One of Allan's guests this week is Al Franken. A writer-performer who helped launch NBC's Saturday Night Live three decades ago, today Franken has been more identified as a political humorist with the best-selling books Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, and Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.

His radio show is now on 51 stations including all of The Top 10 Markets. It's funny how many radio experts and Conservative Competitors predicted his show and Air America would be out of business by the end of the year. Some even said the network was set up to only last through the 2004 election to help the Democrats. His ratings have been excellent and major radio groups such as Clear Channel have been adding his show to compete with Rush Limbaugh in markets where they have more than one talk station. (Rush's show is syndicated by Clear Channel.) It's clear that many Americans are tired of only Right Wing talk radio. And up until now, there were few shows on commercial radio to hear an alternative view. The Allan Handelman Show is very proud of you Al. Keep up the great work!

Hey, meet both Al's. Al Franken, is coming to Chapel Hill and so is Allan Handelman. We would love to meet as many of the 106.1 WRDU and Buzzard Listeners WVBZ-FM as we can.

"The Al Franken Show" is coming to Chapel Hill on April 13.

Al Franken and co-host Katherine Lanpher will broadcast the show live from the Carolina Union Auditorium. The Al Franken Show airs weekdays from noon until 3 p.m on Air Ameica. Allan Handelman will also be at the event. We would love to meet you. Tickets are first-come, first-served, so plan accordingly.

On Thursday, April 14: Charleston, South Carolina. Look for us at the Physicians Auditorium at the College of Charleston..

The Al Franken Show, heard live each weekday from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern on Air America Radio, is also on display in a one-hour edition on Sundance each night at 11:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.

Al Franken's CD The O'Franken Factor Factor: The Very Best of The O'Franken Factor. Culled from Franken's hit radio show.

Here are some great Al Franken links: Al's official site, and the unofficial site. And from Air America here are the Audio Archives, Blog, and Streaming Audio.

Also this week, former callgirl Jeannette Angell who wants to explode every preconception you have about prostitution. With an Ivy League education, this former teacher and acclaimed writer spent three years moonlighting as a callgirl. Why? In part to pay off the heavy debt of graduate school loans - something her meager income as an academic made next to impossible. But also, she admits, because she liked it. Being a high paid escort, Angell says, "gave me financial security while I prepared myself for my career. It gave me an opportunity to feel beautiful and desirable just at the point in my life when Madison Avenue was telling me I was over the hill. And maybe, too, it gave me the thrill of having lived on the edge for a while, of having done something illegal and glamorous and gotten away with it."

Her book, Callgirl, hits bookstores later this month.

Also this week, investigative reporter Kevin Trudeau and author of Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About. There are non-drug and non-surgical cures for virtually every disease, including cancer, arthritis,herpes, diabetes, acid reflux, depression, ADD and more.

Kevin Trudeau will give us the suppressed natural cures and why the drug companies, AMA, FDA and FTC don't want you to know about them.

Kevin reveals: WHY drug use is at an all-time high, yet Americans are sicker than every before; WHY the drug companies goals it sell more drugs and NOT to prevent and cure disease; and WHY non-prescription and prescription drugs actually CAUSE almost all illness and diseases.

Credentials: Founder of a global business empire that has generated over $2 billion in business, philanthropist, consumer advocate, author of the fastest-selling book of all time, Lose 30 Pounds In 30 Days: The Weight Loss Secret They Don't Want You To Know about.