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

by Susan J. Douglas

Susan Douglas, author of the much praised Where the Girls Are , explores how radio -- how we listened, where we listened, and whom we listened to -- has influenced the national psyche.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Music, American History, Ebooks

415 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Susan J. Douglas is a prize-winning author, columnist, and cultural critic, and the Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor of Communication Studies at The University of Michigan. Her book Where the Girls Are was widely praised, and chosen one of the top ten books of 1994 by National Public Radio, Entertainment Weekly and The McLaughlin Group. In her most recent book, Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism’s Work Is Done (Henry Holt, 2010) Douglas continues her analysis of the mixed messages surrounding women, and the struggle she sees in the media between embedded feminism on the one hand and enlightened sexism on the other. And she takes on the myth that women “have it all” and that full equality for women has been achieved. She has lectured at colleges and universities around the country, and has appeared on The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Working Woman, CNBC's Equal Time, NPR's Fresh Air, Weekend Edition, The Diane Rehm Show, Talk of the Nation, and Michael Feldman’s Whad’ya Know.

She is also the author of The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How it Undermines Women (with Meredith Michaels, The Free Press, 2004); Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination (Times Books, 1999), which won the Hacker Prize in 2000 for the best popular book about technology and culture, and Inventing American Broadcasting, 1899-1922 (Johns Hopkins, 1987). Douglas has written for The Nation, In These Times, The Village Voice, Ms., The Washington Post and TV Guide, and was media critic for The Progressive from 1992-1998. Her column “Back Talk” appears monthly in In These Times.

Douglas is the 2010 Chair of the Board of The George Foster Peabody Awards, one of the most prestigious prizes in electronic media, which recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious service by radio and television networks, stations, producing organizations, cable television organizations, websites and individuals. In 1999 she was also named an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor for excellence in undergraduate education. She has a daughter, Ella, and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband, T.R. Durham.

Reviews

[Ken Dowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any interest at all in the history of radio in America, this is the book to read. How could you not, after all, love an author who introduces Mitch Miller as the “fuddy-duddy host of the sappy ‘Sing Along with Mitch.’”

Douglas notes some of the dates and milestones of radio’s growth, but she is far more interested in what it is like and what it means to listen and how that fuels the imagination. This could well be considered a work of sociology as well as history as it delves into how radio has created communities and fueled youthful rejection of mainstream culture in the 20’s, in the 50’s and again in the 60’s.

Throughout its history radio is a medium that has been dominated by men. The author devotes considerable attention to what different trends in radio mean about men’s perception of themselves in different eras. For example she describes how the nuances of the language used by the radio comedians of the 30’s reflected a “feminization” as opposed the reassertion of maleness that emanated from the war correspondents of the 40’s.

One of my favorites parts of this history is how the author treats the emergence of television not as killing off radio but rather as reviving the medium with a new energy and youthfulness. In the 50’s radio provided the sound track for the flowering of teen culture, as it did a decade later for the 60’s counter-culture.

This is a bottom up history. Douglas has little to say about the captains of industry, the Sarnoffs and Paleys of the world. She is far more impressed by the guys who, working in their garages with a pile of wires and batteries, produced real innovation.

The book ends on a somewhat troubled note as corporate consolidation, advertisers, ratings services and radio consultants have combined to turn radio into a characterless vehicle for fixed playlist formats, leaving no room for experimentation or discovery. Since in the past every slide into corporate mediocrity has been met with a new wave of more imaginative radio, she ponders where that may come from. The book was written in 1999, so things like streaming, internet and satellite radio are not on her radar. While satellite has become as beholden to sterile formats as most of commercial radio, the internet opens up an opportunity for the innovators that’s not limited by bandwidth.

[D. Travers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just the history of radio but a focus on practices of listening, making it ideal for a sound studies class. Throughout, Douglas also makes great connections between technology, listening, and gender, making it great for gender studies classes as well.

[Nicholas Sabo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic critical overview of early radio to the early 2000s. Surprising inclusions in a fantastic way, not too focused on music.

[Lilly Irani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting cultural history of American radio from the 1920s through the 1990s. She does a really nice job of bringing together the experiential aspects -- how radio shows and communication styles let people imagine themselves as parts of larger communities -- and the economic and policy forces that shaped the medium (and the experience, in turn).

If you're really interested in how the internet shapes publics and consciousness, you should read this book. The history of radio has much to teach and we need more of this style of work for the internet.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sort of straddles the line between being a textbook and being a book for popular consumption, so how much you'd like it probably depends on how much rigor you want. If you want a surprisingly readable textbook on the subject, this is perfect. But for me, and probably for most people not taking a media studies class, it winds up being a somewhat dry, overly comprehensive approach.

[Tom Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although released several years ago, this book provides an interesting and provocative overview of the development of radio listening over the years with valuable analyses from a psychological perspective. I found it NOT to be an "easy" read, but it was worthwhile and informative.

[Darin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very comprehensive history of radio. It explains the changes in technology and formats and how that affects the way the general public listens. It is very concise through the late 1980's.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first academic book I've read cover-to-cover in a long time. Very compelling, detailed. A model.

[John Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for a radio buff. I'll read parts of it again and go back to explore some references made.

[Dscotthep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious and boring! I had a hard time finishing this for lack of interest.
Ms. Douglas repeatedly references "History of Broadcasting in the United States". I think that's the book I should have read.

[John Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written! Love radio comedy and rock 'n' roll!

[christine. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading it for school, for my Intro to Electronic Media Class

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

skimmed for thesis --