was internet only – all good – but tuning in required I go a bit “off the beaten path” so I didn’t listen often.  In contrast, BUR is my default station.  I’ll be glad to hear Lydon and I’m glad he’ll be getting a wider audience again.   He’s an excellent journalist.

Archive of The Connection broadcasts here.  (I think Lydon’s last broadcast was March 9, 2001.)