Radio Archives | National Humanities Center

Radio

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Music, Sound, and Technology in America: A Documentary History of Early Phonograph, Cinema, and Radio

Edited by Timothy D. Taylor (NHC Fellow, 1999–00), Mark Katz, and Tony Grajeda This unique anthology assembles primary documents chronicling the development of the phonograph, film sound, and the radio. These three sound technologies shaped Americans' relation to music from the late nineteenth century until the end of the Second World War, by which time … Continued

The Radio: Blessing or Curse? A 1929 Debate

Commercial radio broadcasting, a technological innovation in the 1920s, transformed American culture and politics. Whether those transformations were a boon or bane to society provoked as compelling a debate then as do the changes wrought by social media and the Internet today. The debate reflects the worry and hope with which Americans greeted new technologies … Continued