In Breaking Walls Episode 70, we’re celebrating the month of December by spotlighting The Jack Benny Program. Jack Benny was the highest rated comedian of his era. Beginning on radio in 1932, he was a radio mainstay until 1958. The programs’ Christmas shows are some of their most famous.

Highlights:

• Jack’s beginnings in Waukegan, IL

• How Jack began playing the violin.

• His transition to comedy

• How Ed Sullivan changed Jack’s career in 1932

• How Jack Benny saved Jell-O

• The secret to Jack’s comedic success

• How Jack Benny was a situation comedy pioneer

• What Bugs Bunny and Bing Crosby have in common

• How Jack Benny used a tax loophole to change the entertainment industry’s entire tax structure

• How Jack helped CBS become the broadcasting giant of the 1950s

life after radio and television

• A gentle man

The episodes featured in today’s broadcast were from:

December 11, 1938

December 18, 1938

December 24, 1944

March 16, 1947

December 26, 1948

December 31, 1953

Special thanks to Chuck Schaden for his interviews with Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Don Wilson, and Jack Benny. The full versions of these interviews are all available to stream for free or to download for a small fee at SpeakingofRadio.com. I’d also like to thank Dick Bertel and the late Ed Corcoran for their interviews with Elliot Lewis and Mel Blanc. All of their interviews from the 1970s hartford-based Golden Age of Radio program can be found at the Old Time Radio Researchers Library at OTRRLibrary.org

Reading material used in this episode:

The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

Raised on Radio by Gerald Nachman

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 69, I talk about some of the things I’m most grateful for this year. For the past four months I’ve been working on a podcast that will launch in January on The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

These 17 goals are an incredibly important initiative to end world poverty, reduce inequality, provide climate action, take care of life on land and below water, and create a more sustainable, economical rising world that’s better educated and gender equal.

Through the podcast I’ve met people like Robert and Barney Swan of 2041 http://www.2041.com. Rob’s the first man to ever walk to both the North and South Poles. He (now 61) and his son Barney (23) are currently walking the 600 mile journey to the South Pole using only renewable energy sources. The point to this exhibition is to drive awareness for conservation. If we can remove 326 million cubic tons of C02 from the atmosphere by 2025, we’ll help keep more of Antarctica from melting, and in turn keep earth’s climate stable. It’s simple. If we plant a tree, make sure to recycle, and get involved with like-minded people, we’ll all be able to make a difference.

You’ll notice (if you’re watching) that the shirt I’m wearing is from Nalu https://nalu.com. They’re a fashion brand founded by a teenage sister and brother, Dali and Finn Schonfelder. This socially conscious brand donates school uniforms to children in need in developing nations like India, where school uniforms are mandatory and unprovided by the government after 12 years of age. They employ local tailors and seamstresses to help bolster the local economy while keeping kids in school and keeping young girls from being married and young boys from a hard life in a factory. This breaks the poverty cycle. We can all help just from buying a shirt.

We’ll be expanding the Breaking Walls t-shirt line currently available here - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/ to include more community activism with both sweaters and hats. Portions of the proceeds will go to help local kids. This way we’re not just talking about unity, we’re doing something to help.

Breaking Walls Episode 70 will premiere on December 1, 2017 and will celebrate the Jack Benny Program’s christmas episodes from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

Stay tuned. And keep getting out there, and keep breaking those walls!

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 69, I talk about some of the things I’m most grateful for this year. For the past four months I’ve been working on a podcast that will launch in January on The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

These 17 goals are an incredibly important initiative to end world poverty, reduce inequality, provide climate action, take care of life on land and below water, and create a more sustainable, economical rising world that’s better educated and gender equal.

Through the podcast I’ve met people like Robert and Barney Swan of 2041 http://www.2041.com. Rob’s the first man to ever walk to both the North and South Poles. He (now 61) and his son Barney (23) are currently walking the 600 mile journey to the South Pole using only renewable energy sources. The point to this exhibition is to drive awareness for conservation. If we can remove 326 million cubic tons of C02 from the atmosphere by 2025, we’ll help keep more of Antarctica from melting, and in turn keep earth’s climate stable. It’s simple. If we plant a tree, make sure to recycle, and get involved with like-minded people, we’ll all be able to make a difference.

You’ll notice (if you’re watching) that the shirt I’m wearing is from Nalu https://nalu.com. They’re a fashion brand founded by a teenage sister and brother, Dali and Finn Schonfelder. This socially conscious brand donates school uniforms to children in need in developing nations like India, where school uniforms are mandatory and unprovided by the government after 12 years of age. They employ local tailors and seamstresses to help bolster the local economy while keeping kids in school and keeping young girls from being married and young boys from a hard life in a factory. This breaks the poverty cycle. We can all help just from buying a shirt.

We’ll be expanding the Breaking Walls t-shirt line currently available here - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/ to include more community activism with both sweaters and hats. Portions of the proceeds will go to help local kids. This way we’re not just talking about unity, we’re doing something to help.

Breaking Walls Episode 70 will premiere on December 1, 2017 and will celebrate the Jack Benny Program’s christmas episodes from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

Stay tuned. And keep getting out there, and keep breaking those walls!

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 69, I talk about some of the things I’m most grateful for this year. For the past four months I’ve been working on a podcast that will launch in January on The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

These 17 goals are an incredibly important initiative to end world poverty, reduce inequality, provide climate action, take care of life on land and below water, and create a more sustainable, economical rising world that’s better educated and gender equal.

Through the podcast I’ve met people like Robert and Barney Swan of 2041 http://www.2041.com. Rob’s the first man to ever walk to both the North and South Poles. He (now 61) and his son Barney (23) are currently walking the 600 mile journey to the South Pole using only renewable energy sources. The point to this exhibition is to drive awareness for conservation. If we can remove 326 million cubic tons of C02 from the atmosphere by 2025, we’ll help keep more of Antarctica from melting, and in turn keep earth’s climate stable. It’s simple. If we plant a tree, make sure to recycle, and get involved with like-minded people, we’ll all be able to make a difference.

You’ll notice (if you’re watching) that the shirt I’m wearing is from Nalu https://nalu.com. They’re a fashion brand founded by a teenage sister and brother, Dali and Finn Schonfelder. This socially conscious brand donates school uniforms to children in need in developing nations like India, where school uniforms are mandatory and unprovided by the government after 12 years of age. They employ local tailors and seamstresses to help bolster the local economy while keeping kids in school and keeping young girls from being married and young boys from a hard life in a factory. This breaks the poverty cycle. We can all help just from buying a shirt.

We’ll be expanding the Breaking Walls t-shirt line currently available here - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/ to include more community activism with both sweaters and hats. Portions of the proceeds will go to help local kids. This way we’re not just talking about unity, we’re doing something to help.

Breaking Walls Episode 70 will premiere on December 1, 2017 and will celebrate the Jack Benny Program’s christmas episodes from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

Stay tuned. And keep getting out there, and keep breaking those walls!

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 69, I talk about some of the things I’m most grateful for this year. For the past four months I’ve been working on a podcast that will launch in January on The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

These 17 goals are an incredibly important initiative to end world poverty, reduce inequality, provide climate action, take care of life on land and below water, and create a more sustainable, economical rising world that’s better educated and gender equal.

Through the podcast I’ve met people like Robert and Barney Swan of 2041 http://www.2041.com. Rob’s the first man to ever walk to both the North and South Poles. He (now 61) and his son Barney (23) are currently walking the 600 mile journey to the South Pole using only renewable energy sources. The point to this exhibition is to drive awareness for conservation. If we can remove 326 million cubic tons of C02 from the atmosphere by 2025, we’ll help keep more of Antarctica from melting, and in turn keep earth’s climate stable. It’s simple. If we plant a tree, make sure to recycle, and get involved with like-minded people, we’ll all be able to make a difference.

You’ll notice (if you’re watching) that the shirt I’m wearing is from Nalu https://nalu.com. They’re a fashion brand founded by a teenage sister and brother, Dali and Finn Schonfelder. This socially conscious brand donates school uniforms to children in need in developing nations like India, where school uniforms are mandatory and unprovided by the government after 12 years of age. They employ local tailors and seamstresses to help bolster the local economy while keeping kids in school and keeping young girls from being married and young boys from a hard life in a factory. This breaks the poverty cycle. We can all help just from buying a shirt.

We’ll be expanding the Breaking Walls t-shirt line currently available here - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/ to include more community activism with both sweaters and hats. Portions of the proceeds will go to help local kids. This way we’re not just talking about unity, we’re doing something to help.

Breaking Walls Episode 70 will premiere on December 1, 2017 and will celebrate the Jack Benny Program’s christmas episodes from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

Stay tuned. And keep getting out there, and keep breaking those walls!

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 69, I talk about some of the things I’m most grateful for this year. For the past four months I’ve been working on a podcast that will launch in January on The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

These 17 goals are an incredibly important initiative to end world poverty, reduce inequality, provide climate action, take care of life on land and below water, and create a more sustainable, economical rising world that’s better educated and gender equal.

Through the podcast I’ve met people like Robert and Barney Swan of 2041 http://www.2041.com. Rob’s the first man to ever walk to both the North and South Poles. He (now 61) and his son Barney (23) are currently walking the 600 mile journey to the South Pole using only renewable energy sources. The point to this exhibition is to drive awareness for conservation. If we can remove 326 million cubic tons of C02 from the atmosphere by 2025, we’ll help keep more of Antarctica from melting, and in turn keep earth’s climate stable. It’s simple. If we plant a tree, make sure to recycle, and get involved with like-minded people, we’ll all be able to make a difference.

You’ll notice (if you’re watching) that the shirt I’m wearing is from Nalu https://nalu.com. They’re a fashion brand founded by a teenage sister and brother, Dali and Finn Schonfelder. This socially conscious brand donates school uniforms to children in need in developing nations like India, where school uniforms are mandatory and unprovided by the government after 12 years of age. They employ local tailors and seamstresses to help bolster the local economy while keeping kids in school and keeping young girls from being married and young boys from a hard life in a factory. This breaks the poverty cycle. We can all help just from buying a shirt.

We’ll be expanding the Breaking Walls t-shirt line currently available here - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/ to include more community activism with both sweaters and hats. Portions of the proceeds will go to help local kids. This way we’re not just talking about unity, we’re doing something to help.

Breaking Walls Episode 70 will premiere on December 1, 2017 and will celebrate the Jack Benny Program’s christmas episodes from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

Stay tuned. And keep getting out there, and keep breaking those walls!

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 68, we welcome November’s theme of “Gratitude” with an interactive look back at Norman Corwin’s radio plays, originally heard on U.S. radio around Thanksgiving of 1941. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn from 1941 in 2017. That’s a scary thought! Perhaps the world isn’t in nearly as bad of a place today as we imagine? If we want to learn some lessons from the Americans that lived 76 years ago, radio—the main entertainment medium of the day—seems like a good place to start.

Featured on today’s episode will be:

The Columbia Workshop - Pslam for a Dark Year, originally broadcast on 11/9/1941

The Screen Guild Theater - Between Americans, originally broadcast on 12/7/1941

We Hold These Truths - originally broadcast on 12/15/1941

And interviews with Norman Corwin in 1976 and 2004.

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 68, we welcome November’s theme of “Gratitude” with an interactive look back at Norman Corwin’s radio plays, originally heard on U.S. radio around Thanksgiving of 1941. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn from 1941 in 2017. That’s a scary thought! Perhaps the world isn’t in nearly as bad of a place today as we imagine? If we want to learn some lessons from the Americans that lived 76 years ago, radio—the main entertainment medium of the day—seems like a good place to start.

Featured on today’s episode will be:

The Columbia Workshop - Pslam for a Dark Year, originally broadcast on 11/9/1941

The Screen Guild Theater - Between Americans, originally broadcast on 12/7/1941

We Hold These Truths - originally broadcast on 12/15/1941

And interviews with Norman Corwin in 1976 and 2004.

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 68, we welcome November’s theme of “Gratitude” with an interactive look back at Norman Corwin’s radio plays, originally heard on U.S. radio around Thanksgiving of 1941. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn from 1941 in 2017. That’s a scary thought! Perhaps the world isn’t in nearly as bad of a place today as we imagine? If we want to learn some lessons from the Americans that lived 76 years ago, radio—the main entertainment medium of the day—seems like a good place to start.

Featured on today’s episode will be:

The Columbia Workshop - Pslam for a Dark Year, originally broadcast on 11/9/1941

The Screen Guild Theater - Between Americans, originally broadcast on 12/7/1941

We Hold These Truths - originally broadcast on 12/15/1941

And interviews with Norman Corwin in 1976 and 2004.

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 68, we welcome November’s theme of “Gratitude” with an interactive look back at Norman Corwin’s radio plays, originally heard on U.S. radio around Thanksgiving of 1941. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn from 1941 in 2017. That’s a scary thought! Perhaps the world isn’t in nearly as bad of a place today as we imagine? If we want to learn some lessons from the Americans that lived 76 years ago, radio—the main entertainment medium of the day—seems like a good place to start.

Featured on today’s episode will be:

The Columbia Workshop - Pslam for a Dark Year, originally broadcast on 11/9/1941

The Screen Guild Theater - Between Americans, originally broadcast on 12/7/1941

We Hold These Truths - originally broadcast on 12/15/1941

And interviews with Norman Corwin in 1976 and 2004.

WallBreakers Links:

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/