Radio Shows (January 28, 2011)

I've been a fan of old radio dramas for many years. A regular listener of A Prairie Home Companion and a rabid collector of audio cassettes featuring the likes of The Whistler and The Jack Benny Program, I often find myself straying from my digital playlist to tune into streaming shows from the early and mid 1900s. Humans have passed along their stories through oral history for millenia, and while television and other ocular forms of entertainment were a natural progression as our technology evolved, I believe that something gets a bit lost when instead of imagining the narration, the audience is presented with exactly how the storyteller visualizes it.

The interesting thing about reading a book or listening to a radio drama is that no two members of the audience will visualize it in quite the same way. It will always be a little more fantastic and unique inside their heads than it can be when it is shown on a screen. I encourage you to try out listening to an audio work for a little while.

Alltime Oldies Radio Theater (via iTunes) is my personal favorite. Put it on as you're cleaning, eating, or doing something else that requires more immediate attention. A lot of the music and acting may seem dated to today's ears, but you'll also find quality writing and a wide breadth of genres that matches any modern DVD collection.