One of the biggest celebrities in Los Angeles in the early part of the 20th century was Aimee Semple McPherson. She inspired scandalous headlines and fictional depictions, including the character Sister Molly on the current Showtime series, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. Yet the story that is less frequently told is McPherson’s embrace of radio. […]
Scholar Jocelyn Robinson says about one-third of Historically Black Colleges and Universities have radio stations. Her mission is to survey them and help preserve their histories and recorded legacies through the HBCU Radio Station Archival Survey Project, which she directs. On this episode Robinson tells us about this project, and explains why it’s important to […]
Radio waves don’t obey borders, and stations have been taking advantage of this fact since the dawn of the medium – often despite the rules of government regulators where the signals go. Dr. Kevin Curran of Arizona State University has been studying border radio stations extensively, making it the subject of his doctoral dissertation. Everyone […]
Welcome to 2020! As Matthew Lasar noted this week, this year marks the 100th anniversary of some significant moments in radio history, including KDKA’s first broadcast. While other stations were on the air with regular broadcasts prior to 1920 (shout out to Doc Herrold’s early broadcasts to fellow radio amateurs); KDKA’s debut is a rallying […]
The Federal Communications Commission is all about radio at the end of 2019, and we catch you up on what you need to know. We all have questions about the possibility of AM stations going all-digital, including the FCC. The regulatory body released the things it wants to know about how digital stations would work, […]
On this week’s show, we take a trip back to the early 20th century to learn about the recording industry’s intertwined relationship with radio and music culture. Our guest is Kyle Barnett, Associate Professor of Media Studies in the Department of Communication at Bellarmine University. Barnett’s forthcoming book, Record Cultures: The Transformation of the U.S. […]
This fall has been a hectic time at the college radio station, KFJC-FM at Foothill College, where I am a volunteer DJ and Publicity Director. On October 20th, the station turned 60 years old and we celebrated with various on and off-air activities. With my interest in college radio history, I felt compelled to do […]
From the “Classical Radio Era” to today’s hottest podcasts, we’re here for the love of radio drama and fictional sound-art. Our guest is Neil Verma, author of a book and teacher of classes on the subject, although as he tells us on today’s episode, the class became a lot more popular with students after he […]
DEADLINE EXTENDED Radio Survivor is pleased to share an announcement from the Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF) of the Library of Congress about a call for papers for its forthcoming conference, “A Century of Broadcasting: Preservation and Renewal.” The event will be held October 22-24, 2020 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Presentation […]
Radio Preservation Task Force’s Director Josh Shepperd and Conference Director Neil Verma are our guests for a discussion about the work of the Library of Congress initiative. They explain the significance of 2020 for radio history, share some of the accomplishments of the Task Force, and preview the next Radio Preservation Conference Task Force Conference, […]
