08/27/2025
I need to be straight with you all. For too long, I allowed Paul’s program “Conspiracy Enlightenment” to continue on Riverwest Radio. That decision was mine alone — not the staff’s or the board’s — and I take full responsibility.
Why did I let it go on? Because I believe deeply in free speech. I’ve always thought of Riverwest Radio as an open platform where people can express themselves without judgment, especially voices that don’t usually get heard. Paul’s show was bizarre, extreme, and — to my mind — so off-the-wall that I didn’t expect anyone to take it seriously. I thought of it as a kind of exploration into the world of conspiracies: exaggerated stories where you might still find a grain of truth, or at least insight into how people think.
I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to hear perspectives I don’t agree with. I listen to televangelists, to extremists, to “crazy” voices — not because I endorse them, but because I want to understand how people get there. I even believe a little toxin can act like a vaccine against groupthink. That’s the mindset I had when I let Paul continue.
But here’s the truth: there is a line, and I inadvertently crossed it. Hate speech and discrimination of any kind have no place on our airwaves — including racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, ageism, and discrimination against people with disabilities. I should have stopped the program earlier. I told Paul no hate speech was allowed, and in some shows the line was blurred, but I knew I was walking on thin ice. I waited too long, and that’s on me. I was too conciliatory.
Paul himself is a complicated human being. Decades ago, he performed with the Violent Femmes and was a talented musician and performance artist in his own right. In the 1980s he was one of the only openly cross-dressing men I knew in Milwaukee, staging protests in lingerie chanting “Liberate the Bustier!” He’s soft-spoken, he regularly consults the I Ching, and he has lived as both anarchist and artist. He is not a stereotypical angry extremist — but confusion, pain, and harmful rhetoric can take many forms.
When his recent altercation at a bar brought new attention to his Riverwest Radio page, people saw his catalog of shows and rightfully asked: why is this here? That community reaction finally forced me to do what I should have done long ago. I pulled the plug.
And I want to thank you for that. Your voices — your speaking out — were exactly what I needed. This is how Riverwest Radio should work: community accountability, dialogue, and participation. (Those of you who listen regularly to Riverwest Radio might wonder why you never heard Paul’s show. That’s because I almost never actually played it on the air. I allowed him to build his catalog of shows, but I did not feel comfortable broadcasting most of them.)
I still believe deeply in open dialogue. If you disagree with what you hear, I encourage you to make your own program. Counter bad ideas with better ones. Use this platform to speak truth, to tell stories, to bring light. That’s why Riverwest Radio exists.
I apologize for my failure to act sooner. I am grateful that you are listening, and that you care enough to hold us (me) accountable. Please, keep speaking up — not just when something goes wrong with our programming, but also when you hear something that inspires you.
— Xav Leplae
Station Manager, Riverwest Radio
