![On [The Divided Dial]: Fishing In The Night - podcast episode cover](https://assets.metacast.app/images/episode/artwork/ChcnxB4b)
On [The Divided Dial]: Fishing In The Night
Summary
This episode delves into the fascinating history of shortwave radio, from its early promise as a utopian tool for global connection to its evolution into a powerful instrument for government propaganda during WWII and the Cold War. It explores how shortwave became a battleground for ideological conflicts and later, after the Cold War, a haven for extremist groups, setting the stage for surprising modern developments.Episode description
Have you heard On the Media’s Peabody-winning series The Divided Dial?
It’s awesome and you should, and now you will. In this episode they tell the story of shortwave radio: the way-less-listened to but way-farther-reaching cousin of AM and FM radio. The medium was once heralded as a utopian, international, and instantaneous mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet.
But, like the internet, many people quickly saw the power of this new technology and found ways to harness it. State leaders turned it into a propaganda machine, weaponizing the airwaves to try and shape politics around the world. And as shortwave continued to evolve, like the internet, it became fragmented, easily accessible, and right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists and cult leaders found homes on the different shortwave frequencies.
And even today - again, like the internet - people with money are looking to buy up this mass-communication tool in the hopes of … making more money.
This is episode one from the second season of The Divided Dial a limited series from On The Media.
- Listen on Spotify (https://zpr.io/hKCcFEGTLb5a)
- Listen on Apple Podcasts (https://zpr.io/tQ86YmEmiivR)
- Listen on the WNYC App (iTunes, Android)
- Listen to the full Divided Dial series (https://www.onthemedia.org/dial)
- Follow On The Media on Instagram @onthemedia
The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!
Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.
Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.