Radiophilia

(Hardback)

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Description

A century ago, the emergence of radio, along with organized systems of broadcasting, sparked a global fascination with the wonder of sound transmission and reception. The thrilling experience of tuning in to the live sounds of this new medium prompted strong affective responses in its listeners. This book introduces a new concept of radiophilia, defined as the attachment to, or even a love of radio. Treating radiophilia as a dynamic cultural phenomenon, it unpacks the various pleasures associated with radio and its sounds, the desire to discover and learn new things via radio, and efforts to record, re-experience, and share radio. Surveying 100 years of radio from early wireless through to digital audio formats like podcasting, the book engages in debates about fandom, audience participation, listening experience, material culture, and how media relate to affect and emotions.

Reviews

Carolyn Birdsall has provided a brilliant and extremely original way of understanding the affect and emotional engagement with radio, at the intersection of media cultural history, cultural studies, fan and sound studies. The book offers a refined analysis of the different forms of affection towards radio and provides a new key to understanding the social uses of radio. No scholar had ever written such an accurate analysis and such a thick description of how we love, know, save and share radio. * Tiziano Bonini, Associate Professor of Sociology of culture and communication, University of Siena, Italy *

Author Bio

Carolyn Birdsall is Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her publications include Nazi Soundscapes (2012) and Listening to the Archives (2019, ed. with Viktoria Tkaczyk). She currently leads the research project TRACE (Tracking Radio Archival Collections in Europe, 19301960), funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).