Product Description

Few inventions evoke such nostalgia, such deeply personal and vivid memories as radio-from Amos 'n' Andy and Edward R. Murrow to Wolfman Jack and Howard Stern. Listening In is the first in-depth history of how radio culture and content have kneaded and expanded the American psyche.

But Listening In is more than a history. It is also a reconsideration of what listening to radio has done to American culture in the twentieth century and how it has brought a completely new auditory dimension to our lives. Susan Douglas explores how listening has altered our day-to-day experiences and our own generational identities, cultivating different modes of listening in different eras; how radio has shaped our views of race, gender roles, ethnic barriers, family dynamics, leadership, and the generation gap. With her trademark wit, Douglas has created an eminently readable cultural history of radio.

"Douglas's wonderful book offers a sophisticated history of radio listening." -Journal of American History

Susan J. Douglas is professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and author of Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #925200 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
"Flat out terrific ... just the right balance of history, scholarship, media theory, and great storytelling. Susan J. Douglas makes reading about radio as much fun as listening to it. Turn up the volume on this one!"
-- Pete Fornatale, New York Radio personality and co-author of "Radio in the Television Age
"A thoughtful and affectionate look back at how radio shaped and strengthened our past, and an insightful look forward to how, in spite of rank commercialism, radio still offers an alternative form of bootstrap expression in a TV-dominated age."
--Susan Faludi, author of "Backlash
"A brilliant analysis of the pervasive medium's influence upon our hearts and minds. This is the best book about radio that I've read in years."
--Michael Harrison, editor, "Talkers magazine
"A pioneering, witty, remarkably insightful study of the role radio has played in our history, our culture, and our lives."
--Lawrence W. Levine, author of "The Opening of the American Mind.

Customer Reviews

Fundamental!
This is a very well documented, clear, and clever book on the history of US radio. I read it to research an article I was writing, and it really helped. It puts the most important moments of US radio history in their social, economical and political context, and shows how US radio evolved with US society. A fundamental contribution, and a necessary reading for all those who are interested in media studies.