Audio Antiques

Golden age radio was filled with situation comedies, detective shows, and variety programs, but there were also a few legal dramas on the air. Fictional attorney Perry Mason based on the novels of Erle Stanley Gardner, and first appeared on CBS Radio in 1943 as a soap opera before becoming a popular TV show in 1957. We have a Perry Mason series from 1949. Mr District Attorney was a radio drama which aired from 1939 to 1952. The series focused on a crusading county prosecutor. You'll hear an episode from 1942. And finally, there was a unique NBC show in 1954 called Case Dismissed. It focused on how fragile liberty and justice can be, and the battle to preserve our legal rights. In it, we'll learn a lesson about the responsibility of eye witnesses.

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Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925. He was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist and a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. As spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for black empowerment. Malcolm was not an advocate of non-violence, especially when blacks were being physically abused, beaten, and killed by racists. He also felt it would be best for the races to remain segregated. But after a pilgrimage to Mecca, he renounced those views and broke ties with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, as he prepared to give a speech in a Manhattan ballroom. Two of the men convicted in the killing later cut all ties with the Nation of Islam. We have two interviews with Malcolm X On WMCA's Barry Gray Show in 1960, and on WNYC with Eleanor Fischer in 1961. 

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Comic strips first began appearing in newspapers during the late 1800s. In most of the 20th century there were at least 200 different comic strips and cartoon panels appearing in American newspapers every day. Many cartoon characters were adapted for radio, and a few remain popular. Blondie was created in 1930 by cartoonist Chic Young. In 1939 the Blondie Show appeared on radio and lasted until 1950. We'll hear an episode from 1940. Beetle Bailey and other characters were featured on the Comic Weekly Man Show. From 1947 to 1954 Lon Clark would read comics from the newspapers and perform all the male voices. We'll hear an episode from 1953. Archie Andrews was created by John Goldwater, Bob Montana, and Vic Bloom in 1941. Archie first appeared on radio in 1943. We have an episode from 1946, Archie was on radio through 1953. 

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This podcast is about Billie Holiday, one of the most popular singers of the jazz age. Lady Day was born born Eleanora Fagan in 1915. While  surviving a difficult childhood she developed a unique vocal style, improvisational skills, and pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Holiday won a recording contract in 1935 and immediately produced her first big hit. "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", became an instant jazz standard. Billie Holiday remained a very popular recording artist and concert performer through the 1940s and '50s. She died of cirrhosis in 1959, at the young age of 44. Holiday won four Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. You're going to hear Lady Day help teach a course in music history on New World A Coming in 1944. She performs on the popular Arthur Godfrey Show on CBS Radio in 1947 which also features the Mariners, one of the first popular integrated singing quartets. You'll also hear Billie Holiday interviewed on CBC Radio in 1951, and she performs live at Storyville in Boston on WMEX Radio in 1953. 

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Before there was National Public Radio, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition, there was NBC Monitor, a weekend-long radio program, broadcast live and nationwide. It was an attempt compete with television which was stealing radio's audience. Monitor featured a mix of news, sports, comedy, variety, music, celebrity interviews and features. Monitor first went on the air June 12th, 1955. You will hear a segment from June 26th, 1955. Monitor ended its run in January of 1975, as many radio stations were using local DJ's and personalities instead of national network programing. In 1971 the NPR flagship program All Things Considered went on the air, using elements of the Monitor format. 

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Just like jazz, country music was on radio from the very start. One of the earliest country music programs to be broadcast was the Grand Ole Opry, which also produced the first African-American country music star. DeFord Bailey was known as a harmonica wizard, and began appearing on radio in 1925. In 1927, Bailey had the first of a series of hit records, beginning with his trademark song, "Pan American Blues". Bailey was so popular, he became the first black artist to become a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was a part of the cast until 1941, and was inducted Country Music Hall of Fame. You will hear DeFord Bailey perform on a 1940 Opry broadcast. You will also hear the second African-American to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Charlie Pride had 30 number one country hits during his long career, and he will play a few on the radio show "Here's to Veterans". You will hear Hootenanny, a 1947 show from CBS Radio featuring Country and folk superstars Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, plus African-American legends Brownie McGee, Sonny Terry, Sidney Bechet, and the Coleman Brothers. We also honor Linda Martell. The South Carolina native  was the first commercially successful black female country artist, and the first African-American woman to play the Grand Ole Opry in 1970, and went on to make 11 more appearances there. Linda Martell's first hit was Color Him Father, released in 1969. Our podcast will wrap up with Dude Martin's Radio Rancho from 1947. 

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The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1941 which was much of radio's golden age. After the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. The United States was hit by a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, and deflation. By 1933, America's poverty rate rose to over 60%. In Cleveland, Ohio the unemployment rate reached 50%, in Toledo, Ohio it topped out at 80%. To counter the doom and gloom, the radio industry filled the airwaves with happy, optimistic programs, but there were a few shows that attempted to reflect reality. You will hear 4 of them. "A matter of Life and Death" from the Columbia Workshop in 1937, "Kiss and Jail" from Redbook Dramas in 1932, "Behold the Man" from the Columbia Workshop in 1938, and "A Man's Castle" from Lux Radio Theater in 1939. 

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Ken interviews Tim Dimoff of SACs Security & Investigative Services, former ATF Agent Pat Beraducci,  and Winnie Boyland of the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking. 

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Without question, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most visible, and celebrated leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. The legendary African American Baptist minister was the son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr. Both men advanced the cause of civil rights for people of color in the United States, through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Inspired by Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of India's Mahatma Gandhi. In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality. We are going to hear Dr Martin Luther King Jr. on a 1960 edition of Meet the Press from NBC Radio. And we will hear Pacifica Radio coverage of Dr King speaking to anti-war activists incarcerated at Santa Rita Prison in California, on January 14th, 1968, less than 3 months before his untimely death in Memphis Tennessee.  

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SEIU's Anthony Caldwell reveals how to get union representation at your workplace. The Ford Motor Company says there's a serious shortage of auto technicians. Mechanic and author Mary Jackson explains how to have your car repaired without being taken for a ride. 

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