Episode 137: Something Else In The Air

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To understand the national anger at the first radio commercials, I find it helps to understand first and foremost that these ads came right into the home… like an intruder's pungent fart. Hence, Episode 137: Something Else in the Air.

In this episode, I read from: Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads; and from a web site Mr. Wu turned me onto, one he himself used as a source for another of his books. It's a history of early radio, and an interesting one at that. Beyond the general overview I used several sub-pages, which contained lots of scans of historic content.

Sound-wise, I play: Sydney Greenstreet's evil industrialist character from the 1947 movie The Hucksters; and Monty Python's Terry Jones and Eric Idle, from the "Nudge, Nudge" sketch. Musically, I play: Metastaz doing "I'm"; Pietnaska doing "Superator"; and Podington Bear doing "Bad Seed". Clark Gable, also from The Hucksters, opens the show backed by KMFDM, and I close with Julie and Rolf doing "Over The Rainbow".

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.

(Oh, and concerning the week-late posting, I came down with a bit of visiting family. They were where my attention was directed. It happens.)

Episode 136: Something Amazing In The Air

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Technology sometimes makes history dramatically, changing the way its witnesses think of the future forever. Today, I focus on one such unveiling, and link it to the first days of radio, in this Episode 136: Something Amazing In The Air.

In this episode, I mostly read from Stacy Schiff's A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, an account of Benjamin Franklin and other of our country's founders stationed in Paris to advocate for their Revolutionary position.

Audio–wise, I was once again graced with listener Vincent doing me a solid and recording himself not just pronouncing the French names well beyond my Anglicized voice's ability, but also scolding me with some choice curses. Thank you very much, Vincent! Again, it is a treat for me to edit audio that while working on fitting the sounds in this show just makes me giggle. Oh, and keep listening, everybody, for a treat after the show's closing!

Musically, I play four from Podington Bear: First, there was "Midnight Blue", like the brothers' balloon; next, "Bright White"; and finally, appropriately, "Ideas". (The fourth Podington Bear tune, "Vox Bubble Rumba", was added in the extra feature at the end of the show; I regretfully didn't mention it in the closing credits.) KMFDM backs Clark Gable bitching about radio in the opening (which I played in the middle, because why not?), and I close the show with Mistle Thrush.

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 share-alike, attribution, and non-commercial license.