It was 1934, and J. Edgar Hoover was sick of radio mysteries and comic strips that referred to “secret” government agents. We need a better name, he told his minions.
Tag Archives | FBI
How to turn your FBI surveillance into a radio show
As some of you know, I study and teach two subjects in depth: the history of broadcasting and the history of the USA National Security State. These two topics merge when the objects of government wiretaps realize that they are being listened to, then make strategic comments or even entertain their eavesdroppers. At this point […]
Podcast #32 – FBI Files, Public Files, and Winter Storms
The FCC just ruled that radio stations will have to upload their public files into an online database, making certain records much more accessible. We discuss what this means for both stations and listeners, and why, even though it seems like an extra burden, this can be a good thing for college and community radio. […]
How the FBI worked with radio to investigate the song “Louie Louie”
Our regular Welcome to Night Vale correspondent Aidan Herrick has written an excellent research paper (pdf) on the 1960s era Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation of the song “Louie Louie.” Why the probe? Because parents across the United States were complaining to the government that The Kingsmen’s 1963 remake of the Richard Berry song contained […]
How the FCC helped win World War II
I am reading Tim Weiner’s diverting book Enemies: A History of the FBI and have learned something about the Federal Communications Commission as well. Its Radio Intelligence Division played a critical role in anti-Fascist counterespionage in the southern hemisphere. Weiner writes: “The civilians of the Radio Intelligence Division intercepted clandestine Germany communications with spies in […]
![Students being dragged down the stairs during the May 1960 HUAC protests [source: foundsf.org]](https://www.radiosurvivor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/huacstairs-250x125.jpg "The KCBS reporter who informed for the FBI")
The KCBS reporter who informed for the FBI
I am reading Seth Rosenfeld’s extraordinary book Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power. There are many radio references in the 734 page tome. Among the most interesting to me are mentions of KCBS radio reporter Dick Leonard, who offered “clandestine help” to the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the […]
Gotcha! Tuning into the FBI
Ok. I admit it. I listen to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “gotcha” radio service. The sounds files come in windows media player format. It’s basically a real version of Dragnet. Part of the reason why I tune in is because the cases are so weird that, well, I just like weird stuff, that’s all. […]
He may be a bigot, but at least he's for net neutrality
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that it has busted “intermittent internet radio talk show host and blogger” Hal Turner for allegedly making murderous threats against three judges who issued a decision he didn’t like. “Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed,” the FBI says Turner declared […]