With a dramatic political history, radio is today the number one source of news in Africa.
Articles on Radio history
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There’s a new wave of indigenous language podcasts that could attract big new audiences.
The role played by guerrilla radio in the liberation struggle will not be lost to history, thanks to books like this.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s personal battle with polio, and his steady hand while overseeing a national eradication campaign, highlights decisive leadership against a virus that terrified America.
When the USSR launched the world’s first satellite, Sputnik 1 didn’t do much other than regularly “beep” over the radio. Yet, this simple sound is associated with the beginnings of space exploration.
The Portuguese colonisers were not the only ones who could use radio for control. A new book tells how popular radio broadcasts from Angola’s liberation fighters were used as weapons in the struggle.
Even though they were a product of apartheid’s propaganda broadcasting machine, Zulu language radio dramas proved subversively powerful by reflecting communal black life and creating new stars.
Under an authoritarian government, freedoms can come at a steep – and lasting – price.
Radio legend Graham McNamee was baseball’s first broadcast star. So why did it take 74 years for the National Baseball Hall of Fame to honor him?
For 50 years, country music executives in Nashville have tried to dilute the genre’s rich, diverse history.
Before being crowned the “King of the Blues,” a young Riley King honed his on-stage persona and made crucial contacts as a radio DJ.
With owners deeply divided over radio, a 20-year tug-of-war would ensue.
In the 1920s American sports became big business, a billion dollar industry with “stars” created by the media and represented by professional agents and promoters. One of the pioneers of this new industry…
The strange northern hemisphere tradition of the television “Christmas Special” is somewhat alien to us on this end of the world. No Mr Bean with a turkey on his head or fantastically awkward Christmas…
Top contributors
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James Walker is a Friend of The Conversation.Emeritus Professor of Communication, Saint Xavier University
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Associate professor, University of the Western Cape
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Associate Professor of History, Indiana University
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Director, Institute for Popular Music, University of Rochester
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Adjunct Lecturer of American Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Senior Lecturer, School of Communications Studies, Auckland University of Technology
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Professor of American Studies, Brandeis University
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Associate Professor of German Studies, William & Mary
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Visiting Research Professor in the School of Languages, University of Johannesburg
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Lecturer in Journalism, University of Namibia
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Senior lecturer in Philosophy and Media Studies, University of Nairobi
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Associate Professor in Language and Communication Studies, University of Media, Arts and Communication, Ghana Institute of Journalism
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Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of Mauritius
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Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Cape Town
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Associate Professor in Media, University of Technology Sydney