They're called "must-runs." KRCR is owned by larger national company called Sinclair, and Sinclair produces these and requires the station to run them. Unfortunately, there's not much the employees in Redding can do about it without being fired.
my remote has a mute button and it also has PREV (previous station) and, best yet, an "off" button. I might suggest you try one of those when the opinion pieces come on
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