Alex Bennett (broadcaster)

Bennett Gordon Schwarzmann (born December 18, 1939), better known by his on-air name, Alex Bennett, is an American talk radio host, known for his mix of left-wing politics and humor. In the 1970s he made his mark in New York City where he was dubbed "The Youth Guru" by the press for his work on WMCA and WPLJ.

In the 1980s and 1990s he moved back to his home town of San Francisco where this time the press dubbed him "The King of Comedy" for his influence on the local comedy scene first at KMEL, then on KQAK ("The Quake") and ultimately at Live 105. He then went on to create a live Internet TV network with Play Inc. called "PlayTV", and later a one-year stint as the host of a technology show on CNET Radio.

Eventually he moved back to New York City where he hosted a weekday radio show on SiriusXM channel "SIRIUS Left" until June 28, 2013. He now hosts a live podcast GABNet.net Tues-Fri from 10:00 until midnight Eastern.

Bennett was born on December 18, 1939, in San Francisco and attended Drake High School in San Anselmo, California. He adopted his on-air name as a tribute to his late father, Alexander Schwarzmann.

During the 1960s, Bennett worked at several radio stations around the country, including KILT in Houston, where he used the on-air moniker James Bond and did his show using an English accent, and WLOL in Minneapolis before moving on to other large markets.

In Chicago, he hosted a nightly music program on 560 WIND where his newscaster was Don Cornelius (who later hosted television's Soul Train). It was in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots that he became radicalized.

In 1969 he was recruited by Top 40 station AM 570 WMCA in New York City, where he worked with Murray the K, Barry Gray (who became a mentor) and where one of his engineers was comedian Jimmie Walker. Bennett was an overnight talk show host during the station's transition from its Top 40 "Good Guys" music format to the pioneering "Dial-Log" all-talk era. Bennett brought a progressive rock radio sensibility to the teenage-oriented station, still playing album cuts of music as his talk show evolved, and openly discussing topics ranging from his love life to his participation in various countercultural events, before giving his yogic sign-off "Namaste" (sometimes rendered in English as "the God within me sees the God within you").

In 1969, Bennett flew to London to investigate the rumor of Paul McCartney's death. He later became friends with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who in 1970 heard Bennett introduce her debut album on the air by saying, "I think in 1980 music will probably sound like this." Lennon and Ono subsequently appeared on Bennett's show.