Radio Journeys

Here's the missing episode: Radio Journeys 76. Production was started, but not completed, until now! But all things work out for the best, and this week, a mistake becomes a special podcast... a double-feature, this week on Radio Journeys, with episodes 76 and 77 posted in the same week. Enjoy not one, but two hours of radio serials from 1932.

Radio Journeys is the only OTR show that presents original serials from the early '30s in their entirety and in original order. Journey with us to 1932, as we hear the latest episodes of the Redbook Dramas (from August 25 of that year), the Family Doctor (episode 29), Si and Elmer (episode 50), and the World Adventurers' Club (episode 5). A radio time capsule, every podcast, on Radio Journeys.

Yes, more of the serials of 1932, this week on Radio Journeys, the only OTR show anywhere that presents all known series in their original order and as completely as possible. This week's episodes: Redbook Magazine Dramas from August 11, 1932; The Family Doctor, episode 27; Si and Elmer, episode 28; and The World Adventurers' Club, episode 3, the Pancho Villa Adventure.

This week, we hear the second surviving episode of Ed Wynn's Texaco Fire Chief, as heard on August 9, 1932. But first... the strange tale of "Amalgamated," the radio network that very nearly "was." And, of course, the next installments of Family Doctor and Si & Elmer.

This week, the serials of '32 are back, with another episode of the Redbook Dramas, Family Doctor, Si and Elmer, and the World Adventurers' Club (program ad pictured at right). But first, one last look at early radio history, with a little more consideration of the first broadcasters--what were the "other" firsts in early radio?

It's been one of the most hotly contested titles in broadcasting: "The First Radio Station." At least four stations in North America have tried to claim it. The most famous of these, and perhaps the most widely accepted, is KDKA Pittsburgh, whose broadcast of election returns on November 2, 1920, has long been thought of as the inauguration of broadcasting. But history is more complex than that. There is WWJ in Detroit, whose amateur predecessor (The Detroit News' 8MK) had a daily schedule three months before KDKA. There is CFCF in Montreal, which received a government broadcasting license in May 1920. And then there is KCBS San Francisco, which traces its lineage to KQW and the early broadcasts of Charles Herrold, as early as 1909. This week, in the third and final special on the origins of radio and broadcasting, we hear from two of these stations--KDKA and KQW--each asserting that it was the first. We hear KDKA's argument through an episode of "Adventures in Research," originally broadcast on December 30,

This week, Radio Journeys continues its special look at the origins of radio and broadcasting. In a unique, extended episode, we hear one of the most historic of all radio recordings: The earliest known recording of a complete radio program, a broadcast from 1924. This broadcast was also pioneering in many ways, most importantly as the first trans-continental network broadcast, with a chain of stations from Boston to San Francisco linked by AT&T telephone cable. It is significant as a document of general American history, as well. To find out why, have a listen. Radio of the most historic caliber, for New Year's, on Radio Journeys.

This Christmas Eve, 2006, is the 100th Anniversary of broadcasting... the 100th anniversary of the very first transmission of voice and music. This week, in a special, unusual presentation, we commemorate the man who invented radio as we know it today, Reginald Fessenden. In an exclusive interview, we talk with Dr. John Belrose, one of the foremost experts on Fessenden, and we hear Belrose's technical simulations of Fessenden's first voice transmissions. We ask the question, "Who was really the 'Father of Radio,' Marconi, as is commonly assumed, or Fessenden, who was for many years forgotten, but is now being reassessed?"Then, we continue peeking into the very origins of radio, listening to the oldest known recording of a radio transmission... a bit of spark-gap radio from 1910.It's a once-in-a lifetime Christmas this year... a chance for radio enthusiasts to reflect on the origins, and we do it here, exclusively on Radio Journeys.

This week, we inaugurate a new serial. Listen to find out which one we've chosen! Plus three serials continue: Redbook Dramas, with an episode dated July 28, 1932; Family Doctor, episode 24; and the return of Si and Elmer with a "new" adventure.

This week, the second episode of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1932, as we continue our special look at this seminal radio program. We feature the origins of "Baby Snooks," who first appeared on the radio through the Ziegfeld Follies. Plus, the last installment of Kay Kyser's orchestra, and another episode of the Family Doctor.

Radio Journeys returns after a two-week break for a much-needed studio upgrade. And this week, we pay tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld, the master promoter who only tasted radio fame in the last few months of his life. In the first of two podcasts focusing on Ziegfeld, we take a long look at his career, and the enormous legacy he left to American entertainment in general, and to radio in particular. Then, after installments of Kay Kyser and the Family Doctor, we hear the very first episode of Ziegfeld Follies of the Air, which sadly had only a very brief run in 1932.

This week, we hear the earliest surviving episode of Ed Wynn's Texaco Fire Chief, from July 26, 1932. Not only is it the earliest surviving Wynn show, but it's one of the earliest 10 surviving recordings of network radio. We take a look at the moving story of Wynn's short career in radio, and his legacy in American comedy. Then, it's another happy set from Kay Kyser's orchestra, and episode 21 of the Family Doctor.

Just in time for Halloween... We bring you... The Witch's Tale... from July 25, 1932. We meet Old Nancy the Witch for a tale of revenge, ghosts with severed heads, and pranks gone very wrong... It's "Rockabye Baby." Halloween... as it was heard in 1932. But before that, we feature the final circulated episode of Anne of the Airlanes, plus another cheerful quarter-hour with Kay Kyser's band.

Each week, Radio Journeys presents an hour of original radio as it was broadcast in the early 1930s, featuring serials broadcast in their entirety and in their original order. This week, four more serials: Redbook Dramas for July 21, 1932; Kay Kyser and "His Southern Gentlemen;" episode 20 of The Family Doctor; and episode 29 of Anne of the Airlanes. Plus... a "new" tune, on Radio Journeys.

Radio Journeys is the only OTR program anywhere that is dedicated entirely to the earliest days of radio--the 1920s and early 1930s. Each week, we reconstruct a full hour of programming from that time pieced together from surviving recordings, and in chronological order. We follow the early 30's serials in order and in their entirety. This week, the second of eight episodes of Kay Kyser and his orchestra from 1932 or 1934. And, another Redbook Magazine Drama, The Family Doctor, and Ann of the Airlanes. The early 30's just keep rollin' along, on Radio Journeys.

This week, we hear the first of seven shows by Kay Kyser and His Orchestra, originally broadcast in 1932 or 1934... Masterpieces of early radio swing. Plus, the latest installments of our 1932 serials: Redbook Dramas, Family Doctor, and Ann of the Airlanes.

Radio Journeys is the only OTR program dedicated to the earliest days of radio, with a weekly exploration of radio as it sounded in the 1920's and early 1930's. Each week, we play one full hour of surviving programming from that time, going back as far as possible, piecing together what little remains. This week, we continue through the syndicated serials of 1932: Redbook Dramas, no. 6, "The Goat of Private Hibbs;" the last episode of Si and Elmer, "The Lost Baby and Dog," which is also the last episode of the portion available to most collectors; plus, the next installments of The Family Doctor and Ann of the Airlanes. If you've ever wondered what radio sounded and felt like so long ago, this is your place... a journey to the earliest days of radio.

This week, a special focus on Si and Elmer. After the first 40 episodes, more recordings of this quirky '30s serial do survive, but they are elusive and harder to find. Host John Grimmett has found them all, and he assesses what survives of the series. Then, into this week's installments of the serials: Redbook Dramas, Si and Elmer, Family Doctor, and Anne of the Airlanes. More pieces to fit into the puzzle... on Radio Journeys.

We're happy to be back, and we're continuing right where we left off ... with Redbook Dramas, episode 4, "Pass to Peking," a historical radioplay based on a story by Vincent Sheehan. Then, the next installments of the three serials we've been following: Si and Elmer, Family Doctor, and Ann of the Airlanes. Plus... It's the 75th anniversary of a milestone in radio. Take a guess, then listen. Hint? You'll get "just one more chance..."

Episode 3 of Redbook Dramas, from June 9, 1932, is our main feature this week, with a dramatized short story written by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, who later would go on to be a moderately successful screenwriter in the 1930's and '40's, then a pioneering t.v. scriptwriter in the 1950s. And, of course, the very next episodes of Si and Elmer, The Family Doctor, and Ann of the Airlanes.