When Radio Ruled

By Mike Gillett - the BeforeTV Project

A look at Old Time Radio and the world around it. A chronological look at the original mass media.... more

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FAQs about When Radio Ruled:

How many episodes does When Radio Ruled have?

The podcast currently has 151 episodes available.

When Radio Ruled episodes:

September 01, 2025 When Radio Ruled #141 – 3 Best Variety Shows of the 1930s
The first generation of radio talent, performers, directors, and writers came from the worlds of vaudeville, minstrel shows and Broadway revues. All forms of variety theater, so it isn’t any wonder that the variety show quickly emerged as a common Radio format.
Here are the three Old Time Radio shows from the 1930’s I feel best exemplify the variety format, and the reasons why.
I expect you, dear listener, might respectfully disagree with my choices. Leave me a comment on my blog, BeforeTVBlog.com, I’d love to hear your opinions.
Meanwhile, give a listen to:
Al Jolson
Fred Allen
Portland Hoffa
Rudy Vallee
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Don Ameche
Dorothy Lamour
Nelson Eddy
Jimmy Dorsey
Bob Burns
And More
Great Variety is Just a Click Away!
...more
0min
August 17, 2025 When Radio Ruled #140 – SoundScape 1939 part 16
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
August 27 – September 5, 1939
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Picking up Girls with Alan Mowbray!
The Most Fateful Broadcast in History!
On the Boat with Edgar and Charlie!
Nutrition with Vera Vague!
The Invasion of Poland!
And More!!
Featuring:
Dorothy Lamour
Don Ameche
Donald Dixon
Alan Mowbray
Robert Young
Meredith Wilson
Alice Faye
Louis B. Mayer
Fanny Brice
Hanley Stafford
John Steele
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Vera Vague
President Franklin Roosevelt
Fibber McGee and Molly And More!
Click Here to Visit 1939 with Your Ear!!
...more
1h 4min
August 10, 2025 When Radio Ruled #139 – Vera Vague 1939
Sometimes an actor playing a character becomes so popular with their audience that it becomes more than a character, it becomes a persona that the actor inhabits.
Such was the case with Vera Vague, a creation of actor/writer Babara Jo Allen.
Vera Vague was a constant presence on Old Time Radio, man-hungry, misinformed, and most amusing.
Guest Starring:
Edgar Bergen
Charlie McCarthy
Don Ameche
And
Rudy Vallee
Click Here to Hear Vera Vague 1939!!
...more
49min
August 03, 2025 When Radio Ruled #138 – SoundScape 1939 part 15 July 30-August 13, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Donald Dixon Tries to Tell a Joke!
Charlie McCarthy Interior Decorator!
Charlie McCarthy Astronomer!
Charlie McCarthy Coin Collector!
Charlie McCarthy Boy Scout!
Charlie McCarthy Talent Agent!
And More!!
Featuring:
Don Ameche
Dorothy Lamour
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Donald Dixon
Kay Frances
Josephine Hutchinson
Mischa Auer
Beatrice Kay
Nelson Eddy
Vera Vague
Joan Blondell
And More!
Click Here to Hear this Here SoundScape!
...more
1h 12min
July 26, 2025 When Radio Ruled #137 – Fred Allen’s People You Didn’t Expect to Meet 1939
Fred Allen and the people you didn’t expect to meet 1939.
Fred Allen was famously a control freak on his radio shows. Although he used a staff of writers, it was just to generate ideas and jokes that would be incorporated into the final script that Fred always wrote personally.
Each minute of those shows were a reflection of Fred, including his frequent on air conversations from many folks from many walks of life.
I, personally, am grateful to Fred for helping me to appreciate the lives lived by folks in that past by allowing those folks to tell their own stories.
I think you will also enjoy those real life stories.
Give Old Fred’s 1939 Conversations a Listen!
...more
1h 2min
July 19, 2025 When Radio Ruled #136-SoundScape 1939 part 14
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Meet a Real English Butler!
Edgar Bergen Gets Airsick!
The Pie Eyed Piper of Hamlin!
And More!!
Featuring:
Cecil B Demille
Charlie McCarthy
Dorothy Lamour
Don Ameche
Edgar Bergen
Andrea Leeds
Donald Dixon
Vera Vague
Ida Lupino
And More!
Click Here for a Nice Hot Earful of 1939!!
...more
56min
July 11, 2025 When Radio Ruled #135 – Origins of the Mutual Network 1934-39
Old Time Radio was dog eat dog, CBS and NBC scooped up the all the best stations and biggest talent, leaving all the little local stations in the dust.
Not all the independent stations wanted to let NBC and CBS run away with their audiences
In 1934 WGN and 3 other independents, WOR in New York, WLW in Cincinnati, and WXYZ in Detroit entered into a program sharing agreement. They called themselves the Mutual Network but they were more Mutual than Network. There was a coordination committee, but the real power was with the individual stations who maintained their autonomy as equals.
It was a bottom-up business model. Socialized Radio that shared shows for a several hours a week, but also did their own local thing with the lion’s share of their airtime.
From these humble beginnings, Mutual would grow to cover the entire country and compete head to head with NBC and CBS.
Click Here for the Origins of Mutual
...more
39min
July 05, 2025 When Radio Ruled #134-SoundScape 1939 part 13
Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live June 29 to July 9, 1939.
Chronologically curated clips of live broadcasts from popular shows of the day.
History told by the people living it, as reported by radio.
In Today’s SoundScape:
The Making of Wizard of Oz
Meadow Mouse Grabs 40 Winks!
Charlie and Edgar visit the Grand Canyon!
Featuring:
Judy Garland
Harold Arlen
Robert Young
Bert Lahr
Ray Bolger
Frank Morgan
Don Ameche
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Donald Dixon
Dorothy Lamour
Jackie Cooper
Alan Mowbray
Cecil B DeMiille
H.V. Kaltenborn
The Green Hornet
Tony Galento
1939 for Your Ears is Just a Click Away!
...more
1h 7min
June 27, 2025 When Radio Ruled #133 -Orson Welles and Guests 1939
Voices from 1939 talking with one of the Greatest Voices on Old Time Radio
In 1939 Orson Welles was only 24 years old but a veteran of Radio. He’d been a regular on The March of Time and was enjoying a very successful run playing the Shadow.
These excerpts are from the Campbell Playhouse in 1939, previously named Mercury Theater of the Air.
These interviews were a regular feature of the Campbell Playhouse. And were meant to deepen the audience understanding of that week’s Radio Play.
FEATURING:
Orson Welles
Dorothy Hall
The Warden of Sing-Sing Prison
Laurence Olivier
Noah Beery
Jane Allen
Pearl Buck
Anna Mae Wong
John P. Maquand
George Jean Nathan
Gertrude Lawrence
Mary Astor
Paulette Goddard
Edna Furber
And More!!
Orson Welles Awaits! Click Here to Hear!!
...more
49min
June 20, 2025 When Radio Ruled #132 – SoundScape 1939 part 12
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
The Town Hall News!
A Newsreel Camera Man!
Fred Allen Bad Mouths Jack Benny!
Life Begins at 40!
And More
Featuring:
Cecil B DeMille
Dr. Ronald W. McCorkle
Fibber McGee and Molly
Harry Van Steeden
Fred Allen
Portland Hoffa
The Merry Macs
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Phil Harris
Mary Livingstone
Andy Devine
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Edgar Bergen
Charlie McCarthy
Don Ameche
Ginger Rogers
And More!
Click Here To Take a Trip to 1939!
...more
1h 8min

FAQs about When Radio Ruled:

How many episodes does When Radio Ruled have?

The podcast currently has 151 episodes available.