In this episode we hear about Himan Brown’s childhood and family background. Brown recalls the experience of growing up in the Jewish immigrant community in Brownsville, Brooklyn (which included run-ins with a youthful Bugsy Siegel), his hard-working father and his early professional experiences with mentors like Moss Hart (who started by casting him as Fanny Brice.)

This episode features excerpts from Alfred Kazin’s A Walker in the City. (A WALKER IN THE CITY by Alfred Kazin. Copyright © 1951, 1946 by Alfred Kazin. Copyright Renewed 1979, 1974 by Alfred Kazin, used by permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.)

Credits

- Executive Producers: Melina Brown, Sarah Montague

- Executive Director, CUNY TV: Chiqui Cartagena

- Director of Production, CUNY TV: Susan Iger

- Producer/Director: Sarah Montague

- Narrator: Margot Avery

- Concept and Script: Sarah Montague

- Associate Producer: Corinne Wallace

- Audio Production intern: Lucia Funaro

- Audio Engineer, CUNY TV: Lisa Gosselin

- Senior Audio Engineer, CUNY TV: Richard Kim

- Mixing: Lisa Gosselin

- Sound design and final mixing: John DeLore and Bart Warshaw

- Staff photographer, CUNY TV: Laura Fuchs

- Script editor: Allison Behringer

- Script reviewer: Zach Sansted

- Composer: Allison Leyton-Brown

- Archivists, CUNY TV: David Rice, Catriona Schlosser

- Branding and Graphic Design: Shae McMullin

- Publicity & Marketing: Multitude

- Audio Maverick was produced at THE HIMAN BROWN TV AND RADIO STUDIOS at CUNY TV, and made possible by the Radio Drama Network

About Us

The history of radio crackles to life with Audio Maverick, a 9-part documentary about one of the most visionary figures in radio, Himan Brown. Explore the Golden Age of radio through Brown's life, as we travel from the birth of audio drama to the programs that brought millions of families into their living rooms every night.

CUNY TV and the Himan Brown Archive assemble the story of how radio became an entertainment medium through archival audio of some of the most famous audio dramas, contemporary interviews with media scholars, and discussions with a new generation of audio mavericks that he inspired. New episodes monthly.