PODCAST · tv
When Radio Ruled
by Mike Gillett - the BeforeTV Project
A look at Old Time Radio and the world around it. A chronological look at the original mass media.
Episodes
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When Radio Ruled #169 – Mr. Welles meet Mr. Wells October 28, 1940
Orson and H.G talk Art and War The War of The Worlds broadcast of 1938 is one of the most legendary broadcasts of Old Time Radio. The notoriety and hullabaloo that surrounded that Mercury Theater of the Air Presentation forever linked the two Mr Wells, H.G Wells and Orson Welles in the public…
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When Radio Ruled #168 – SoundScape 1940 part 4 January 21-28, 1940
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. January 21 – January 28, 1940 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. This episode brings the comedy chemistry of Orson Welles and Loretta Young, Indian Summer from Connee Boswell,...
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When Radio Ruled #167 – Popular President PreEmpts Eddie Cantor October 23, 1940
Old Time Radio was serious stuff mixed up with fun and song stuff. One night, October 23 1940, serious beat fun as the President of the United States pulled the Red Carpet out from under the Radio Stars and took over the Air Waves. Back then Radio was broadcast live on a very tight schedule. …...
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When Radio Ruled #166 – SoundScape 1940 part 3 January 11-18,1940
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. January 11 – January 18, 1940 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. This episode brings the comedy chemistry of Orson Welles and Loretta Young, Indian Summer from Connee Boswell,...
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When Radio Ruled #165 – SoundScape 1940 #2 January 7-9, 1940
January 7 – January 9, 1940 This episode delivers some serious propaganda from Father Coughlin, some serious acting from Jack Benny, some serious forgiveness from Spencer Tracy and some serious entertainment from the theater of the mind! Hop into your time machine join the rest of us back in...
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When Radio Ruled #164 – SoundScape 1940 part 1 January 2-7, 1940
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. January 02 – January 7, 1940 This episode features lots and lots of great music, mostly the legendary Glen Miller but we also get to hear from Gene Autry, Connee Boswell, as well as an unlikely Duet featuring Wallace Beery and...
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When Radio Ruled #163 – The Great Crossover 1940 Orson Welles & Jack Benny
Ask anybody you know to name old time radio stars. Jack Benny and Orson Welles will lead the list. Their names are still well known when time has brought obscurity to other old time radio stars. More than just radio actors, Jack and Orson defined the art form and set standards of quality that...
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When Radio Ruled #162 SoundScape 1939 part 31 – December 24-31, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. December 24 – December 31, 1939 The Holiday Season 1939, Christmas Eve to New Years Eve. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: When Ma knits She’s Nuts!…
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When Radio Ruled #161 – Swinging the 1930s
The very best Swing Bands at peak of their skill and Creativity playing live for our entertainment. Innovative use of instruments and musical arrangement that extend the boundaries of musical theory. Structured arrangements that made room for improvisation. The very best musicians in America...
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When Radio Ruled #160 – SoundScape 1939 part 30 December 10-21, 1939.
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. December 3 – December 10, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Smoking is good for the Nerves! It is so near Christmas!! Robert Armbruster plays a…
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When Radio Ruled #159 – SoundScape 1939 part 29, December 3-10, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. December 3 – December 10, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Murder on the Gridiron! Buttering Jack up for Christmas Presents!! Broadcast from...
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When Radio Ruled #158 – SoundScape 1939 part 28
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. November 26 – December 3, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Thanksgiving is more than Just Turkeys! Someday We’ll Be Very Proud of Our Son!…
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When Radio Ruled #157 – SoundScape 1939 part 27 November 19-26, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. November 19 – November 26, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio In today’s SoundScape: Mary’s Thanksgiving Poem Jack’s Turkey is an Ostrich! The Deacon chisels for a living!!...
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When Radio Ruled #156 – SoundScape 1939 part 26
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. November 12 – November 19, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Churchill Summarizes the First Ten Weeks of War. Mexican Jumping Beans from Your…
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When Radio Ruled #155 – SoundScape 1939 part 25, November 9-12 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day!! November 9 – November 12, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Duffy Knows all the Angles! Jack Benny sees the Dentist!! Jean Arthur meets Mortimer...
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When Radio Ruled #154 – SoundScape 1939 part 24 November 5-8 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. November 5 – November 8, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Jack and Phil are incompatible! Casting the Boys as The Women! Three Banana Splits and…
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When Radio Ruled #153 – SoundScape 1939 part 23: October 29 – November 5, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. October 29 – November 5, 1939 Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Jack Benny’s…
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When Radio Ruled #152 – A 1930s New Year Celebration
Happy New Year from Old Time Radio of the 1930s! Featuring: The History of New Year’s Day Jack Benny Mary Livingston Don Wilson Georgie Jessel Norma Talmadge Edward Arnold Dennis Day Phil Harris Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Click Here For Old Time Radio New Year Eve!!
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When Radio Ruled #151 – A 1930s Christmas
Holiday Spirit from 1937, 1938, and 1939as served up by Old Time Radio! Christmas Time is here again. A time when us older folks reconnect with the child we once were. Moments from past Christmases relived, smiles and tears remembered. Longing and gratitude and the laughter of those we’ve lost.…
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When Radio Ruled #150 – SoundScape 1939 part 22
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. October 23 – October 29, 1939 A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Gildersleeve throws a Halloween Party! The Question of the Week! The Great Frederick...
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When Radio Ruled #149 – SoundScape 1939 part 21 October 15-22, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 15 through October 22, 1939. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Fibber McGee and Giidersleeve Argue!...
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When Radio Ruled #148 – OTR Thanksgiving 2025
Happy Thanksgiving!! The concept of Thanksgiving is as ancient as ancient can be. Harvest festivals dedicated to the god or gods currently in fashion as thanks for abundance and the survival it would provide. But like so many things, Americans have made thanksgiving their very own with traditions...
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When Radio Ruled #147 – SoundScape 1939 part 20
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 8 through October 15, 1939. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: What the Jack Benny cast did on Summer...
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When Radio Ruled #146 – SoundScape 1939 part 19
Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 1 through October 8, 1939. Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Charlie McCarthy’s in Need of...
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When Radio Ruled #145 – Halloween 2025
At Halloween the thin boundary between living and dead dissolves so that ghosts, goblins, and the sins we thought long buried come back to feast on our fright filled souls. Day of the dead, all souls day, two thousand years ago the Pagen Celts called it Samhin, we call it Halloween. The time when...
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When Radio Ruled #144 – SoundScape 1939 part 18 September 21-28 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. September 21 –September 28, 1939 History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Tap Dancing on the Radio! Charlie McCarthy back to School! Funny stories from David Niven Women can...
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When Radio Ruled 143 – Birth of the SitCom
Early American entertainment included the circus, the minstrel show, vaudeville, broadway revues, all popular forms of the variety show. And it was talent from those stage shows that created radio. But radio wasn’t the same as the stage. Radio was different manifesting new possibilities for...
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When Radio Ruled 142-SoundScape 1939 part 17
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. September 10 – September 21, 1939 History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Fibber and Molly Celebrate their Anniversary! George G. Nathan Talks Eugene O’Neil! Smoking Hot...
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When Radio Ruled #141 – 3 Best Variety Shows of the 1930s
The first generation of radio talent, performers, directors, and writers came from the worlds of vaudeville, minstrel shows and Broadway revues. All forms of variety theater, so it isn’t any wonder that the variety show quickly emerged as a common Radio format. Here are the three Old Time Radio...
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When Radio Ruled #140 – SoundScape 1939 part 16
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. August 27 – September 5, 1939 History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Picking up Girls with Alan Mowbray! The Most Fateful Broadcast in History! On the Boat with Edgar and...
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When Radio Ruled #139 – Vera Vague 1939
Sometimes an actor playing a character becomes so popular with their audience that it becomes more than a character, it becomes a persona that the actor inhabits. Such was the case with Vera Vague, a creation of actor/writer Babara Jo Allen. Vera Vague was a constant presence on Old Time Radio,...
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When Radio Ruled #138 – SoundScape 1939 part 15 July 30-August 13, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Donald Dixon Tries to Tell a Joke! Charlie McCarthy Interior Decorator! Charlie McCarthy Astronomer! Charlie McCarthy Coin…
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When Radio Ruled #137 – Fred Allen’s People You Didn’t Expect to Meet 1939
Fred Allen and the people you didn’t expect to meet 1939. Fred Allen was famously a control freak on his radio shows. Although he used a staff of writers, it was just to generate ideas and jokes that would be incorporated into the final script that Fred always wrote personally. Each minute of…
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When Radio Ruled #136-SoundScape 1939 part 14
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Meet a Real English Butler! Edgar Bergen Gets Airsick! The Pie Eyed Piper of Hamlin! And More!! Featuring: Cecil B Demille Charlie...
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When Radio Ruled #135 – Origins of the Mutual Network 1934-39
Old Time Radio was dog eat dog, CBS and NBC scooped up the all the best stations and biggest talent, leaving all the little local stations in the dust. Not all the independent stations wanted to let NBC and CBS run away with their audiences In 1934 WGN and 3 other independents, WOR in New …...
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When Radio Ruled #134-SoundScape 1939 part 13
Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live June 29 to July 9, 1939. Chronologically curated clips of live broadcasts from popular shows of the day. History told by the people living it, as reported by radio. In Today’s SoundScape: The Making of Wizard of Oz Meadow Mouse Grabs 40 Winks!...
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When Radio Ruled #133 -Orson Welles and Guests 1939
Voices from 1939 talking with one of the Greatest Voices on Old Time Radio In 1939 Orson Welles was only 24 years old but a veteran of Radio. He’d been a regular on The March of Time and was enjoying a very successful run playing the Shadow. These excerpts are from the Campbell Playhouse in …...
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When Radio Ruled #132 – SoundScape 1939 part 12
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: The Town Hall News! A Newsreel Camera Man! Fred Allen Bad Mouths Jack Benny! Life Begins at 40! And More Featuring: Cecil B DeMille...
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When Radio Ruled #131 – Eddie Cantor vs Father Coughlin 1939
In public, Eddie Cantor was known as a charming clown with a side of song. In private, Eddie Cantor was a concerned citizen who dedicated much of his personal time and wealth to Jewish charities and causes. The more he saw the rising hatred directed at the Jewish people, the more he felt the need…
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When Radio Ruled #130-SoundScape 1939 part 11
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Royalty are just regular folks! Jack Benny with the Hollywood Gossip! The Patent Office is Your Friend! Frank Morgan talks Wizard of...
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When Radio Ruled #129 – Charlie McCarthy and Guests 1939 part 2
Edgar Bergen was also Charlie McCarthy but Charlie McCarthy was one of a kind. The cutest little obnoxious guy on the radio. A big personality in a tiny package. Charlie McCarthy took radio by storm and Edgar Bergen rode his coattails to fame and fortune. Actually Bergen rode his own coat tails,...
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When Radio Ruled #128 – SoundScape 1939 #10
1939 SoundScape part 10, Radio highlights originally broadcast live May 22 through June 4, 1939 Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Youth committing crimes! American...
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When Radio Ruled #127 – Wynn Murray Sings 1939
17 year old Wynn Murray already had two Broadway hits on her resume when she joined The Fred Allen show as the resident Female Vocalist in 1939. Fred Allen’s decision to bring a famous female vocalist onto his show in 1939 was a recognition that female singers were now in vogue. Singers like…
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When Radio Ruled #126 – SoundScape 1939 part 9, May 4-21 1939
SoundScape part 9, Radio highlights originally broadcast live May 4 through May 21, 1939 Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s SoundScape: Mother’s Day 1939 with Jack Benny! Where…
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When Radio Ruled episode 125 – Charlie McCarthy and Guests 1939 part 1
Charlie McCarthy is really Edgar Bergen. Or the other way around. It was a ventriloquist act. On the radio. Go figure. But you can’t argue with success and the Charlie McCarthy show was more than a success, it was a cultural phenomenon. The Kids loved Charlie McCarthy, so did the parents and...
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When Radio Ruled #124 – SoundScape 1939 part 8, April 6-30 1939
Radio highlights originally broadcast live April 6 through April 30, 1939 Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s soundscape: A Tribute to Man’s Best Friend, my Dog Pearl Buck Talks...
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When Radio Ruled #123 – The Merry Macs Sing 1939
Close harmony groups were popular in the 1920’s, 30’s,40’s and 50’s. The Merry Macs were among the most successful and were certainly the longest lived of all the Old Time Radio harmony groups. Close Harmony singing evolved from the Barbershop Quartets of the 1880s and 1890s, but with a jazz age...
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When Radio Ruled #122 – SoundScape 1939 part 7, March 22 – April 5, 1939
Radio highlights originally broadcast live March 22 through April 5, 1939 Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. In today’s soundscape: Nothing about the war in this one, things were quiet there...
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When Radio Ruled #121 – Cecil B DeMille Interviews part 2 The Movers and Shakers
Cecil B. DeMille was a legend, a trailblazer, and a person of ambition and talent. In this episode, DeMille talks with others like him, movers and shakers who have risen to the top of their chosen fields. Greatness, talking with greatness on the Lux Radio Theater. DeMille’s guests include: Father...
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When Radio Ruled #120 – SoundScape 1939 part 6, March 17-26 1939
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio. Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. In today’s soundscape: Mary’s Springtime Poem! Ed Sullivan wants to know! Is Jack Benny the real Jack Benny?! And more!!! This episode features: Orson…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does When Radio Ruled have?
When Radio Ruled currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is When Radio Ruled about?
A look at Old Time Radio and the world around it. A chronological look at the original mass media.
How often does When Radio Ruled release new episodes?
When Radio Ruled has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to When Radio Ruled?
You can listen to When Radio Ruled on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts When Radio Ruled?
When Radio Ruled is created and hosted by Mike Gillett - the BeforeTV Project.
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