Episode 140: As The Plots Thicken

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Take just about any phenomenon, and with enough searching it's usually possible to discover the first instance… or at least the first really, really popular occurrence. Serial broadcast drama is my focus on this Episode 140: As The Plots Thicken.

In this episode, I read from: Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants; from the findings of the Commerce Department's 1922 hearings on the future of radio; and from a Wikipedia page about Amos 'n' Andy. I play two recordings from the Amos 'n' Andy show, one of them probably a record released for the 1928 presidential election season, the other from their eighth anniversary broadcast featuring Walter Huston. (Oh, drat! The link for that last mp3 seems to be expired, along with the entire website!)

I also play the theme for the Amos 'n' Andy, a tune called "The Perfect Song"; and Jahzzar doing Moonxine "Part VII". I open the show with huckster Clark Gable backed by KMFDM, and I close with Mistle Thrush.

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