Listening In : Radio and the American Imagination, from Amos 'n' Andy and Edward R. Murrow to Wolfman Jack and Howard Stern

by Douglas, Susan J.

• ISBN13: 9780812933000
• ISBN10: 0812933001
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Summary

Few inventions evoke such nostalgia, such deeply personal and vivid memories as radio. Ask anyone born before World War II about radio, and you'll see that person time-travel to the lost world of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Arturo Toscanini; to the jokes of Jack Benny and Burns and Allen; to the sobering commentary of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Edward R. Murrow. Those born after World War II grew up tuned to Jean Shepherd in the darkness of their bedrooms; cruising with Sam Cooke, the Beatles, or the Doors; talking back to Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger.Listening Inis the first in-depth history of how radio culture and content have kneaded and expanded the American psyche. ButListening Inis more than a history. It is also a reconsideration of what listening to radio has done to American culture in the twentieth century and how it has brought a completely new auditory dimension to our lives. Susan Douglas explores how listening has altered our day-to-day experiences and our own generational identities, cultivating different modes of listening in different eras; how radio has shaped our views of race, gender roles, ethic barriers, family dynamics, leadership, and the generation gap. How we listened, where we listened, who we listened to and why: With her trademark wit and erudition, Susan Douglas has created an eminently readable cultural history of radio that fixes its place in our lives as shaper and reflector of our passions and obsessions.

Author Biography

Susan J. Douglas, Ph.D., is a professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan -- Ann Arbor. The author of <b>Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media</b>, she lives with her husband and daughter in Ann Arbor.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	3	(19)
The Zen of Listening	22	(18)
The Ethereal World	40	(15)
Exploratory Listening in the 1920s	55	(28)
Tuning In to Jazz	83	(17)
Radio Comedy and Linguistic Slapstick	100	(24)
The Invention of the Audience	124	(37)
World War II and the Invention of Broadcast Journalism	161	(38)
Playing Fields of the Mind	199	(20)
The Kids Take Over: Transistors, DJs, and Rock 'n' Roll	219	(37)
The FM Revolution	256	(28)
Talk Talk	284	(44)
Why Ham Radio Matters	328	(19)
Conclusion: Is Listening Dead?	347	(12)
Notes	359	(32)
Index	391