Sound in the Age of Mechanical Reproductionae So Uy nd Acane itsin eee ate t slte in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Edited by David Suisman and Susan Strasser HACopa 200 Une! emai Fess Avis eave. eat ot uti op fiw aii eof hbk cet nay am yay meas wat re pin Fem epi ath ner ei Pst Praia, Pena 08-412 Piva Ue Ss of en ci ae woeresagrt ‘tr fase Caton ben Ota Son te a each pao Sey i Sn ad San Sua mH pou cn sac lcs Dagan an Sov epacenz-E86 pe 1, Soa itn-—20h coy. Pal ro—Hetay—aBh etn, 2. feo hatn—2h cay Seu So cts ister, 5 Sunde apcs—Hety—2 cay & San —femomi epee” Hanya x7 Massen—Hetoy— acy. He 20 cs iH 208 ty a Ht Zh ‘ony Suman Oi Stet San, HN 210 sesame. Contents lncotion:ikng stray Abt Soul ad Sense ‘Bava Subaan | Part: Affect and the Politics of Listening 1 Disactes Ustorng: On No Making Sond Chace int Te Divi Gada 15 2 “eV 2 Ble’ naginary Poaganda ae the Leona Bocas co Wt Wa ‘Aro labet Plan Dv Hats 21 "SwageDissran Gonder, Vis, an Wer’ Rai ech n on tI: Sonic Objects 4 Collects, oto, atte Va of a, 1880-1852 ‘Ale Cures 8 5 igeieiy Som as Spectacle and Sutin, 180-1961 cD Bary 115 5: Heating Ord Osa Tha Lene of aor Rife Face Ding Ws Wort ‘Bot: Vine 1 7 An Adie Sons ofa ao, Fer, rato on La Angels Fins inthe 187 Arges M.Blke 150a a w FV: Sound Commerce The Paps ches" eons a te Mesut of Posy Musi Tse loth 1 ar 19808 his Rasmussen 181 Sous Lea: The Contin fr Space a Fae in Et US. aio Kpsck 18 The Sn of ire Newopapers athe Publi Porte of Ey Radio acca inte Ue Stes Metal Str 21 ws 200 Lito mts 288 Ie a1 Aivonedynens 311 Introduction Thinking Historically About Sound and Sense David Suisman “Two propositions. One: Some ppl com ivare sad, On Fada 12 amir ary 07, a 781 ast, aman dtemed in jens att sd baseball ‘ap began to play the votn beside a wash ean outs the Metro sation tL'Enfan Plaza in Washington, D.C. While he played for forpahree ‘minutes, nearly 1100 people waked by. This wat not jst an ordinary truer, homever he wa Joshi Bel an selsmed virtuoso whe has per formed with nearly ll ofthe worlds leading orchestra Bells humbe pesformance of pieces ftom his worecls repertoire was an exper ‘ment staged by dhe Washington Pat to abe how sus-hour commer Would react. ASit happened sk minutes ped before singe person Stopped to listen, and only seven people pated fr longer than ami lute the whole time he played. Twengpeven gave nioney, most onthe ‘Afew weeks ltr reflecting on the commuters overs er ‘nce, Bel expressed sympathy for those who wee ton bs to stop Dut he had trouble grasping how eatily people ignored him altogether ‘hin he later watched a video of the performance sot with con cealed camera, he si, "Tm surprised 3 dhe umber of people who dn’ psy anion tal a6 ive, Because you tow what? Vm matin fot of noise!" “Ti: Some pol oom Soe tu. One dyin May 2008, tthe US military detention fei Camp Dela in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, young British cizen named Shag Rasul wat tken fom his cll oa Imertogation booth, see he st an the for, his hands caine hit ankles his ankles chained tothe oor Ai irteguaty blinking strobe light and the sound of lod heavy anetal music led the room, Por nearly tee weeks, he endured ths every dy, sometimes ie 8 ds {or up to twelve hous aa seth, Finally, he confessed to atening & meeting in Afghansan with Osama bin aden and Mohamed Ata iAugust 2000. Was his a breakthrough inthe “global war on terre" and vindication of the US. miltary's hash “interogation”techniquer? [Not exaely Imestigaors subsequently exablshed tht in Angust 2000 Rasul hal been atending university England an working in an elec tronics store. In eal 2004, he mae tlensed frm detention witout ‘charges Omi the US. government ha denied that has se lod ‘nse and noise in interrogations, Indeed, such practices have been oundly condemned by intone raging tom the European Court ‘of Human Right to the Irae Supreme Court and would ely late ‘he United Nadons Comventon Agunat Torture and Other Cruel Tate ‘man and Degrading Treatment. which the United Stats rated in 1996, Statements from Shafiq Rast, other former detinees human right advocates, and curent and fain miliary personnel Sete the US. milay'sdsvowal, however Indeed, 200 the wel pbliiaed leak ofa confidential report by the International Commitee af the Red Cros established dat persistent ou uc anid noe weve widely used a ntertogation tools by the US. mitary. On the elect ofthe musi, asa ealed, "I jst srs playing with you... Even i'you were shout Jing. die muse wat too Tous wot be ale to hea you. Vout ‘ere for hours and hows, and eye constandy playing the same ‘mus All that bude p, You start halcioaing"™ ‘These wo proposiions and the vignettes accompanying them denote tne extremes of dhe modern roundsspe: at one ch that mah Is beneath notice a he other, hat which cannot be ignored tae element in both, but not really dhe poin of either. Bel performance ‘vas ostensibly part commentary an the rlaonship betmeen ar aid society, butitwasasetup—an example of what Daniel Boorsn foxy labeled a poeudoevent dat an eset sage forthe sake ofthe ory to be writen about it (ndeed in hice it was stony with wemer dos eukural resonance. Within a month of is pbietion the ale tied more than 1300 comments om the Washington Po vette, an ‘slsmately iceamed a Politzer Prize frit writer, Gene Weingarten) In the hands ofthe US. miliary, loud musi ea weapon al tactic The ‘combined eflect ofthe clera,pyehologcl, and aeons properties ‘of musi is wielded aba blunt stent of ste power. These exe ples, representing the ends of the spectrin of modern aural exper fence, demonstrat dat the meaning of snc and ound is more tan ‘esthetic and affective. Inded, they suggest we needa iano fot understanding the complex ways that music and sound can Inform, sete, and reflect a wide range of other, omausal concerns swell ‘Bat what fnsead of listening only othe presen we crane our cart to the past and tsten for sila ste? Ine, what oes ht mean think sbout muse and sound hisorclly? For starters mes seco. | | izing that sound has power and is woven into a host of ater soca, polities, nd economic power relations, When sound i audble ici Ful t block ou Is effets can range from sul to overbearing but people have only United roneol ove the sounds they hear Moree the experience af many Kinds of sound, expel msi. very often mediated, ether technologically of dscursvely, and tis mediation Invoduces other elements of power, Thinking about musi and sound Iitorcally also means considering how sural phenomena and sense teaperience in general may be historically consaced Mary suggested this when he wrote in 184%, "The frmingof the ve sears sa Ion of the entire history of the world dove to the presene” Walter Bejan, Inthe 198s, earied this argument forward int the brent century In his welhinown estay "The Work of Artin the Age of Mechanica Reproduction." Benjamin wrote, "During long pesos of history. the mode of human sete perception changes with humanisenie te ‘of existence. The manner th which human sense perception i ong ized the medium in which accomplished, determined on) ‘bynature but by hisorieal exces tt nell" More than extending Mars anal of india capal, however, Benjamin propose radical departure from Marxist orthodoxy. He was cling em tention otjust to the suctre and culture of eapitaion tt al toate ‘haructer. For Benjamin, itis moder of perception, sot modes of poe Acton, that hold the key to rexoltionary sci change Modes of pro ‘dton didnot cease tobe important, Benin suggested, but tes ‘meaning and impact could no longer be grasped wihowt atention to the subtle, culturally embedded ways people experienced then From a diferent vantage point afew years ne, he French historian Lucien Febore called fora broad soil history ofthe senses which he imagined could help recover more aly the menial and emadonal wold ofthe past? This nin al rgeyon det en, however and not unl the 1860s, wih the pioneering work of Asin Corin on sel, sound, and ouch inthe French seat maginatin, did the potential of Febwe's ‘work star to become manifexe Reflecting on wat the hisory of the Senses can and cannot do, Corbin has ken pain o emphane hat ts {cals noc merely to supplement exsing storia interpretations but to discover how (or een if) seasory experience has been historically ‘memingfl Indeed, the senaer may no be historia sgiieant forall dimensions or events ofthe pat, he has noted, but tis Goes not mean they arenothistrieally sigan for woone. Moreover, although Corin recognized hat each Sense underwent a ferent proces of istvidl evelopment, he also causoned again toning cme lorm of sensory txperience within dhe whole ofthe senor tnd aginst severing the fenses from all ocberaepects of hun relations, istorcaing thesenses, e maintained isa meansof geting at dimensions ofhisory that hive formeny been olscared nota aquaria end in elE® ‘As we contider the posibilies and limite of placing sensory exper ence in historical perspcave, we may reengine that even the enue tion of the sees and the ways that one tenes dtingushed from nother are subject to histical contingency. Our conimenplaee notion fof fve distinc senses—ot our ors or eight har deep até brond eu tural underpinnings, deriving from Greek Indian, a Chinese pov phy, but i snot fixed, univer, or sti Other schema have Been propose too Plat, fr example, mised ony fv senses; iss Are ode who added aft, diseretesene of tone, Since that ine, numer ‘us philosophers have tried to expand this number, offering a sth ‘Sense for sexual feelings or an avteness ofthe supernatural But the umber Bre has tick npr perhaps eeause ofits profound symbole Iimportnce-—resonating, 851 does, trongh mach ofthe worl plo ‘phy and religion asin he Sve Bre of nent Indian pilesop hy, the fre points ofthe compass in Chinese thought, the fe points ofthe ‘Chrsdan pentagram, fudsisn's ve book ofthe Toray an tlan’s Fe Pillars Yet grouping the veces fesome ean inpy an eqialence inerchangeablty. se unity ofthe five sense that gute a os wih how vale their erpetvenflience has been on han socal ong. Indeed, al senses were noc reated equal afc tha Aristotle emphar sized in his hierarchy of the senses, which placed vito at he top. oF lowed by hearing, smelt, and toucl. This ordering, even ae ered a differential importance among the senses, gave te false limpresion of certain closeness, ai they were ke the five fingers of the hand—the thumb might be specnh, andthe mide finger 9 he longer, bu he all do prey much the sae ung For reasons of both culture and esoluonar botogy, though, vision informs ow knowlege nd understanding ofthe mor much move than the other senses The Tanguage we have developed forking about what we se ir more sophisteated and refined than that salable for describing and analy Ing any other Kind of Sensory experience, and val inetaphers in tar suifine everday language wo a much greater degree than hove derived from the other senses” Gyo feu your attention on common la iguage, een canting quick ganas the cope of ions used in ordinary Speech Tam sue you will swat mean) Inthe pas four decades, visual etre hasbeen aggresvely histor ‘ized by philosophers ar historian, enema ste sels, snd ot fs. While numerous chemes and concerns rect in their wor one ‘ement common to almost all ofits hat vison hae bee the ese most ‘osly sociated wth reason, knowledge, and cogalou Hearing and | | the vest ofthe sensorium have thus far seceived much les etal sen Uny. Walter Benjamin's work, which has been 2 touchstone for many recent cholrs of visual culture, exemplified this elison. Akhougi he Proposed hisoriczing sensory experience general. ne thought 2nd ‘rote my interme o sual phenomena, Notwihanding the breads fggested by the tle of "The Work of Arcin the Age of Mechames! Reproducion,” Bnjarni’s principal concerns weve photography and ‘Sinema, and he made ony afew, eeting references ta sound recording bral experience” Sul for people interesed in de istry of aural experience the work of scholars of sal cltre isa extremely well sartng point afford Ing powerfldheoredcal tools and convient bases for comparison, For ‘example the histaian of photography Allan Sekula as explored how looking at and making sense of photographs in the nineteenth cen vasa leamed form ofbehasior.feighted with specie deological ve ‘ments, rather dan a natura eet ofthe techsology. It may be pombe to transpose such contenons eo aural experience asking how people learned lisen to and make sense of eprodiced sour whether they feed from a phonograph record oF radio, Sekula maintains that “photography.” as we generally understand casted not only oy technology but also bya body of dace codes an practices The main tras af his work, however, isthe argument tht these eotes and Practices have been sped dntecially bath by at nhih the conven Yona framework for hisoriiing photography sd by nonatsie we ‘ofthe medium, suchas comporateimagernhing, police surveillance, and photographie sureys of andseape by raload and iiing compa. hles eis an argument that takes seriou the impact fall specs of ‘hongraphy, noe jus thoe that hive ben sacred by the te" Tart has fong been the public fice of photogrephthat tide tae form, even among amateurs and journals nae ha been the pblic voice of sound recording and broadcasting. Recent scholars of found, most notably Jonathan Sterne and Emily Thompson. have opened up new historical ehsnnete for undersanding the practices and meanings of modem sound technologie, juss Schl di for pot raphy. The chapters that fllow tke up thi charge a well sectehing the historical analysis of sound in new directions, edefining what encompasses, and advancing new arguments about what ican oer ‘The overarching goal ofthis new uraly based work isnot octeste an lternate word of sound tuee Rather iistademonstate he wnighe posibilies that thinking sbout sound ean open up. the potential Importance of thinking abou all kinds of sensory expelence ot fst visual) and the inadequacy of aang singe kind of sensory kno fe spar from al others‘Taken together, the ess i tis book finn the new sural environ ment that bok shape duving the menteth centry. This emironment vas never homogenous, eve within a sage coun or region and ce Unly not across borders. These aries, however which buld on a expand other recent scholarship suggest the emergence of certain char terse forms, patiems, and tendencies inthe soundscapes of indast ‘tized countries Inthe stay of vst enltze, the work of Chrisan ‘Met, Jonathan Crary. ana Martin Jy hs advance a theory of fete ‘inl “opi eines to analy and pero diferent mas of eng ‘in history. These soles maintain thatthe way people sei somethin that changes ore tine and that ir posible to tick and understand ‘hangesin the prevaling moder f visa perception in ferent epochs nd contexts" Sound seholars have not et produced an equal the fry to describe hisorialyconingent modes of hearing and lsening ‘The growth of soundseated scholarship in recent yar, however, has begun to reveal the organlation sn significance af changing modes of aural perception a well. The esas collected in this book makes signa ‘contribution tothe understanding of ene sich aural rege: that of Indunialzedrocity during the mest centr). ‘oes istening havea polis? Does it ave an etic? According to the thee articles in Part Tof te boo," fect and the Plies of Listening.” the answer to both af thexe questions at unqualified yes. In "Die traced Listening: On Net Making Sound Choice inthe 1080" Dav Goodman revises conventional rio hori that premppose vaio a ‘medium co which iteners gave dei concerted an! undid atter- ‘n.On the contary, Goodman shows, bythe 1308 rarity of forms ‘of camalorinatentve listening had become te norm for many people in the United States For the elderly and those lng in remote ares, broadcast programming mitigated flings of loneines and ioason {nd offered a mean of forging emodonal onde or young people, the Sound of radio inereasngly played in the backgroud wile they ha homework or other activites. Cie atacked thi salle dace ir ening fearing that it contravened the wakes and al of good een ship. Such behavior, they charged, paired people's ciel fitening And reasoning abies and made them wnceptbe o demnageguery and sural propaganda. Such erilqus berate parity prominent pat ‘of temas eulture debates ofthe 1950s, but Goodman reveals an earl iteration, from an era of ratio that produced both Frenin Rooseveles Fireside Ghats and Ado Hile'sdelaration (in the German Reso Ml ual of 193) that “without the loudspeaker we would never have con ‘quered Germany." “Aun Pfau and David Hoehfeider bring perceptions ofthe insidious potential of rio ino the foreground i thelr ral reasenment of ‘Acs radio propaganda in World War I, Not only des "Ter Voce a Ballet: Imaginary Propaganda and the Legendary Brondeasters of World War "afer a complete and thorough debunking of de myth of Tokyo Row, the allegedly omniscient radio seduces ofthe Pace, bu it shows how rumor, innuendo, and mishearing underpinned the legal conviction of Tokyo Rose's celle counterpar, lon Tor er the war Furthermore, thistrezes the problematic of isenng nfo respects. Fist It demonstrates how Togurt and her fellow Axe broad. {Sets Lora Haw Haw and Asi aly affected U.S and ish elders nd elians more hough what people tought the broadcasters had ‘Sid than through what dhey ad relly sid. Seong, the chapter Hinks {ese discrepancies o wartime ies of el radio tenn and the efficacy of ao propagand, Pla and Hochfelder show that the sexuaized,feslaed voices of “Togur and Axis Sal complicated the poids of wartime radio Htening In" 'Siage Dissonance Gender, Voie ad Women’s Rao Speech “Argentina, 1930-1015," Chrsine Ehrck complements thie work with heranajsis ofthe proto feminise broadens af Sika Guerco on Are tine radio ding the 1980s, whichEhvik contrasts with the ight, atonal polities ofthe aio war Eva Duste Erick frames her tre sideration of Guerio's career Ineudly, stating the rite and fll of = oman who was, fora time, one of Argentina's mot widely Utena Tatio host within the lager dacoures about women speaking in pul le. Whereas Pfau and Hocfelder eed Tokyo Rowe to explore the potential dsabiliaing effet of one kind of fenale adi voice, Each ‘nalzes the poltial dimensions af ethers, The polis of aio and of fender intertected in ertiqus of Gucrio's ice, eich was eeinely lence after she candidly verbalzed the romaitie desires many of het female Fisteners ele and voiced as well the fusions many caper ‘enced with thelr husbands Men and women Heard Guetic's brea ins very diferent, and in maledoinated Argentine society, her ‘wansresive gender politics were bythe 40s saperedied by both the politcal propaganda and soap opera fantser of rac acess Et Duane, later know dhe wort at "Eva" andthe righting nalonal Jsepopulist pole of her fre husband, Juan Peso in Part H, "Sone Objects" the authors turn our attention from Droudeatng to recordings. In asudy of sn inftuential group of rcord collectors in the United States, “Collectors, Boclegers andthe Value of Jazz, 1980-1953," Alex Cummings deconusacte the conventions Aichotomy beeween produces and consumers of ound recordings He reveals both the predatory and generative dimensions ofthe wrk of cot lectors, many of whom fesized the records and snus teyccletedbbucwho ako preserved and cisulated a valuable body of recordings More surprising), Cummings shows as well how elector thersehes became producers when they began to relsue uta pint recordings ten with dhe aris’ consent and encouragement, thereby challenging the monopoly of record companies and the mass marke to dete ‘which recordings remained avaiable Beesise ofa ooplol nthe copy Fighe aw, Cummings shows, informal copying of record exited i a legal gray area, and as Tong a pated recordings di not compete with the legitimate presngs of the record companies, the ctmpanies tate her act consent. Thi equilibrium wae upetalter Wola War 1, however, when booteggers began to pee recods wih more than {stage appeal, andthe reconciled conflicts oer intellectual prop- fy, on which the shadow economy depended, became difel 0 sp press {ike Cummings, Eric Bary, “High Fidelity Sound a Spectacle and ‘Sublime, 1950-1061," ats who made recotds and under what ecu stances, but he enstecethese quests to sue of truth artifice, ad «pitemology embedded in any sound reearing. Mote special, by looking a the eccentric producer of audiophile recordings of ing exotic talpsos and spaceage bachelor pad music during the 1950 Barry unconers an ideologtealtanaforman nthe making ad marker Ing of sound recordings in the United States curing the 102 As he foregrounds the reeotdedaes of the sounds on records, Barrys work expires ina commercial context conceptual uses developed during {he same years in France by the rai engineer and compre Pete Schaefer, whose radial approgch to miasemaking was known 3s mis (pe onnite. Schaefer actively sought to disnguish and fact the ecrding—whathe called the oe soars the sone objecs—from the sounds recorded. Hs gal was o develop way fren to the reco Ings themsehes, ar recordings divuping the cltwal pace of liste Ingo souree material dough reconings (hat, you beara recoding ‘ofa cello and you pier aed think abou cello). The connec fare Barry dlscuses bore lie resemblance tothe musieal abstractions of Schacter and his ealaborators and folowers, tt me Barty show the audiophile recordings produced forthe North American eotnmersal ‘market extended and popularized a smiar interes in what people ‘eally heard when they lsened toa reeading Pare I, "Hearing Order” bts on aerial question that Bay's essay sugges but does not address expiily how do the organiation tnd tecnologia peceons of ew sun technologies fet tele Polits? A question ofthis breadth defies comprehensive or facile fnawer, but the two esas in ths section model the potential of such Inguity. They demonstrate how the ara environment bears oo the politcal environment and exemplify how istorcal understanding of {he polieal order ean be enriched by studies ofthe soundscape tn ‘Octupied Listeners The Legace of Inervar Rad for France Bring World War I. Derek Vailantreisisone ofthe prota montens we sieteentury French history and a lanimarkn the French aul agin tion Charles de Gaul’ radio adarea of 18 ne 1940, alla othe French people to rest the occupying forces andthe cllabraonist ‘Vichy goneriment Beneath de surface ofthe adres Vall sg ie deeper resonance and dhe sures of emotional power came from lie ‘ener fun with dhe pots! and regsltory bates for conta of the French airwaves during the deen before the war. These dsptes ere surrogates fora struggle over Fench identi and characte ding "he 1080 that echoed in the eas of steners to wartime radio prope spnda and wo the influential Frenchfangunge breast by the BBC: "To striking effet, Ange Bake she the focus from Barope to the ‘United States, from the national level tothe mncpal and fom wel sed technology to one tat hasbeen amt ety oxerlooked "An ‘Anible Sense of Order Race, Feat, and CB Radio on Los Angeles Free ‘ays inthe 10705" ia pahbreaking aoa that recat the history of ‘zens band (CB) rao fom the ut rucher moves of the 15708 and ltutes it instead within the urban landscape Beyond thelr popular lage of connecting deers of eighteenwheelers across the nation, C radios served other ends In Las Angeer There, n one of the nation's bigest CB radio marke, they finevoned a a device for drversin he semi privatized space of sstomotiles to pbc te new completed fee ‘ays against the premamed menace of innerciy Affican Ametiesns tweaking violence onthe outing suburbs Blake's argument combines trenchant anaes of de socal context in which CB radio took oon ls Angeles with a rita interpreta ofthe telinology ell Thus, the sone properties of CB radio andi scursve meaning eonverked, ‘The medium permitted only short, choppy exchanges where lee sound reinforced the seed “rity,” vgnte character of Cecio future. Meanie te southerminfected got echoed the conserva ‘ve, racially coded rhetoric of George Wallace and Richard Non Iw specialized lexicon amplified the dvision betmeen Insiders ad ut sidere—that si drone a wedge between those wo understood the ln kuage and therefore belonged ta the “commu” and these who dd fot Despite the aliowsalferences Been Blske's account of CB. fadio cule in 1570 Los Angeles and Vall’ study of the inerwat radlo In France, they share an underhing concer with the itera nectednes of the youndseape and th polital order, and bats have ‘seriou inerpredve and methodological impiclons, YVailacand Bake aso have common an aestes othe complexrelaonship beneen lea and national cntons and presmtes, and in Part TV, "Sound Commerce,” ths theme is developed further In “The People's Orchestra ukeaoxera the Mente of Popul Masia ‘Tas in the 19% and 10405," Crie Rasmussen reimagines the mie busines i the United Sates fom the pont af vow of Jukebox pera tory who placed and serviced automatic record piyers in local esta rants bars and other pubic places. Based onthe conversations that ‘peratrs had wit de proprietors of thowe enlists td on the ‘tome tabulation vies ltr placed inthe machines therseles the woralled coin men monitored which records connimer played ove and over again and which they aid ot eare for (and should be Feplaced), Although the musi inary naly sparaged dese guint ‘sential middlemen, record companies gral came to realie that the opertars had beuer direct knowledge of what consumers in dif: ‘entices actualy wanted to isten to than anyone in the indus atthe ‘national eel, Rasmussen's work ths echor hat of Alex Cumann Past problematizng the convensonal binary apposion of proers and consumers Indeed, a Raemisen shows he growing responsive hess of music companies to local estes had cultural ramifications, lead Ing to greater indtatry interes In and support for country music an Dies, and simultaneoul Ingman and rtonaliing the profesional function of te jskebox operator ‘The complex dynamics of local and national economies likewise com mands he atention of Bl Kirkpatrick "Sounds Local: The Compe ‘on for Space and Place Ea U.S. Radio,” ube sn yophisiested nals ofthe challenges facing locily based radio development in the 192 and 199: Demonsrating how radio stations funedoned st both ‘pmbols and organs of snallowns booster, Kirkpatrick sds a new Aimenson to the concept of "commerca” radi, Asan agent of boost trism-—one eal tmagines Siar Lents Geage Bait trumpeting his suppor for 2 local radio saion—the new medium fancsoned i paradoxical ways. Not only were local stations dependent on federal eens o operate, bu their concerted lor based on enthanclng the commetea traction of one pce over smother snd drawing bak nes aay fom outing area, had the effect of weskening the scone. nies of acer, nearby locales, Moreover, booseram notwithstanding, local commertil broadeases sw thatthe greseet source of potent even ay in trading national advertises fr whom lca bonds rs ftmeioned as condi o small-onn markets To secure a place tte groving economy of radio marketing, Krkpauick shin, loca broadcasters fashioned themes ax sense but sy lntermnedinies between cossopotian adverdsersand the tates and proclvie of rare nd smalbtow consumers Finally Michael Stamm explores another dimension of comersat radio development, sts interconnectedess with newspaper, =The Sound af Print Newspapers and the Pubic Promotion af Early Radio Broadeasting i the United States” When rao emerged in the 19205, proponents championed is unprecedented potential s+a means of ie Seminatnginfocmadon and ideas, but the leading nstutone of mss Communications atthat ume, thenenspaper companies realned hep {eal about the actual character and valve ofthe technology, uns wheter to view adi a potenti complement to their ines oa 2 rial Hedging tel bets many—boe not all—nesspapers bought or ‘tblsed radio salons and sed them to both promote and enhance {heir prin oernge. Samim death "wat hat np te 18906 between newspaper companies tat ned radio stone and commit: ted themes o radio asa news and adverxing medium and tho that essed such horizontal integration. The leaders of many ofthe later, Stamm shows, harbored deep sspicions about radio news They chara: texzed information transmitted auraly through radio 86 appealing ‘more to emodn than to reabon and posing » That tai ie Aiscoursebrnging the themes ofthe atts his book fall ere by Feturing to some of the ame ies confronted ty David Goodman a the onset Although the advocates of integration an consolidation won the day and uanafrmed the scare of news nd entertainment ns tutlons in the United States, Orson Wills Wor of te Wr oad in 1988 heightened a persistent ansiety about rao's power and mere sa cautionary le the mation on te eve of World War “Together these chapters ein elit the plieal economy of sound in the oentet century and pee! back the ter workings of the “el furl apparatus” as C, Wright Mil nce called i that structed the soundape On the most bios level, thi apparatus as inated by manufacturers and marketers of sound ecoringe ad ai and by the sounds these wehnlogie emied. But these urs show that i bo encompassed a range of aneilly pcpants—inciading music {tes,advertsing agencies, andthe eator aid ners of newspapers Jr, lawmakers, and ofcils who drafted and implemented regu Tory policies inventors, tinkerers, engineer, and product designe middlemen ike record collectors and jukebox operators; and the must ans, journals, actors, and radio hous whose voces stall reached Tisenes ears Moreover, this work explctes how lene cal ned experience took shape within de mati of conectons among Ailes nt components ofthis apparatus, Remaining alert tothe ways tae ‘ound often functonsasa vaual and apa phenomenon, swell say aural one these scholars engage na dynamic exchange wth the of visual tues Rather thn advancing 2 competing paradigm or parlesna! eraectory, hese sound scholars by turn bull on, comple ‘ment, and deparc fom the robust scholarship thst ha already done 0 uch to explore the lmpliasons of Waller Benjamin's provoratne ideas 4s asec, sun hovers inthe intereces betacen the intangible and the material the ephemeral and the Ged, the abiguous and the selfevident, presenting not jst Interpret challenges tut opportu ‘ies The exis colletted here recover the importance sound It ‘umerous histortal registers, underscoring the ongoing intercatin ‘hip of sensory and socal experience, While seine tthe poten Pitts inthis mode of analys, then cholate showeate es posses [stening to de aural complex and riches of the past they open ew way of thinking about the presenta he future Part | Affect and the Politics of ListeningChapter 1 Distracted Listening On Not Making Sound Choices in the 1930s David Goodman Distracted sein isa constant, commonplace occurrence in ou rast mediated world, We ae aecatomed to having roadtst or recorded ‘ound all around us, wtenever we wa, dt listening distracted oF flosely at ferent times and ples I ecendy visited! del in New ork ‘hat had wo ra stadonsplaying-one at Christina muse pres iy forthe customers} and ones Hpac talk station (prema for the salf}"and both were on ou While some today would be dscon- tented or annoyed by such a barrage, others amie he anal dexter lof those who can inhabit and negotiate sch a milyered sound ents, ronment. Procesing complex information—whether ml or ali today recognized a6 shill Susan Dowgla's important history of "radio tnd the American imagination” offers a taxonomy of nds of listen ing——ainingushing pasive hearing fiom active Hstening, and then within the pracce of listening, dsentangling “informaconal” for “dimensional” and “coneentrsted” modes Olt Stockel describes ow "each Ustener has a great repertote of modes if listening” that ae needed to function competently now inthe diverse “Istening stations inthe everyday soundscape." Such accounts are happily plural Diese listening modes exit side by se: penple hae “repertoires of Tenn,” each wth own pleasures? "Thats indeed low we ine now, derstanding that dheve ae dif at Kinds of litening for dtferent situations, but ls hat there sneer tough time to lsten carefully al ee thingy we onght or want to ear ‘There ian emerging scolaly andl advice lerate om seni sills and ther importance to every conceal le education and counsel: ing, language learning, management. marketing, health care, elgion, Interpersonal relationships, and more. The 1987 founding ofthe ftrational frat of Ldn reflected his growth of intrest Much ofthis fecent Iiteatnre teats the enhancemeat of iening sila pst of 2 Project of seltimprovement and slfathancement, Th contrast, ding the 1080s, there nat aston socal and public emphasis American publ discussion of radi. Commentators mae tained not only that soe modes of isteing mere beter than others ut that some were positively dangerour~aocialy, cca. pital. wellas pchologialy Iwas the ditncion between ateatne and ina tentve listening that most woubled Americans ding the 1980s 3 they “true to comprehend and io shape the roi effets of rio, While Io of those who took dhe touble to identify distacted Titening in public debate were sve thatit wasnt good thing ordinary Americas tere frequently and routinely engaging it, untoubled by the geen sain of experts. This Tage foogotten debate about canal and distracted listening !tuminates a important chapter Inthe technologically enable rans ti rom relatively soundscarce scl environments tothe sod an dance of modernity By this do not mean simpy tha the modern world istouder. People in de past di, of eure, Ine in complex ad some: ‘mes noisy sound enonments But in the presrdesn word burst of sound wold often eventually subside into what snd istrian Alain (Corbin has charaeteried a5 “habit silence tn Britain, from the inineteenth century, nie was pereived to bean increasing uray bight! Noise became a condition of modern urtan life athe than at {phoui interruption of ite ewentiedvcentary cy generated a range ff mechanical noses that were constant rather than ceatonal Hist "an Emily Thompson has writen of the growing concern about urbe noise inthe ery decades of dhe evensethcenty inthe United States 'm anxesy whieh found expression in the noise sbtemnent movement andl in New York's 1829 appointment ofa Noise Abuternent Commis ‘son Important wo my theme i thae amplified sou rom loudspeak- fs ineidng ras, was bythe 198009 significant par of this whan oie problem People noticed radio noise a8 something new, a sigiicant and novel adi othe soundscape of domenc spaces, Past tthe problem was that radio noise leaked dough apartment and ex windows, changing the sound enveonmentall around. “What 2 wonderful thing i would he" wrote "A Neighbor Who Loves Peace” from Madion, Wisconsin, "everyone would play ther rade for threes ony.™ A 1985 Son ‘et on Turing a Kacio Dal” spoke of the slence-detsoying power of They are the foes af alence and of tie, Tete vices from the fnges ofthe exh, “Thronging the stream of i with ve and thyme, Charging the clon with nibldy and th ‘My argument about sound abundance doesnt, howeve,ocussimphy fon the question of relative volume of note. The er of mechanieal reproduction provided new posites for contoling sound and for raking choices shont, and exercising responsibility fr, ane sound ‘vironment. The exerieof judgment ive i arin de dl ad hanging satons was celebrated in broadeastng inary publicity 968 Tundanental American feedom. Decisions abot wornd environment Le choices of personal appearance and opinions, becune inportast acts of selfefintion and seprojccion. Wis surprising rapid, aio fnd the phonograph made the choice of muse one ofthe key sighs and ‘xpresions of personal identi” Rago magazines asked listener about their preerencesRdo Sis, for example, ran a column ened “What They Listen to and Why—Dial Twisters Cast Infor Votes for Pet Programs? More was at sake than musial tse or middleclass hhonsehotd aural decorum. Rad ineluetabty made coe of es he tening pat of the work of shaping personal opinion and identi that as beginning to gain new importance during te 19¥s a key prt of {he tk of elimaking thats widely held to hae characterized ade sity. This emphasis on the role of muse choice in the Formatn af ‘he modern indidal prenspposes, In oes considerably beyond the omante comvieton that appreciation of musician inward, murospee ‘he and emotional ting" Pde sound choices and the concomitant prctces of care, com scious tening became cineny dies daring radio's golden age The ‘opposite practices neglect or abandonment ofthe responsi of ‘umd choice, and careless, promiscuous, oF nerd Hiening were ‘denounced as threats to socal, ee, and psychological welling. In Tntening atin ao many other areas of oder fe eaens were 500) logit Nikolas Rowe puis it, "not merely “re wo chook, at sie o fej" Distracted stoning was a renunciation of itening choice, the ‘poi of responsibly paying attention, of managing one's responsive: ‘ess to the world. Art historian jonathan Cary agus that by the ea ‘wendeth centr, the atenive subject was "pat ofan snenation of Aisciplinary imperatives in which indvidoale are made mre direct {esponsblefor their own efficient or profitable ust." Directed listeners came tobe perested as elter eulpaly unaware of or contest Ing tat responsibil, and hence they became the objects of vrne ana. Jot socal and ential commentary, Most obvious was that dsrated Isteners often hal he raion fu so that they could lien while they 4d other things They lee the radio on when noe actly paying ater‘ion, Proponents of deliberate and chosen listening regarded excessively loud or unconlled radios as egregious exampler of “unnecessary Thenew technologies for mechanically reproducing sound facilitated oie in ifferent way. The phonograph made possible the sleet ‘of sounds in bounded tsne—a record played fr four or fie nates and then stopped. Technology now allows people to hear ely the mse oftheir cholee, and whenever they want. Broadcasting, in contrast allowed some choice of sound, btn required constant vigilance ‘one program followed another to ennare that sening remained deli ate rather than random and acidental Radio also created the poss? Dili of the abandonment of choice—you could jut ett playa hear whatever came aang. Today that would give YoU fort most rai Sa ions smn conssteny of musical or dacusion ule. But fan Ametiean radio was jst let on in the pre-World War I ea of comprehensive, something for-everyone programming, what came slong was far more Ininelineous.* The effec of expentre to sich a sseam of unsought and diverse sound seemed, to many concerned commentator, highly ‘unlliely to be beneficial. The sbondoniment of the responsibilty of choosing sounds catefuly was often said be both symptom and case ofa distracted mind. This dsvacion war a cawed and gendered phe- ‘omenon a state of being that war understood tobe both plebetan and feminine, bu also to be technologically induced and hence becoming ‘Just to Get Definite Programs” 1928, carly in the era of neswork broadcasting, a newspaper in Charles City, low, reported tts "A family posesting a goo rao st, and enjoying it were surprised to be told by a fiend the olker day "You're the ony fiend ave, with fans inthe house, who use them jst to get definite programs. The ret ll tar them on and keep them oing al dhe time, They te usualy aking or eating or play cara oF ead, without paying any atenton.”"™ The ditjproming tone of is ory, and is desertion of Ameriean listening practices as alee poltized between an ete of tet and selective Tstene's an a mts of disacted and indiscriminate ones, sage the class dimensions of @ ‘story that sil lies submerged, For the historian of stening, however here is here a problem of exidence. Thete ace many prescriptive sources chat ilserate ate, ee listening practices he senting oF {ose people who consulted a program guide, selecied a progr, ald tin on their Fado, and etched the et of ats eonelion Bu how do we recover the rather more hidden=yet certainly mote colt mon—history of distracted listening, sggeted by al those Iowans pay ing litle or no atention wo dei row Fe of then, nfortanatey produced roemoirsof their natenion or autbogeaphicaldeserpion ‘of how ther lives Neurite aid the apparent sural chaos of thei Irowsehols, “The visual ecord at bet offers ile ansntnce and at worst eae the Iistrian of istening in some wrong deectons The ideal mode a aio lstening wae depicted most aftn aa scene of people paying clone er, ‘ion, aking thelr Istening seriously. The ionic ige ofthe fami seated around the living oom radio as they once night have st around {he earch sil dominates the popular inemory of radio's golden age These are atentine istener, absorbed in thei ieang, One 187 sth deseibed the radio as "merely an artical extension” ofthe lseners ‘natural sense of hearing “by is use, the scope of ston extended far beyond natural range,” jst ax spectacles or a telescope hod ‘extended the range of vison.” Thi sense ofthe rao listener a ull engaged and paying core attention to what he (assay it waste in seh Accounts) could hear stemmed fom the earer igure ofthe heen radio hhobbyit intent upon pling indian esations, chained ois radio by headphones. The highly atentivelstener wax sls the ype nvaved in cay radio listeners organizations, sucha the Rad Listeners League, which began in Des Moines anda ten branches it lewa by 1988 Te League was opposed to direct sling bt alo very concerned about pe serving good reception and eliminating aces of electrical interfer. fence.® In South Dakota, the Huron Radio. Liseners League as similany dedicated vo promoting advance ia rao reception and rede ing intetference Tes postble to quiet exery pe of tav-ndenterler {ence we have in Huron." During thee eat ears of adi, ral and ‘quit places, peope often wok thei ening ey rou. Bu bythe 180s, hese ardent steners were x minority: Masaudience broadcast Ingand the sheer abundance of ado sound soon rene the posublity fer more ereles mode of listening The serious, attentive listeners, howerer, have come to seein the achevpalIsteners of rad's golden age. From the aden of the lout Speaker era co the present the dominant visa representation of adio listeners hasbeen & fan seated in a semi inthe ling room for ‘he evening listening neem to a progratn they al enjoy engaging he Fado with their eyer a well her ear the) gaze respect low ingly delghtely atic They ae silent emcves, because ther ach ishappyinening (Pigore 11. ‘Shared ado entertainment certs did ving de aly cogether in tmaceustomned ways The congregation ofthe family inthe home to hese revs ffom outside was a navel but rapidly mythologied practice. Acin eee ms BTS $205 “See er a i joe $2. mich ty nee agra ough ie ‘one looking direct at teach peran lier wih apt atendon dona! Gogoi December 1958) household lsening to one of President Roosevelt's Fireside Chats Feralas the mont iconic image of 1930 radio Istening. American hie tory textbooks portray this experience aa signature pat af Depression and New Deaf culture. This potent cultural memory has undoubtedly Feinfrced the dominant image of listeners general ae atentive nd ferious, earnestly receptive to tnlormation and advice about their ow tnd the nation’s future George Segal sculpture Fire Cat x the Frankin Delano Roosevelt Memorial n Washington, D.C, ofa slkary man listening to one ofthe Freside Chats, further enshrins ths nage lf ee atentveistener paying solem almost prayerful tention ie Fadio, as one of the dominant national vival memories of 1930s radio Tinening® In contra, the halestaged/halfethnographie photograph. ‘tradi listening taken by Farm Secuty Administration and Offic: of ‘War Information photographers show a greater range of poses nd Aereanors They depict hnteners seated or ing dowo, although with some evidence of simultaneous acthit-—perhape reading, eudling taling are lo thing place (Figures 12,13). But here too listeners are poltoned at rex, lose proximity toad often in dite visa cate ‘ith ther raion. fn several of these photographs ane tener ha his or her hand on the dia asf emphasize tht thie is eontrolled,delber aie, choleemaking lating, nota lesuretime scene with buthground round ‘We hate fw visual records ofthe aher kind of listenere—the csi, Aisracted, preoepied multtaskers Yet written evidence indicates that 180s Americans often lisened to radio in eases, fl, indifferent, inveverenyselipreaceuped ways, paying whatewer attention they could sinid the aural cacophony of thelr ves. People did housework, shop ‘ork, frmwork withthe radi on. They related a8 hey istene drank Smoked or plyed cards, bathed dressed or undressed: women knited ‘hildren plyed, teenagers taled and danced. Beesuse people peal Ttenel to rao wi athers, im the ling room, they also often talked as they Intend. The Cromley ratings agency estinated tha the average radio tet in send three lsenereand hence, the University of Chis {g's radio director conchuded, "the average listener more often than otis ‘hallistener' he unable or unving to give fl ateion to ‘Some ofthis happened just because radios were left on for several hours a day. A‘CBS survey in 1987 found thatthe average row was turned on for five hours and ten mines each day Often the ado tas let plying simply because no one had avitched Kolo because people ha come to like the company ofthe background noe, a one program afer another tumbled out ofthe speaker. Bu sometimes too people deliberately planned wo we radia as background an nite otig. 12 Mother and son sent the rao together in he Yalan Amevean nine in ino, She easing athe att ote move ree eninge ne ea hea ek Den UibosePe& Phowgraphe Diao Watngon DC to spend me with chem ina distracted ntening station. individ tls and social organizations of many Kinds held radio parties" a new social form—In which social interaction and aco listening occured together, In 1929 a Billings, Montana, woman hosted radio party at hich "besides enjoying the radio muni, the aftemoon was spe doing ncedework ain socal eaversation,"* In 198) the parents of @ Mir sour boy held a tao party” for him: number of his le fends tere present and spent a delightfel evening at games and munis More than a decade inter, stadent and faculty of Miswour! busines «allege hosted radio party at which “fy young people were in ater tance to enjoy dancing, ping pong and games" We know. them that {his kind of distracted hitening was common, Bul when people were conscious that they were being photograptied as radio listen, they those to play the vole—or were directed to ply the roles bet they ‘could ae they knew i shouldbe done attentively an serious ig 1.3: fant tnening othe radio and sexing Father Cough’ nen pe Sel fst” Royal Oth ebigan, December 109 The le pen ois Broo es rao hens stew sean of {Eesome more Intens sening bu te pare neces dec an Seng ‘ot Congreny FS8-0WT Callecuon, LEUSWS-OI6TISC DLC: Pinu & Phote (popieBron, Wang, Be Accent steners fled cv expectations when they engaged news ofthe world or public speech with sll of ther serious tenon They Were alto doing what aeverters very much hoped they would ending carefolly to every word. A late in Newark tld ¢ vey researcher in August 1985: "1 like music more than anything because | fan puter around without jst sting and listening.” Such listeners Were anathema to advertisers. Lois Wits, the director of the ado department of a New York advertising agency, advised poten aco adierisers in 1985 that “Iatening lene" weve what they needed" ‘would ight to the death with any advertiser who wanted ta put om @ ice musical program that you can have tuned on without disvacting the sener from his reading or bridge gune.” Witten’ best abe forcombating dsacted tering wasto make the sverisement “se stong ‘entertainment athe show’ gave the exanple ofthe gag commer ial perfected by some of radio's top comics such a Jack Benny and Ed ‘Wynn.> Te dracte listener posed a problem to adverts, who did ‘not want t0 pay for expensive program and have listeners chating st {hey listened, or worse, walking tof the room of pexforming moi Douehold chores when the advertisement break cn on Gendered Distraction Only one hind of alaracefstener hat so far figured to any extent in radio history. British radio historian Kate Lacey segues thatthe "par Aigmatictitener constucted Wy the indaszyehroughout the beter pat fof the tench century war the dinacte, footed And tmpasthe housewife listening tothe radon the home while bury doing other things! The discovery af the money tbe mide fro commmeretal day {ine programming nar certainly arin point for the American radio Indutry'n the mid10805, Program makers created open-ended, pet ‘ious daytime programs with this archetypal distracted housewife in mind" Frank Stanton, then a researcher at Ohio State Universi. com ducted a survey in 1988 on what people did while they Hxened to the radio, Men reported tha they rea and ae, while women mentioned 4 tore diverse range of actives, including sewing, cleaning house ating, ironing, and resting Researchers well nt the telewiion age vere sl discovering that media conmamption war gendesed in jus hs ay, with men exprening a desire wo wath television qui ant ten {key and women becoming aecsted to viewing in amore dsracted fahion a they dealewith an array of houtell th ederal Writers Project inteviewer, sent out to record the ly Lie ‘of ordinary Americans met some archetypal, distracted era aio ie ‘ener When the radio aon ina baty Housel twas often on lod Visitors had to shout over it oF yell at someone to tm it sown The Imeriewers described such scenes carefily and dzapprongy as they made their rounds inthe late 19805 noting how radi often competed wil other household noise In a South Carolina mil workers home in 1988, "a radio was plying fll Ue and through the closed door cane the soains ofthe popular song, The Umbrella Mai.’ To the noite of ‘he radio was added the conftion of ering, petulant childen." The ‘daughter ofthe house explained "ve ben back inthe cook room Scrubbing, and I kad the radio med loud could work and listen. Jove the music and the songs" The housewife working at home eto mized the distracted listener, snatching what moment of enjoyment 8nd concentration she could amid he ordinary tamil of her home Women at home in the 190s certsniy were likly olsen extensively and hence diriratedly during thelr other sctves. A Florida worn told her ntersewer:"Yhnow, very inte sin the howe, {Keep tht, rdlo going. When I getup in the morning, rst thing doe er ion eT come in late at might eam icon unt the local stations sgn of then [get an out of town sation. [have o pla tlw tho, bee Pa ‘us get hissleep butik he gol-dern thing plyed fl when alone inthe house." That sounds like someone in ontrol of he sound ey ronment. But the conchaions that erties reached about distracted women listeners were fr from fatering. Womens advice columnist Rush Milectwarnel in stark terms agaist this ind of extensive ine ing "He gota divorcee got the radi. That was the way a California Je decided 2 divorce sue in which a husband charged bis wie "woul clean house eare fr the elven, cook my meals or talk 10 se because she was alas listening w the radio." The houses wh hasten ino he habic of srning a de rao when she getup inthe ‘moming and keeping co all day, Mille adhe, "is ape so be amu Aleheaded person” with "a ner, tery state of mind” Sach fem nine, extensive—and hence inevitably, at mer, ditracted—iienert ‘ere Millet maintained, vulnerable to emotional inflience. They were In danger of wading interest in eal experience and their own teal Jes for deep and chien emotional ivahement witha fetional world "The worst radio addet among housewives ovght fot the rain off | {ovat least unvee hours a day. She should de this even if she does have tostop following the fate f one o vo of her airwave heroines, Her own ‘ie mould be just asineesting to her abe ever took ime ost to gure fou howe to improve It and to Sind more happiness and contentment thin evel” ‘Adelaide Hawley wat the host of a morning women’s show that ied ‘over he years on the Mal, CBS, and NRC networks, She taled een toheraulience af women at home, advising them to think of thenseles tas "housewives," but sather at “home executes” She undestond, however, Rom er voluminous fan ill that wosnen more often responded to her show emotonally than a ronal managers seeking enlghtenng information. This happened in par becauwe the alway radio became companion imbicsed in thei vs, ot x wie from ‘uu to be rationally steed. Haley once characteied her avd fence: "Women in general~lonely,senumens, eager to beter the selves, eager to be kept ix touch, prone to take the counmentatr's emaths as gospel, dink of her ax personal fiend ln 1044» young ‘mother wrote to Hawley: "Twice In the lst seentpfour hours thane dreamed shout you Yesterday morning, afer geesng up eal 10 take ‘are ofthe baby and get my husband off to work, fell aeep again while‘he baby tok a nap, just about he time of your program, which Labeys| Tnten wT dreamed Iwas presenta a brotacast and talking cheerfully to you and Cide Kivell I feet a thougl 1 know you bothe™ Radio researchers, many of them wih backgrounds in pmetology, word that ‘women like Lote, whowe radio frends had entered so fly into hele ‘mental and emodonal word, had given upengagennent with eal ie for 2 poor imitation of efor what radio resencher Hert ereog famously Abie "borrowed experience. The most presing concern was tht auch lixeners would be vlners- ble w sill propaganda. Radio provoked both hopes and fears about it capacity to persuade, Early discussion of breadeasting contained 2 strong element of Progressive optimism abot radio ae anew too) of social planning and for communication of desirable snd enlightened information. BY the mid1980e, however eth the example of acs snd communis vegines aggresvely wang radio for propaganda interne Sonal, and much ansiows discussion domestaly of the polite power wielded by silled,radloadept popali pobiial leaders such ax {Ghales Coughlin and Hey Long, the dangers to democracy of think alike population loomed large in the America inagination, Much of the 1880s educational material about the dangers of propaganda po ited a connection betteen extensive backgroud radio listening sda emotional, rater than detached, autonomous, ad eis, response ‘The archetypal distracted houseife didnot, wa feared, esiteally di tance herself from what she heard, and thus she thteatened fo becorne Alea link ia democratic society ad inate in national defense ‘Wat as heen les recognized In the seholarahip i thae many men uring the 19805 lg tstened In such stereospiealy"ferinine” and Aisrated ways, because thelr radios too were awa of Age, ilies, Tonetines, unemployment, tation, and youth could each bring men Ingo a more distracted eeationsip tothe adi. Both male and female Fsteners in the lte 1980s report! that they tumed t radio for solace tnd companionship when they were hotbe alone, snd thas tha thei ‘mental word inehuded the condnual sound ofhaithesrd programs. A (Connecticut man adimied that hi stening was both constant and tie teaced: "Me Botlord hasbeen nodding In bis Moors chai by the Xichen stove... The rao is going ful Mat with a market broadcast, bute svitches it off "Goto Lleep or read wih hat dan thing goin and don’t pay no atention toi half dhe te """ Catherine Healy, of yan, Mastachosets, aed about her elderly wncle: "he's got books and cards foo and he's got the radio. That things ago Irom the tne Ibe gets up tlhe goes a bed tvas not oalyolder men who listened so extensively and distracted ‘Unemployment during the Depresion aio provided many opportu ‘es for extensive and compensatory radi tein. "The rao is going practi all ay" id an interviewee forn an unemployed fay. [our only recreation." Invalided and hoeptaived met and women, ‘en known a5 “shutins" Were alo often aid radio laters tel to bie extremel graefl for dhe boon of radio enteraisment snd to listen Continually rather than selectively "Shut ine” were, a Alice Keith fbsered in 1984, radio's "mos const and loyal audience: Then there were the geographically isolated men and women who let the radio ona great dea ofthe tine berate it provided companionship in thei rural or remote settings. A woman was bere in North Carolina “Au she radio program came toa else she sai Tenn hardly wat every say co hear that story. Ive out here Seo mils frm towns ad lke being in ja. Nobody comes, and T cat ge nouere"® A Novth Carolina farmer told an interviewer in 1898. "We get sort of Ionesome. We stent all the good saris and sting music Some timer we buy things they sell on the ratio—medicine ad other things This Kind of consoatory and extensive litening was not a all wat the optimists about radio aba social transforming technology had ben hoping for. They vane era! and ite latening. not an everlasting drone hat inermiently became a deep pare ofthe listens conscious ness The problem was serious beenute extensive and conslator ser Ing seemed to be becoming more widespread. Feeings of oltion were fot ttumed out, confined wo the countryside In 1043 radio researcher Marjorie Fske maintained tht radio helped aerate a sense of la tion that she found tobe almost everywhere in Ameren society Mos ‘Americans today are more o es late i one ay or nor. Some people ve on farms and are physically slated other lefties and 2e pochologicalyolaed." For such elated Armericans theses 'm radio provided a miscellaneous but abrorbing engogement mith ber places and ways af fe. When asked in 1937 ihe like o go out, 2 Polish farmer in rural Massachaeets responded: "No, I sayin da hous, inten to radio. By God dose couboysae good! We ike dem bet- ter dan anything ele" Several categories of men, then, alo began to develop extensive rather than intensive~and hence slmost certainly at tines digacted Father than focused—stening habit, thus joining the emerging pa tern, That this ind ofntening vas coded a feminine the ealare no out only added to che yehemence of the publicly expresed disap. prov et The distracted housewife remains one ofthe archetypal figures of media histor. While nor denying thar many acta women did times Tsien 10 radi in that way, 1 have wied hereto complicate our understanding ofthe gendering of golden age aio itening, Extensive listen: ing was necesrily at mes dsvacted, because no one could xen attentiely all daylong. Men ao engaged in diatraeed listening they ‘went about their aces and lor, anda they too chose 1 ve In Tousehold in which the radio was on for many hours a day. Sonne of the housewite'sdisuaction grew fom her engagement in housework tnd child care a he radio played. But some oft aro alo from having the radio ona great deal ofthe time, and in adopting this ew mode of Tsing with sound te was nt alone, 5 Noi One of the sources of ovr knowledge that many radios were played extensively rather chan infinite, planed, and intensive manne i {he rowing numberof complains, fom the late 1920 on, abou ban foie. The lvayvon, bayou radio appeared fo many Americans a8 Sew urban ausance. Some antinoite campaigners refered to quiet ‘estas cleanness and excessive notes dit"s kind of aude er,” lone member ofthe League for Less Noise described tinal to New York mayor Fiorello La Osardia® Radio noise was diferent, however, from trafic or industrial noise. Because people cat ply thet ros ‘oo Tod and toe Tong, excesve radio noise war Gescribed mare a8 Drodut of sound addon than of sural sloventiness 1020 neva per article explained: “There are emo elses of radio tener. One i ompored of people who ise thei radios wih tase and temperance, toning in when there ra progeat which interests them and shuting off the radio when the program is ended. They create no problem. The thers composed of people who keep their radios turned on all the ‘Se, accepting uncically everthing the eter hast ofr" This see fond las of constant, dstaced, and hence unertialItenes, the ‘iter continued, "alway goin for volume of ound!” and “use te ado Programs only for background for shouted couverstion."™ The lan. {age of dispproval is tevealing, There are “laser” of iene, the beter cas exhibiting not only “tate” but “temperance.” The listeners ‘whose radio“ all the ime" are thas pose at deplaying ines perance—they are the moraly lx drunkard of listening who do not Enow wen 1 stp. "Americans who ied in aparauente found the noise of neighbor radios anew ad often intolerable anneyanee. A 1929 survey of Wn "oP readers found that radio speakers topped the ist of note con cerns" Many complained ofthe nose competion that resulted fron adjacent urban radio stening-each resident ening up their radio to frown got the one next doot™zesuling, one noted in “arising encoph ‘ny ofsound including aeheesecake recipe, dhe fh at Racehorse path 2 high tenor, the suai of some song ad four adenoial announcers Doaging the housewives next commer blesngy" 1899 poem ‘complained of "My Neighbor's Radio No mater what she hour of ay, My neighbor's ado sblaring ert the newes as Ofwhy and where to go (OFhat to ure for tothe, For shaving and for soap. ‘Or Hier’ speech in German Orpeace word Irom the Pope, ‘The poet concuded thatthe only consolation wa ‘Thatsince his ays plays so loud ‘Atleast mine wont wear ut™ ‘The novelty ofthe radio noise mance thus generated some wry and ezmperated commentary through the 1880, amounting st tines tx Aleta om thee of ight to quite, In the context ofa diseasion ofthe fre of loud radio players to take responsibly for their own and thet” sound environments the fiquete of adusting the volume on radios was mach diced One Itt lstener wrote othe Aw Tor Timer Myon maddening obser i hasbeen that the grea majority of radio Isteners tar om the ol hme very neal ful fore: the annonncers bellow at teh thet would be head through the Pesosyvania Station, sind muse stepped Up any ties the volume heard onthe concert stage ort dace hal Devoted ratio listeners demanded some quiet in wrder to hear thet ‘vm favorite programs. In 19913 Virginia mn started ght with his eghbor who was making so mich noise that he could x heat Ame SW Andy om his radio. The jnge damian the charge, remarking that ‘he could spmpatinebecnte he too maa ei an = In ome instances radio's noie wa becoming much atopic of ple lie debate as its message. In May 1985, the Catholic archbishop af Bor ton, Cardinal O'Comell, denounced the radio priest Charles Coughlin ‘nterms that had todo with the sn of Coughlin’ roadeat oie a vel 35 with the content of his dear All tho daar wives the Shouting, yelling and sereaming, are so becoming Yo any one who ‘occopes the place ofa teacher in Chis’ chet, that even the gual oftheir voies betrays them. They are hysterical” Cardinal O'Connelltalked abo of “shouter and shrickers" who were “howling and shiek ing for more money" Here it was nots he yolume of rao noise the was resented but the capacity af adi to bring ich angry plies] ‘ices nto the imagined rang of homes Tale o take rerponsbliy for radio lee could have serous conse |quences. In 1980 an ndianapolis woman comsnied suicide rather than face the humiliation and possible financial consequences of her neh bors dechon to sue her for $5,000 in damages for playing he radio so Tour and continuously that it had become a puble rsianee* Lod ado eft playing were coming to be wndersond ax sgn and conse ‘quence of disorder and behavior ont of contol. Police ariving on the Scenes af murders and suicides often reported finding the rao bie Ing-ic war sometimes in fat the ncontrolled radio that alerted seighbors tothe problem. But the cos of wan noise alo eventually provided a certain imsmuniaion. US. health officiate reported in 1940 {hat city boys made beter aolees than rural ones becaute "it kes ‘more time to condition the lads from ral stea to the nose of bat {e."* Thiswould have heen litle conor, however to howe concerned to protect the tranguliy ofthe home from this new menace, wo cone {nued to fad loud raio noize a dressing feature of ut ie, “Excesive nos stimulation was understood ultimately fo pose a th ‘o mental health because it made people too nero and excite. {his Ue,” reported Federal Communications Corsmissoner Thad Brown in 1988, "we are being petioned by say ‘tracted Tateners for rele rom oud speakers operating late im the ight. Many cor plainant charge they ae on the verge of nerotsprostraton,"™ A New York man complained: "Whea I alyecte to the neighbors below me shat had a radio of my own, and didnot ear to late to ther roar fom 6.80 co 11.30 everynight, Tvs called a neurotic. After Hstening to ‘he shabies jazz progtams pounding on your ear for fie outs every night, who would not develop a neuitoas or something worse?" The Ching Tabune reported metal opinion about 3 prsibe case ofthe “alarming increase in assay” in the nation: "urban noles Iehich wear upon and Bray map delicate nerves 1980 a physician eported "manycases of nace pycho-neuroti patents whe cond tion has heen caused by some imbeale wh runs is rao above 00 pitch" One leer the Now York Tie 1988 tld ofa peron being rire to suicide fom the neesant din" ofa neighborsraio-— "thi ‘oor soul was only one of thousands awake night after night With {helt nerves, thelr eas, their Bring povided to disacton by others ‘tery heeds of any ight to asanel quiet night." The sheer vohume nd relenessnes af extensive radio paying was a matter of consider able concern ‘The problem was, however, not just the volume of radio nose bat the angers of listening to comping sounds. Some expers began sigue ‘at lstening to two things st once would era the mind. and in he longer run etd to menial sain or nsaniny "Tam ste many parents do not realize the harm they are doing,” observed axe educator, “when {hey Keep up a steady flow of conversation duving good radio pre- fas." This she warned, could tot but havea “alsturbing elec on the nervous and emotional stem." Distracted Tatenng wa ts Sin, defined asa healt hasard~hstening to too may things nt once could fonuibute w mental overstimulation and evenly madness The Charles Gi, Tons, newspaper quoted ener continued it elesons tm households where de radio was alway "NO or woman ex ‘ere wo masters: Doing two thing at once Is double sevice If conver Sadon and radio are going om a he sume tie in the same room, ne ther ean be aligether ignored. From suek confusion cme may a the nervous roubles of present ds ie ‘Because radio listening war voluntary, the implication was that people should take more responsibilty fr their isening and not endanger ‘others by their slovenly or adated titening practices Rao noise nas problem because it ook avy the posit of making sound choices. The consensus of educated opinion was that excessive latening, which srasnecessrily at many tes distracted listening, would ultimately ive people mad. During World War Ml, with its daturing news reports, Experts were furer warning of "rho fatigue," among te Sopa fof which were overexeitement, insomnia, and an inably to recogice {hat shere was problem: "without realizing the nervous yen may be edgy'and remain in thal undesirable state for hours bees we ack the wtto change he diaL"® Always, the key diingwishing chareteri {cof he response listeners war that they he when to sich ff nd {0 ret to nmediated ie. This suggested 3 new iut—how to bring ‘ap chilren to be responsible listeners If the young were raised as dis tzacted listeners, prospects for an ante society in the future were in, Young Listoners Disuacted listening was demonstrably becoming more widespread, in par because young people seemed —dsturbinghy even more comfort tle than ther elders with extensive, attentive, background seni Children and young aduls Heed having the radio on as much ofthe te as posible, and young people ere repeatedly dsconered to be ‘nang the most “radlominded” of Americana Fame that had to sel their radios during the Depression often found tht thir childrenvere the mest diconsaate atthe loa, the mort ike to sare gong out Justo hear radio agains A 1887 survey ofthe litening preferences of ‘en thowsand Minnesotans found thatthe “average amount of time the ‘acho isin ure cach day le greater in the homes of fovervocioeconomic Stan and inthe homes with te lager number of children under teen years of age." The fear Was hati young people retained thet ‘extensive listening habs ato adulthond, the more plebelan, extensive Inode a listening was dessned to become the orm” ‘Where household radios were on for mote than four hour day chi dren were Intening for a significant proportion oftheir waking ue, much of iin edistacted fashion. A eudzearing advice colrnnist Painted this pita ofa radio home im which the children created 9 Aisractedistening envionment "Inthe next room the radio was go Full bs And asif were not bad enough o have tamed en 0 To the broadeasting stations were constantly being changed. In tying to Imake themelves heard above the dia {fom the nest room, the ‘others mere shouting seach othe."™ ‘Many children, it was ealulted, were puting in more hours over & year stening othe radio than dhe were in atending schoo!” The pe {xived sve about children, as show women, wat not jst the ume “spent” but the asbaiation of wei for real experi. kn a 1956 survey of ithgrade children in New York, 50 percent of boys and {3 percent of gir reported dreaming about radio programs” An advice Columnist warned 2 modher i» 1908: "Obvousy Your year Ol ever: ‘ong his radio listening. He needs companionship... He is ving 3 phantom existence im an nce work ad he wl ot leave it unless Torced todo so." Radio researcher Herta Herzog moved fom dats sch as these some disturbing quesons about the emotional eee ‘Of radio on children and the cive consequences of extenie listening” "To what extent el they be waned this wa, ater om says to Took for somebody else to provide excitement fr them and thus ll sy prey to {ny kind of propaganda which makes use oftheir emotional sara. “Through the 19805, dicusion of radio and emotion was inevitably linked in this way tothe idea af propagands, Any emotional athe than dona engagement with brosdcas material was tI have sugested, Scrutnized forts natonal security impletions, he auggeston of pop. Slaton dangerously vulnerable t manipulation bysiled persundes Distracted tstening would, i wae feared, ender people—especaly ‘hase who Ustened sn stereotypically feminine oF jvenie waye-more susceptible wo propaganda” The ial Istener wat mom often in con ‘eat implicitly gendered masculine. He was the rational and emotionally deached istener who had the selfconfidence and te internal sources to tum the radio ff and offer his own opinion. Distracted, extensive radioalwayeon lseners—jut hike ciodionlly intense, grippnathe furitare isteners—were sid to Lack etal distance from thes item ing. Both kindled vo meet the norms filet lise stentiveness ‘because both had wouble separating themueles from thet istenng and ‘inging oan en Keith Tye, an educational researcher at Ohio tate Universi, pro tvced a depressing ato what he understood to be some ofthe ten fffects of radio listening on children: "Excesinesimation of sal hildren fom exciting dio dramas excesive anes over feof cha acters on part of sme children; tendeney towards excesses of the ‘viseerack and other ‘broad humor: diaaction with situations not highly spiced with melodvaa; warped sense of values fom dishonest portrayal of fe: imitaton of poor English sagen some cases tendon) ‘ovard inatenton daring music and speaking ving to radiclisening abla" The summary pulled togedher the diagnoses that were net ‘commonly made af young radio Ienere—that wile at some ines he) bald radio too rapt and excited stenton, thet overexposure to ihe ‘medium neces made them at ater tines ies and inattentive ‘These apparently conadietory therses—that radio ease oa mach eacitement but also Induced pasvey nd torpor—amounted fo a tharge that young people both under and overvalued thei isening ‘The orched from listening that was distracted, passive, and oo ete sive to lstening that war excited and too intense. On the one hand then, children's radio listening was vticined aes passive amusement demanding nothing from a ald pir of eats" but om the oer handy ai serials were blamed for childrens sleeplessness and overex ‘emene "Any eld who is made nervous, excitable or sleepless by radio programs, or who neglects his active ply to say ped to the radio, is being harmed, not amused, by it entertainments"? A te ‘archer in 1998 found that children became very excited when sen ‘ng to radio drama, "gripping some artele of frniture tight gasping chucking voluntary, sobbing, nughing and weeping quiet e™ THs tas clearly frm oflitening that could not be extended for houts {5p anda manual consequence then wis reported wo be subsidence no ‘tinore passive, disengaged, and distracted form of listening. Over lsening produced underlisening, an both stood in cess moral com texto the Kind of deliberate xm, raonl fly stent and ine: Founded listening dat var avayerecomnmended by experts Concerns had thus been expressed, almort since the beginning of Iodcasting about dhe dangerous passivity of radio litening, Dougls McGregor ofthe Harvard Paychologlal Laboratory repored in 1834 0 esearch that appeared to show that radi ltenng "as somewhatulin effet on the higher mental processes ofthe listener.” Radio li teners became "es erieal, lew ana, more pasvely receptive” than when ling ace o face leva th eed that many ra listeners snd again particularly those whose radios were alms on—entered an Ingcve mental state as they istened. In a survey of Caloris high school student, only 10 percent reported that they mere completely lest while stening—20 percent istencdng down while “completely felaved; half regularly read or atadied withthe radio on Pare) ve young adult, there was concer the such ditraced, extensive he {ening might dull the senses snd lead to generaly lowered levels of response to dhe world around. ‘The passive and excited inener thr offered apposed warns. Both condilons stood i ark contrast those eval esponsle modes of listening that eonnectedappropeatl cia listeners to their comm pity. Teo educator in 1940 descbed each kind of itening pathology “We are beng steadily weaned sway from reslute questioning, ead vided "disvacting” and “aenating” sound that enabled people tal ‘en inappropriateh—prvtey in puble spaces, ® More recently, the muliisking abit 4 pay atention to several things at once has come oe sen axa able sil ater tha, ain the 1980s, a recipe for madnese. The office workplace wilh musi oF ‘ado plying as workers focus intetyon the vaalnfrration onthe Screens could be interpreted ae representing demotion of aural sin- Tusand aleening of ansey about “ausewar chaos." The neworked ‘computer has again in its turn provoked intense anlety show the tmregulated low of sul ingen into priate spaces but alo about Aiswaction. Knowledge workers in froncof 4 seen respond toa com stant stream ofinterrupdons, paying “continu pari tention” to ‘many diferent dings a8 experts i the new eld “interruption se fence” tempt to werk out How bes to manage ther attention 0 dha Jmportant interruptions ave deal wih but workflow is no ipined ‘Mesnvhile, pessimists price dire consequence ron te spread of| what dey perceive tobe bistrialy ne level of inatentvenes inthe Contemporary neworked world. oral Maggie Jackson's 2008 book Disha The Bion of Aten tu the Now Dah Ages billed a ping expose of the “hypermobile, eybercentrie, itentin-defcient lite" The anxiety about distraction and inabilly to pay attention to fone thing aa die har akon a mote mdialired form with iguiieant rumbers of adults a well as children now being dlagsed with atten tion deficit asorder" The crisis atenivenet exert oan tela: ‘ions. "ln our hurried world," one advice hook observes, "we areal fully ofa great deal of dsuacied sterng. We seem tobe mote iter ‘tein the convetsauons in our heads than in each other." What ‘ear that without some beter knowlege of the history ofthe way hat ‘modes of attentveneas inching lenin practices, were consid, {pplauded, and eesed for much ofthe tented centr, me wl slays fenain in danger of thinking thatthe currenegeneraon and te new fs technology have created uniquely uncial forms of listening oF sone. Chapter 2 “Her Voice a Bullet” Imaginary Propaganda and the Legendary Broadcasters of World War ‘Ann Elizabeth Pfau and David Hochfelder “Her Voice A Bullet Aimed atthe Heats of American Foxhole Sot {hers"—Paramount publicists coined this pire to promote the TOS ‘im Tate Rese The power of radio to sway wartine emotions was-4 Inajor theme of the movie. The fm opens with a group of Amerean prisoners of war listening to Radio Tokyo. Most ofthe men think Announcer Tokjo Ros is Harmless, but one, Pete Sherman kos that ‘ord can kl. He blames Tokyo Rose forthe death of his by Joe ‘ho went berserk and was shot by a Japanese sper afer itening te 2 fauning broadcast about unfaithful waves. To avenge Joe's death snd prevent further casualties, Pete devises a success plan to kidnap the ipancse aio sven and deter her ta the Chinese and Kovean nde round i Tokyo" “Although the Blm’s plot was pute Hollywood fanay, Paramount's pres book encouraged theater owmersto promote Tite Raseby expo ing recent events. One stategy as 0 plant editorial in local newspa- pers about the fecent capture of Iva Togui, a Japanese American ‘woman who broadcast for Radio Tokyo during the war and who was identified in che popular press as Toyo Rove Another vas to arrange tadlo interviews wth former serdeemen about “the danger this Jer nese woman exerted throughout the entre South Pacific” tn tit tempat promote the im as “taney,” sto publics distorted his toe, equating lie persons, events and broadens with etal ones” This confusion ofthe real withthe imaginary infects the whole history ‘of Axis radio propagand. Although Paramount screenyrterand publ ‘du deliberately distorted thefts of such broadeast, mos distortionswere and are unconscious American and Brits radio fisteners com ‘mony misheard,misremembered, and invented convent they atid {© enemy anmouncers, producing whst we cll maginary propaganda, ‘These inteners repeated stories about what they Believed ey heat to loved ones, neighbors, colleagues, comrade, jrnalisty investige- tors and, eventually, storiane As a real, belie in imaginary prope ‘ganda has spread far beyond radio propginda's actual sudienee sd {ven birth to wartime lngendsLorl Haw Haw and As Sly 5 wel Tokyo Rose. By analyaing the plyial and payhologialconions ‘bvartime ri seni, this eany traces the org of imaginay pe paganda and sels to dstdge tht distortion irom the history of eacio brondeatng ad the collective memory of World Wart Enemy Broadcasts and Ins Radio broadcasts became psychological weapons during World War I ‘This we ofthe medium was, an internal BBC report noted, "he main Alfeence in propaganda between this Wat ad lst." Both As and Allie propagindiss breadeae program designed to bolster home ont nity. They also engaged in "wat of words” to Weaken the ener ‘il The ler category of rade propaganda is the foc ofthis es ‘which examines Engshdanguage radio programs designed for Amer fan and Brith audiences. These programs typically consed of Drisonerotwar messages, slanted new strls, commentaries on such topies as suikes and profiteering on the home front and popular rmnsic—someimes serecorded with Unestening new ess Enaly inthe wa, Aled ado tenes Brian, the United Sates and ‘overseas theaters of operations begs to repore hearing taunt, tres and preictons newer broatas by German or Jpaneseansmiers At Sra the imaginary natve ofthis content went ndetected, bt momar ing of freiga broaeass by sich orgairatonsas the Princeton Lien Pos, the Bish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the U.S. Foreign BroadeaInteligence Service (FBIS) soon reveled mich ofthe pur ported propaganda to be apocryphal Infact, lied lca dscenered ‘hat imgined words were often more dangert—to can and miliary morale, secur, and even health thas those actully brosdeast exet enemy anwee “The many svis told about Toyo Rose in American soldier eters and reminiscences and in miiay and ean ineligence dovurnen 2a prime examples of imaginary propaganda In addon tothe sexual "aunts depicted inthe 1946 fl, Tokyo Rove was aon for her aoe Inhing inteligencegatheing ponere According to ram Rose wel: comed Ametian uns to the Pact, dentng them by unit and inary Propaganda location. Her uncanny acura led servicemen to speculate tat she ha iret line o Japanese military intelligence. And when Rove predicted !natck by Japanese forces, her American lens he a prepare fr the worst™A version ofthis wartime legend appeared ithe 195 fim ‘Wit Blue Yonder In one scene, B29 aierew ted into Tokyo Rose, who, tothe men's astonishment read thet plane's serial mer over the ait# More recently, Tokyo Rose appeared as an omislent and threatening fore in both the book snd fm versions of Flags of Ow Faihes. Describing the emovonal sate of young Marines the night before theirinasion of vo fms, shor Janes Bradley and Ron Powers ‘mote, “Their confidence must have been shaken when, shit nigh, Tokyo Rose named many of thei shipe anda numberof the Marine units he asuted the Ameviane that while huge ships were needed to transport dhem to Iwo fms the survivors could later At n'a phone oh” Tokyo Rose's German counterpart, Axi Sally, waite famous or thr presumed omniscence. According to legend, Sally welcomed ind ‘ual military units to Europe and Nor Aes, promising her Amer Gn lseners 2 speedy demise." During the mimer of 1944, one CL stationed i Kay cauned that her nteligence was no good that she was ble to broadcast his unis nighdy pasword" A parca nthe Doody Allied landing a Anzio i Italy, medic Robert Franklin, years Inter recalled Saly’s “daly reports,” which he described a accurate ‘jon comprehension,” inlading even the “names of company com sanders and newly arsved officers" Lonely base on war correspon dent Erie Pyle's columns, the movie Stony of Gu Joe (194) Fated buch Broadcast The night before they would meei German armies for {he fist time at dhe Bate ofthe Kasserine Pasy the men othe Eig teenth Infancy Division listened to the ratio ax Sl spoke directo them, urging the men wo “be sensible and siren” Inwhat one char- acter described asa "bedroom oie,” she reminded het Tateners fall they had let bhind—Coca-Colas, double malts, sumer nights with thei sweethearts—and promised them that ashe "guest Germany they would meet “lovely girs who know how to entertain nice young ‘an ike you" ‘Liss seductive but equally ominous was Sally's on-air collesgue Lord ae Ha, wh brondeaso Brisa ant American audenees on German tat, Believed t command a vst network of fllvcolunn spies and Sshoceus, the enemy broadcasters intelligence was purporedl eo goad thathewas abe io anaounce which towa hal clocks were running slow fon any parsiular day. Especially alarming to his Brits audience was Har Hays seeming ability to pinpoint buildings for desiraction in fimare bombing rads." For example, 2 eport on clan morale from