His blend of wit, irreverence and intelligence made the award-winning Al Franken a memorable figure in television, movies and radio. Combining those elements with his social conscience, he became an effective politician, battling injustice.

He rose to prominence on "Saturday Night Live." On that series, he introduced his self-help guru character Stuart Smalley. An activist, Franken hosted his own show on Air America Radio.

We spoke with Franken in 2006, prior to his "An Evening With... Al Franken" event in San Francisco. At that time, he was contemplating a run for the Senate. He wound up winning the campaign in 2008 and serving as a Minnesota Senator until he resigned in 2018, amid controversy. He had faced several accusations of sexual misconduct.

Franken, who has written four New York Times #1 best sellers, continues to speak out on vital issues. In 2019, Franken announced he would be hosting a weekly show on SiriusXM radio.

So what will "An Evening with Al Franken" encompass? Let Mr. Franken enlighten you. "There'll be an evening.... there'll be Al Franken..."

For those with a sense of humor and an interest in the political landscape, that will be plenty. Franken is the author of "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot" and "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right."

With wit and zeal, Franken infuses new energy into the hybrid of comedy and politics. "People have done it in the past," he says. "It's your Bill Maher, your George Carlin. Your Al Franken may be a little bit more politics than either of those two."

A longtime writer/performer on "Saturday Night Live," Franken is one of the primary forces behind Air America, the liberal talk-radio network. He assesses the progress of the network, which debuted in 2004, aimed at challenging the right wing's domination of the medium.

"I'd like to have more marketing budget. I'd like to have some stronger stations, although I think the one in San Francisco is pretty strong. But we're expanding and reaching more people and getting good ratings. It's working out pretty much the way I'd like it to... a little slower, but it's building."

With a three-hour daily broadcast of his own, Franken spends countless hours absorbing newspapers and periodicals. "Other than the hours you're on, you have to be feeding yourself all the time."

So his stand-up material constantly catches up with the latest headlines. He's in the midst of four benefits for his political action committee, one of which will be in San Francisco. The committee is called Midwest Values PAC, because Franken would like to shift the perception of who actually reflects the American value system. Franken doesn't believe it's the religious right.

"I'm really sick and tired of them claiming values for themselves. They don't own it. That quickly becomes apparent, when you start talking in terms of caring about people. They claim God as their own. We just talk about how, if, you cut out every passage in the New Testament where Jesus talks about helping the poor, you'd have the perfect box to smuggle Rush Limbaugh's drugs in."

Though the Bay Area is certainly among the more receptive to his views, Franken also likes to visit areas where he'd be less likely to be preaching to the converted.

"We do our radio show in 80 markets and we go to places like Fresno, Spokane, Reno, places that are much more conservative. In a way, you just get liberals who are much more desperate to hear something they can relate to," he laughs. "But it's great, because the radio station is also heard by a lot of conservatives. We do change people's minds."

Franken gets the sense that the electorate might be ready for a change come the mid-term elections. He sees the turnaround of public opinion as the result of a cumulative effect. "It started not long after Bush's second term began, first Schiavo [Terri Schiavo, the right-to-die legal case], then Social Security and then, of course the Plame stuff [Valerie Plame, outed CIA operative] and [Hurricane] Katrina. From then on, they've just been in the tank."

Fear, according to Franken, has been the key to the Bush administration's hold on power. "Obviously, in 2000, we kind of actually won. In 2004, it was smear. Fear, smear and queers. That's what got them there, as far as I'm concerned, to their, whatever it was, two percent victory."

Sure the administration has supplied a wealth of comic fodder, but that didn't give Franken mixed feelings about the last Presidential election. "I desperately worked for Kerry to win. I remember somebody in my building who's a Republican, saying, 'You know, it might help you more if Bush won.' I just went, 'Duh. But I don't care. I don't want Bush to win.' The whole point of the station is to change things."

He believes that forward-thinking Democrats have an opportunity to seize the day. "You see all over the place, progressives leading the charge. Look at Lamont's victory (Ned Lamont, the anti-war Democrat who defeated Sen. Joe Lieberman in the recent Connecticut primary). These are people out of the mainstream. Sixty percent of the country agrees with Lamont regarding the war. That's not sixty percent of Democrats. It's sixty percent of the country."

Franken's already rapidly rising approval rating will spike dramatically upward when the funny and fascinating documentary "Al Franken: God Spoke" opens in September. Already a festival hit, the film follows the outspoken Franken through such adventures as a USO tour of Iraq and his much publicized feud with cable TV's Bill O'Reilly.

The Harvard-educated Franken is weighing a 2008 run for the Senate, in his home state of Minnesota. Despite his awareness of the prevalence of smear tactics, he has no trepidation about vaulting into politics full force. "The idea that they can intimidate you or scare you out of doing it is something that just makes me want to do it more."

It shouldn't be surprising to find a comedian in office. Most contemporary politicians are amateur comedians anyway. Maybe it's time for a pro.

"I don't see any problem with comedians running. People like satire. They very often see the satirists crystallize a political point a lot quicker than politicians do."

Part of the decision involves the question of whether he can have a greater impact as a commentator than as an officeholder. He also realizes that, as an elected official, a bit of self-censorship would go with the territory.

"Yeah, it's fun being a comedian. There are certain kinds of things you just can't do, when you're representing people. You have to be funny in a different way. You have to eliminate a certain side of you, a side of what you do that I would agree is inappropriate for a Senator.

"We comedians tend to have very dark senses of humor. Gratuitousness is a tool. And egregiousness. Those are comedic tools you wouldn't want to use."

Comedians have a high quotient of honesty, a concept alien to many politicians. "That's why I think I'd bring something to politics that's kind of new," says Franken, who sometimes himself as a voice of sanity in crazy political world.

For the latest news or to listen to timely podcasts, visit his website, www.alfranken.com.