The Divided Dial
The Divided Dial explores the untold history of broadcast radio, examining how the medium has shaped politics, culture, and public life in America. It is reported and hosted by award-winning journalist Katie Thornton. The show is edited by Katya Rogers, executive producer of On the Media. Through narrative storytelling, it traces the people, decisions, and hidden forces behind the radio dial as we know it.
Episodes
S2 - Episode 4: The Divided Dial
EPISODE 4: Wall St. Wants Your AirwavesIn recent years, creative, often music-focused pirate broadcasting has been thriving on shortwave. But these surreptitious broadcasters are up against a surprising ideological foe: Not the FCC, but a deep-pocketed group of finance bros that is trying to wrestle the airwaves away from the public, and use them for a money-making scheme completely antithetical t
S2 - Episode 3: The Divided Dial
EPISODE 3: World's Last Chance RadioToday, in the internet era, much of the shortwaves have been left to the most extreme voices — including a conspiratorial flat earth ministry, and an ultra-conservative cult complete with everything from sexual abuse to dead infants and illegal burials. In the 737-person northern Maine town of Monticello, one of the world's farthest-reaching radio stations has g
S2 - Episode 2: The Divided Dial
EPISODE 2: You Must Form Your Militia UnitsMany governments eased off the shortwaves after the Cold War, and homegrown US-based rightwing extremists edged out shortwave peaceniks to fill the void. In the 1990s, US shortwave radio stations became a key organizing and recruiting ground for white supremacists and the burgeoning anti-government militia movement. On this instantaneous, international me
S2 - Episode 1: The Divided Dial
You know AM and FM radio. But did you know that there is a whole other world of radio surrounding us at all times? It’s called shortwave — and, thanks to a quirk of science that lets broadcasters bounce radio waves off of the ionosphere, it can reach thousands of miles, penetrating rough terrain and geopolitical boundaries. How did this instantaneous, global, mass communication tool — a sort of in
S1 - Episode 5: The Divided Dial
Episode 5: There's Something About RadioHighly politicized, partisan companies like Salem have a hold on the airwaves — and they don’t plan to give it up. Senior Vice President of Salem, Phil Boyce speaks candidly to Katie about the personalities he handpicked to spread Salem’s message and about the company’s plans to expand into the media world off the airwaves. And in this final episode of the s
S1 - Episode 4: The Divided Dial
Episode 4: From The Extreme to The MainstreamIn the 1970s, talk radio was hitting its stride, with hosts and listeners from all political persuasions. But the radio dial was about to change forever. Community needs assessments, requirements to offer public service programs and multiple perspectives, and limits on how many stations a single company could own were all eradicated. Technological and l
S1 - Episode 3: The Divided Dial
Episode 3: The Liberal Bias BoogeymanHow did the right get their vice grip of the airwaves, all the while arguing that they were being silenced and censored by a liberal media? In this episode we look at the early history of American radio to reveal that censorship of far-right and progressive voices alike was once common on radio. And we learn how, in the post-war and Civil Rights period, the US
S1 - Episode 2: The Divided Dial
Episode 2: From Pulpit to PoliticsHow did the little-known Salem Media Group come to have an outsized political influence? In this episode we trace the company’s rise to power from its scrappy start in the 1970s to the present day — a growth that paralleled and eventually became inextricable from the growth of the Religious Right. We learn that Salem is tightly networked with right wing political
S1- Episode 1: The Divided Dial
Episode 1: The True BelieversIn 2016, Christian talk radio host Eric Metaxas begrudgingly encouraged his listeners to vote for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. By 2020, he pledged his life to fighting the “stolen election” while talking with Trump on the air. Ahead of the midterm elections, Metaxas and many of his fellow talk radio hosts made sure the falsehood of massive 2020 election fr
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