Customer Reviews

Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952

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Radio Voices is a decent look at radio from the early 1900s to 1952, although Hilmes mostly skirts any discussion of radio's decline after 1945.
She amply discusses the effects of early programs such as Amos 'n Andy which were based on minstrel shows. This discussion and the racial reasons behind them is quite interesting.
However, I think the book at many points turns from an interesting discussion into a polemic, and loses its way. She discusses the "ghettoization" of women programs to the daytime schedule. I think this really disrespects women listeners of the 1920s and 30s. Yes, many of them were at home and not out working like many men, but Hilmes discusses this topic in a tone that makes it sound like the daytime schedule was "second rate" when in fact it's the women who make the purchasing choices for most households, not the men who'd be listening more at night. The audience may have been smaller during the day than at night, but it doesn't mean it's less important and certainly shouldn't be referred to as "ghettoization".
Also she discusses in condesending tones the use of radio by the government and other interests to promote America's intervention in World War II. Like many post-Vietnam academics, it's obvious she likely falsely believes we should have stayed out of that war. It's really a shame she strays into a polemic on some of these topics. Otherwise, it would have been a great book.

An outstanding, if slightly academic, homage to the glory days of live radio. Hilmes is both a fan of the medium and a critic of its development, paying special attention to radio's role in shaping American national identity. The presentation of women and various ethnic groups is one of her main concerns, but Hilmes isn't a mere PC grind; she also explores the nuances of supposed stereotypes, analyzing the degree to which these characterizations both shaped and reflected the world around them. It's fascinating to read an account of a seemingly "dead" medium... She does a great job capturing the flavor of the times, even though most of us will never be able to hear the shows she mentions. Hilmes draws upon several major media libraries, as well as extensive governmental and academic archives, mixing bureaucratic, sociological and pop cultural perspectives. Of particular interest to readers in the present day, where multinational conglomerates duke it out over the vanishing frontier of post-dotcom economy, and the FCC and Congress have sharply curtailed freedom of expression (under the guise of protecting intellectual property), is the older, earlier story of how the US government and the budding broadcast industry squelched the amatuer broadcasters of the 'teens and '20s. In some ways it's a side note to Himes' wider social concerns, but it couldn't be more timely. Recommended reading!

Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-152 is a must read for those who wish to learn about this important period in our history. It is an excellent book for those who remember those wonderful days, and for those who want to learn what their parents or grandparents were talking about!

"Radio Voices" offers an overview of the radio's impact on America. Hilmes describes the way this media interacted, effected, and was influenced by phenomenon such as urbanization, immigration, the rise consumer culture, racial tension, the notion of gender roles, WWI, and WWII. I particularly enjoyed her dealings with gender and race. Hilmes reveals the invention and propagation of racial tension as she discusses the portrayal of blacks as an uneducated group participating in society secondarily to white listeners, and most often in positions of servitude. Hilmes' treatment of women in the text reveals their suseptibility to consumerism and their exclusion from nighttime/masuline radio air time. She describes the waxing and waning acceptance of women into positions of power in the radio industry as well as the evolution of gender roles as a result of female shows such as the first soap operas (serials). The end of the text addresses the radio propaganda surrounding WWII, including the encouragement of black soldier participation and women in the workforce. Overall, I feel the text broadenend my knowledge of the radio's influence on American culture, not only between 1922-1952, but in modern society. The radio served as a means to American unification, and traces of this cultural foundation still remain profoundly engraved in the notion of what it means to be an American. After reading this text I feel I can examine, more objectively, the media I absorb today.

Please---not another PC book, full of deconstructionist jargon and only using the triple prism of the Left: race, gender and ethnicity.