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He might not be called the father of modern talk radio but he’s certainly one of the New Yorkers who played an instrumental role in the process of taking AM music radio into talk and setting its tone and style.

Barry Farber began his talk career in 1960 on WINS with his “Barry Farber’s WINS Open Mike” show, the only talk show on a rock n’ roll station. He left for WOR in 1962 doing evenings, which eventually led to his becoming the all-night host in 1967. He left in 1977 to delve into politics as the conservative party candidate for New York City mayor and when that didn’t pan out, he joined WMCA and did afternoon drive for the next decade. He was part of the line up of ABC Radio Network’s original 1990s attempt at creating a national talk stable - Talknet. When that effort was abandoned due to ABC’s other priorities at the time, Farber with the help of Michael Castello and Alan Colmes quickly pulled together most of the affiliates and formed an independent network called Daynet. That proved to be one of the forerunners of today’s independent talk syndication scene.

The intellectual Farber is currently heard on the Talk America Radio Network.