🌍 15 MINUTES UNTIL 70S FLASHBACK!
Recreate the genuine analog ambiance of 1970s radio starting at 05:00!
Get your fix via #Live365. 📻 🔗 https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #Live365
#radiohistory — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #radiohistory, aggregated by home.social.
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📻 To celebrate College Radio Day, tune in to more than a century of college radio history.
In 1906, students at Harvard formed what was described as the first college radio club. By the 1920s, students were building stations and broadcasting campus events.
Today, DLARC preserves that history through station records, posters, program guides, DJ manuals, scrapbooks, and more.
📚 Read the story:
https://blog.archive.org/2026/10/02/100-years-of-student-radio-history-in-the-dlarc-college-radio-collections/ -
100+ Years of Student Radio History in the DLARC College Radio Collections
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🌍 15 MINUTES UNTIL 70S FLASHBACK! Recreate the genuine analog ambiance of 1970s radio starting at 05:00! Get your fix via #Live365.
📻 🔗https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #Live365 -
Wayne State University: Wayne State Acquires Casey Kasem and American Top 40 Collection from Radio Historian Pete Battistini. “Pete Battistini has been chasing Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 (AT40) for more than 50 years. In 1971, Battistini heard AT40 for the first time and was instantly captivated, and the passion that followed turned into one of the largest collections of AT40 in the […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/08/10/wayne-state-university-wayne-state-acquires-casey-kasem-and-american-top-40-collection-from-radio-historian-pete-battistini/ -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE. Imagine jumping into a Pinto and catching that one track that defined your weekend. From 05:00–08:00 EST, we recreate the genuine ambiance of 1970s radio! Get your fix via our Live365 stream. 📻
🔗 https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #Live365 -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.From 05:00–08:00 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable. 📻
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock -
🌍 SUNDAY AFTERNOON: THE 90s UK IMPORT.
At 1600, Bob Stei presents The Britpop Show, a two-hour weekly series dedicated to the mid-1990s British Alternative explosion.This is the sound of the mid-90s UK cultural movement: guitar-based, melodic, and fiercely British. It’s the perfect, upbeat antidote to Grunge.
🔗 JOIN THE INVASION: https://retrorockradio.com
#Britpop #BobStei #90sUK #CoolBritannia #RadioHistory #WaybackWeekend #Live365 #BritishAlternative -
🌍 SUNDAY AFTERNOON: THE 90s UK IMPORT.
At 1600, Bob Stei presents The Britpop Show, a two-hour weekly series dedicated to the mid-1990s British Alternative explosion.This is the sound of the mid-90s UK cultural movement: guitar-based, melodic, and fiercely British. It’s the perfect, upbeat antidote to Grunge.
🔗 JOIN THE INVASION: https://retrorockradio.com
#Britpop #BobStei #90sUK #CoolBritannia #RadioHistory #WaybackWeekend #Live365 #BritishAlternative -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.From 0500 - 0800 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend -
Impossible headlines: Part 2 of a series of jokes
This piece continues my scrapbook of cuttings from J.B. Morton. Read part 1 here. This selection is from J.B. Morton (“Beachcomber” of the Daily Express), Captain Foulenough & Company (London, 1944). Again, I have included the page references:
Worth Remembering (p. 65)
A reply of Mr. Churchill in the House to a particular question might be given a wider application, as an answer to the people who waste their time in whining and grizzling about the boredom of radio. Mr. Churchill was asked for “an assurance that we shall not have to listen to the Italian National Anthem on the Nine-o’clock News “, and he replied, “There is no obligation to listen to the Nine-o’ clock News.” Many people seem to forget that, at present, listening to the B.B.C. is not compulsory. Good-day to those of you who have faces like the backs of cabs.
Or maybe you should consider the following:
More Noise (p. 35)
The game of butting into radio programmes will soon produce such a roaring chaos that the listener will not know whether he is listening to a band contest in New York or an auction in Arabia. Surely science could invent some means by which the listeners themselves could join in, shouting comments, banging bits of iron, laughing, and tearing calico.
And then there is this snippet:
Centenarian sees Train (p. 161)
“Aged 138, old Mrs. Whiggleham, of Arspneigh, avowed that she had never seen a train. Our representative said, ‘But sixteen trains pass your window, I am told, every day.’ ‘Oh,’ said this grand old lady, ‘are they trains? Nobody ever told me they was trains. So I didn’t know I’d ever seen one. Fancy that now. Why, there goes one of them now. I never thought I’d live to see a train.”
(Beachcomber News Agency.)
Or perhaps this one:
“Yes, indeed … Yes … Yes” (p. 145)
My responsible position on the Rochdale Observer tamed me a bit. I learnt to lower my voice and speak diffidently, as though I were not sure of my own opinions. As editor I could not brawl in public, or sing loudly when the mood took me, or break a man’s head because I disliked his face. I learned to sleep in a bed, like any city fop, to smile insincerely, to agree with fools for the sake of peace, and to drink tiny, anaemic wines out of idiotic glasses made for gnats to sip from. But in my ravenous heart the old fires burned, and there were still times when I went off across the world and came to rest in the happy places – particularly in that squat house by a torrent, where they still show the huge nails I drew out of the main door with my teeth.
Then, think about this:
Wrong Approach (p. 137)
“In some cases it is interesting for an artist to ‘touch up’ a picture after many years.” – (Morning paper.)
Yes. But not to the extent of putting a brown bowler on each of 33 heads in portraits. This was done in despair by a man who painted romantic, emphatic portraits of contemporary men and women, without any success. After years of toil and effort he sent in the 33 touched-up portraits to the Academy, calling them the “Oldham Athletic Football Team at Sunset”. Since there were 18 women in evening dress and a baby among the pictures, all were rejected.
And the next selection is from J.B. Morton, The Best of Beachcomber (edited by Michael Frayn) (London, 1988 [1963]). Yes, top celebrity novelists and playwrights were fans as well.
My Scoop! (p. 219)
A Scoop! A Scoop !
The prematurely, if only partially, denied unofficial semi-confirmation of the almost official report of the tentative announcement of the quasi-engagement of a so-called athlete to the beautiful daughter, as it were, of a mother has now been pseudo-officially announced as informally denied. The belated announcement of the formal denial of the prematurely confirmed refusal of either party to say anything is to be followed by a partial report of an official refusal to deny the rumour of a confirmation.
How about this?
SIXTY HORSES WEDGED IN CHIMNEY (p. 146)
The story to fit this sensational headline has not turned up yet.
Quite so. Then please consider:
Literary News (p. 93)
Mr G. J. Oyle is engaged upon an article for the Mausoleum. It is an examination of an article by E. P. Hoax dealing with an article by Henry Smelt on Wanda Brown’s article on Esther Curry’s article on Selena Hack’s article on Brenda Gurte’s review of Sidney Futtle’s book on E. L. Eupp’s book on the book by Robert Dreyfus on Marcel Proust.
J.B. Morton has been a thread of mine in the many articles I write. His humour lifts me up with its innocence and its absurdity. Follow these links to find more snippets.
https://prefadelisten.com/2021/12/14/writing-for-radio-its-what-we-do/
https://prefadelisten.com/2020/07/01/in-season-and-out-of-season/
https://prefadelisten.com/2025/11/14/radio-ideas-all-our-scrapbooks-part-2/
https://prefadelisten.com/2020/06/15/1278/
https://prefadelisten.com/2020/05/26/listening-to-the-experts/
https://prefadelisten.com/2019/12/20/the-trouble-is/
https://prefadelisten.com/2019/07/26/know-any-good-radio-jokes/
https://prefadelisten.com/2018/06/18/listening-to-the-radio-is-just-absurd/
Click the Subscribe link on this page to get an article every month.
What we say on-air – and what others say about us as we speak through the microphone into the aether – is a recurring theme of my radio book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/radios-legacy-in-popular-culture-9781501388231/
Radio’s Legacy is the story of radio’s first 100 years as told through literature, movies, pop songs and art. You can get a preview – before you buy – about my methods. This link takes you to Chapter One – which is available to look at for free online: https://bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/61c091c7
My railway book is Brazilian Railway Culture. Available here. https://amzn.eu/d/00BJUlaX Thank you for reading. Do sign up to receive a new piece, around the 14th of every month. There’s no charge. If you spot a typo, you can win a pen. Let me know.
#RadioBroadcasting #RadioCulture #RadioHistory #RadioHumour #RadioJokes -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.
From 0500 - 0800 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend -
🌍 SUNDAY AFTERNOON: THE 90s UK IMPORT.
At 1600, Bob Stei presents The Britpop Show, a two-hour weekly series dedicated to the mid-1990s British Alternative explosion.
This is the sound of the mid-90s UK cultural movement: guitar-based, melodic, and fiercely British. It’s the perfect, upbeat antidote to Grunge.
🔗 JOIN THE INVASION: https://retrorockradio.com
#Britpop #BobStei #90sUK #CoolBritannia #RadioHistory #WaybackWeekend #Live365 #BritishAlternative -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.From 0500 - 0800 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend -
In this episode you'll learn • How radio technology emerged • Why radio transformed society and culture • How broadcasting changed music history • The relationship between radio and collective memory #RadioHistory #Broadcasting #AudioCulture youtu.be/8h6c0ncmX64
How Radio Changed the Way We H... -
In this episode you'll learn
• How radio technology emerged
• Why radio transformed society and culture
• How broadcasting changed music history
• The relationship between radio and collective memory
#RadioHistory
#Broadcasting
#AudioCulture
youtu.be/8h6c0ncmX64
How Radio Changed the Way We H... -
🌍 SUNDAY AFTERNOON: THE 90s UK IMPORT.
At 1600, Bob Stei presents The Britpop Show, a two-hour weekly series dedicated to the mid-1990s British Alternative explosion.This is the sound of the mid-90s UK cultural movement: guitar-based, melodic, and fiercely British. It’s the perfect, upbeat antidote to Grunge.
🔗 JOIN THE INVASION: https://retrorockradio.com
#Britpop #BobStei #90sUK #CoolBritannia #RadioHistory #WaybackWeekend #Live365 #BritishAlternative -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.From 0500 - 0800 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 70s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.From 0500 - 0800 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend -
When a human worries about AI in broadcast radio… (Part 2) Still…
… And if you’re a bot, please stop scraping. Now.
The piece is based on a presentation for an online academic seminar on World Radio Day 2026, organised by the “Radio and Audio Studies Section” of the UK Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association.
You can read part one of my talk here: https://prefadelisten.com/2026/04/14/when-a-human-writes-about-ai-in-broadcast-radio-part-1/
And, if you’re interested, do take a look at a previous article of mine also about AI. It’s here: https://prefadelisten.com/2026/03/14/artificial-intelligence-large-language-models-and-the-radio-industry/.
In my last piece from World Radio Day 2026 I said how we radio types love technology, especially new tech. I started in the business with razor blades, sticky tape and quarter-inch recording reels before embracing Cool Edit, Basys, ENPS and ViLoR. Put them into the search engine on this page to find out more. So, now let me continue my grumble against AI.
I spend hours, days even, writing stuff like this. I’ve taken months and years to write books. I’ve agonised over radio scripts, voice pieces, cues and copy lines for bulletins. It’s hard work being a creative and a journalist. A rule of thumb is that a radio documentary – properly researched, written and recorded – can take one hour of effort for every minute on air. File on 4 is a good example here.
Notice I said “documentary”; I leave my disdain outside the door for double-headed podcasts with no particular structure.
In search of easy fixes some radio types are resorting to AI to fill the airwaves. This brings in the issue of Copyright.
Creatives, including writers and broadcasters, face a real challenge to our intellectual property. Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models need something to get trained on, and it’s often stuff people like me have previously put a lot of time and effort into. My trade union, the National Union of Journalists in the UK is working with employers – the newspapers, broadcasters and other media organisations – to warn of copyright infringements by tech that scrapes material first created by journalists.
I found to my dismay in 2025 that two of my academic books were on a pirate list of titles that’ve been sold on to be used to train AI systems. There appears little I can do in those cases.
Thirdly, there are data privacy issues. Listeners will react to radio programmes, competitions, record requests, as well as engaging with social media content of the station. But how will their data be used? How will it be collected, processed and analysed? Will it be secure? Artificial Intelligence might well be used to personalise and target individual listeners. Can the listener trust their favourite radio station to be transparent and act responsibly?
And finally, I’m worried about the lack of the human touch
A presenter’s AI-driven voice may sound realistic, but it surely lacks the emotion of a human being.
I’ve heard it said that one reason you don’t see or hear so much these days of blooper tapes in the radio and TV industry – remember Dennis Norden and It’ll Be All Right on the Night on ITV in the UK in the 70s and 80s? – is because live broadcasts have been replaced by solo working and pre-recording.
In the mid-90s at BBC Radio York, we commissioned focus groups to tell us why Stray FM in Harrogate and Yorkshire Coast Radio in Scarborough were so popular – two recent scrappy ILR competitors newly opened. One answer came back: because their presenters made mistakes, laughed and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Clearly it was a time for us at Radio York to stop being so po-faced.
That was a tale from a disappearing facet of radio: the human touch.
Small community radio stations often try to punch above their weight; try to provide more for their listeners. They’re on tight budgets – sometimes non-existent – and find it hard to get volunteers.
I know, for example, of community radio stations that rely on unpaid presenters who are resorting to using AI via Large Language Models to generate scripts and cloned-voice audio of weather bulletins and travel updates.
This is, in my opinion, one step too far. Helping with back-office matters is one thing. But getting AI to write scripts and then voice them is removing the human element. It’s not radio anymore, not as I know it anyway,
Already there are AI apps that tell you they can create segment ideas, talking points, can generate music beds and jingles, or there’s one which promises interview planning, news bulletins, and even a full radio drama. It sounds so tempting and affordable. But the danger of being overtaken by AI hallucinations and general slop is deeply worrying.
Yet another says it will clone your voice so that its own generative stuff sounds just like you. It’s a simulacrum that’s come from the machine. For me it’s beyond dystopian.
But I do worry that the genie is already out of the bag. Chuck Robbins, chairman and chief executive of Cisco Systems, said in January 2026, “You shouldn’t worry as much about AI taking your job as you should worry about someone who’s very good using AI taking your job.” And I also worry that the tech is changing so fast that what I’ve written here will, in six month’s time, sound dated.
In my opinion, the writing, broadcast and creative aspects of the medium must firmly remain in human hands.
My most recent research is about the hundreds of novels, movies, TV shows, pop songs, poems and pieces of art – all of which have, over the decades, been inspired by one human-being listening to another sentient-being broadcast on the radio. That, in my opinion, proves radio must remain a human medium.
In short: radio is a medium that connects the humanity of the broadcast to the soul of the listener. To quote UNESCO’s position on World Radio Day 2026: “Artificial Intelligence is a tool, not a voice.”
You can read more about “automatic radio” here: https://prefadelisten.com/2025/08/14/radio-speak-why-were-all-turning-into-brainless-bots-sort-of/
These two articles include mentions of Max Hedroom (remember him from C4 in the UK?), Mike Wazowski the cartoon character from Monsters, Inc. and the totally human Alan “Fluff” Freeman from the Beeb. Let me know what you think by sending a comment.
In the meantime, what we say on-air and what others say about us as we speak through the microphone into the aether is a recurring theme of my current book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/radios-legacy-in-popular-culture-9781501388231/ .
Radio’s Legacy is the story of radio’s first 100 years as told through literature, movies pop songs and art. You can get a preview – before you buy – about my methods.
This link takes you to Chapter One – which is available to look at for free online: https://bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/61c091c75f150300016f10af
Thank you for reading. Do sign up to receive a new piece every month, around the 14th – just before the BBC’s regular payday for staff and freelancers.
- Will the last human to leave please turn out the lights – after first putting the desk in Studio 1 to direct-to-network rebroadcast. Thank you.
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🌍 SUNDAY AFTERNOON: THE 90s UK IMPORT.
At 1600, Bob Stei presents The Britpop Show, a two-hour weekly series dedicated to the mid-1990s British Alternative explosion.This is the sound of the mid-90s UK cultural movement: guitar-based, melodic, and fiercely British. It’s the perfect, upbeat antidote to Grunge.
🔗 JOIN THE INVASION: https://retrorockradio.com
#Britpop #BobStei #90sUK #CoolBritannia #RadioHistory #WaybackWeekend #Live365 #BritishAlternative -
🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 1970s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend.From 0500 - 0800 EST, we are moving beyond the playlist. We are recreating the genuine ambiance and "lively essence" of 1970s radio—a genuine voyage through the tunes that made the decade unforgettable.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend -
Ethiopia on Shortwave – Then and Now
https://swling.com/blog/2026/04/ethiopia-on-shortwave-then-and-now/
#AmharaStateRadioi #DanGreenall #Ethiopia #ETLF #FanaMediaCorporation #FMC #RadioFana #RadioHistory #RadioNostalgia #RadioOromiya #RadioVoiceOfRevolutionaryEthiopia #RadioVoiceOfTheGospel #Recordings #ShortwaveRadioRecordings #TheVoiceOfTigrayRevolution
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🌍 SUNDAY MORNING: THE 1970s TIME CAPSULE.
Imagine jumping into a Pinto, mashing those mechanical radio buttons, and catching that one track that defined your entire weekend. That is the mission of 70s Flashback on the new Wayback Weekend block.No fillers, no disco fluff, just the rock radio experience exactly like you were there.
🔗 ACCESS THE TIME CAPSULE: https://retrorockradio.com
#RetroRock #70sFlashback #RadioHistory #ClassicRock #WaybackWeekend #Live365 -
Jennifer volunteers at KFJC & works with the Internet Archive, where she curates the college radio collection within Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC). 📻
#DLARC #CollegeRadio #RadioHistory @internetarchiveca.bsky.social
The project is building a global archive of campus, community, and amateur radio materials, and inviting stations to contribute their history.
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DLARC: The Radio Geek’s Doomscrolling Antidote 📻🌀
The Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC) gathers 225,000+ items: magazines, QSL cards, audio, video, and more, free through the Internet Archive. 📚💿
It’s a deep, searchable rabbit hole of radio history, research & culture. 🔎📡
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Radio Bulgaria Marks Its 90th Anniversary with a New QSL Card Series
#InternationalBroadcasting #PaulJamet #QSLGallery #QSLs #RadioBulgaria #RadioHistory #RadioSofia #ShortwaveRadio
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Bob’s Radio Corner: What Is It About Radio Dials?
https://swling.com/blog/2026/01/bobs-radio-corner-what-is-it-about-radio-dials/
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Video: When Shortwave Radio Connected Soldiers Overseas with Their Families in WWII
#CommandPerformance #FredWaterer #RadioHistory #RadioNostalgia #TheHistoryGuy #WWII
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When will I learn? I'm playing around with #craiyon and it just can't wrap is tin brain around creating a picture of polymath #engineer #technicalwriter #RufusTurner in a logo. Here's a photo of Turner and the following are images of the logos. The only way to get a correct image was to use the qualifier #black or #blackman. Why is there an assumption in these modern times that all engineers are #white? #BlackMastodon #RadioHistory #wireless 1/3
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Preserving Radio History in Your Community
https://swling.com/blog/2025/09/preserving-radio-history-in-your-community/
#AMRadio #Archiveorg #CFPL #CKCR #CKNX #CKOC #DanGreenall #Mediumwave #RadioArchiving #RadioHistory #RadioNostalgia