SoundHistory

Radio News and Interviews -- This Week in History

August Broadcasts by Day of the Month

42 broadcasts


That Was the Year - 1927

Broadcast Date:   August 2, 1937


"That Was the Year" is a fascinating radio show that dramatizes the major historical events between the years 1896 and 1934. The show was produced from the viewpoint of the show's creators in 1937, adding unique interest to modern listeners. Every episode ends with a performance of a popular song from that year. Just over 1-minute of choral music at the beginning has been removed. It was there for stations to add local commercials.

Length:   13:27

Program Producer:   Transcription Company of America, recorded at KHJ in LA


Kissinger Avoids Speaking About Watergate

Broadcast Date:   August 3, 1973

Series:   First Line Report

Speaker(s):   Marvin Kalb


Length:   5:58

Program Producer:   CBS


The Unsolved Murder of Paula Kohler Eubanks

Broadcast Date:   August 3, 1950

Series:   Somebody Knows


News meets drama - In the summer of 1950, "Somebody Knows" presented, in dramatic documentary style, the facts of real unsolved homicide cases. Listeners were offered a reward of $5,000 for clues that led to an arrest and conviction. These programs were created by James L. Saphier and written by Sidney Marshall. They were directed and narrated by radio legend Jack Johnstone.

Length:   29:48

Program Producer:   CBS Radio Network


The Class of 1940

Broadcast Date:   August 4, 1946

Series:   ABC Commentary with Orson Welles

Speaker(s):   Orson Welles


Length:   14:24

Program Producer:   ABC Radio Network


The Prisons We Deserve (Our Thinking About Prisons)

Broadcast Date:   August 4, 1946

Series:   The National Hour

Speaker(s):   Robert McCormack (host)


NBC ran "The National Hour" on Sunday afternoons at 4pm from November 1945 to September 1946. Each program dealt with a different subject or issue facing America as the nation moved forward after the end of World War II.

Length:   29:19

Program Producer:   NBC Radio Network


President Nixon Resigns the Presidency

Broadcast Date:   August 8, 1974

Speaker(s):   Richard M. Nixon


This is the key portion of President Nixon's resignation address from the Oval Office.

Length:   3:35


How Audio Tapes are Doctored

Broadcast Date:   August 8, 1971

Series:   CBS News and Analysis

Speaker(s):   Roger Mudd (anchor)


Today, audio recordings can be edited electronically. In 1971, it was done with razor blades and tape. This program asks whether the Watergate tapes, if ever released, can be trusted to represent the words actually spoken.

Length:   6:06

Program Producer:   CBS


The U.S. Waits for Japan to Surrender

Broadcast Date:   August 9, 1945

Series:   Gabriel Heater News and Commentary

Speaker(s):   Gabriel Heater


Length:   12:57

Program Producer:   Mutual Broadcasting System


Meet the Press

Broadcast Date:   August 9, 1959

Speaker(s):   The guest is former President Herbert Hoover


Length:   28:45

Program Producer:   NBC


That Was the Year - 1915

Broadcast Date:   August 9, 1937


"That Was the Year" is a fascinating radio show that dramatizes the major historical events between the years 1896 and 1934. The show was produced from the viewpoint of the show's creators in 1937, adding unique interest to modern listeners. Every episode ends with a performance of a popular song from that year. Just over 1-minute of choral music at the beginning has been removed. It was there for stations to add local commercials.

Length:   13:32

Program Producer:   Transcription Company of America, recorded at KHJ in LA


When Napoleon Tried to Invade England

Broadcast Date:   August 10, 1940

Series:   The Human Adventure


A drama / documentary about Napoleon and his attempt to cross the English Channel and conquer the British Isles. Program #35 in this series produced in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

Length:   24:01

Program Producer:   Mutual Broadcasting System


Let's Talk About You

Broadcast Date:   August 10, 1954

Speaker(s):   Norman Vincent Peale, Jimmy Doolittle


At this time, CBS ran "Let's Talk About You" each weekday evening. This evening the guest was General Jimmy Doolittle. Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) was an American minister and author known for his work in popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking. James Harold Doolittle (1896-1993) was an American general and aviation pioneer. He made early coast-to-coast flights, won many flying races and, most significantly, helped develop instrument flying.

Length:   12:51

Program Producer:   CBS


Did the Assassins Know the Watergate Burglers?

Broadcast Date:   August 10, 1973

Series:   CBS First Line Report

Speaker(s):   Dan Rather


Length:   6:08

Program Producer:   CBS


The Unsolved Murder of Samuel I. Paris

Broadcast Date:   August 10, 1950

Series:   Somebody Knows


News meets drama - In the summer of 1950, "Somebody Knows" presented, in dramatic documentary style, the facts of real unsolved homicide cases. Listeners were offered a reward of $5,000 for clues that led to an arrest and conviction. These programs were created by James L. Saphier and written by Sidney Marshall. They were directed and narrated by radio legend Jack Johnstone.

Length:   29:45

Program Producer:   CBS Radio Network


Herbert Hoover Accepts the Nomination to Run for President

Broadcast Date:   August 11, 1932

Speaker(s):   Herbert Hoover


Length:   1:05:40


A Question of Moral Indebtedness

Broadcast Date:   August 11, 1946

Series:   ABC Commentary with Orson Welles

Speaker(s):   Orson Welles


Length:   14:06

Program Producer:   ABC Radio Network


The World's Worst Insurance Risk is a Nazi

Broadcast Date:   August 11, 1945

Series:   Alex Dreier's Weekly News Analysis

Speaker(s):   Alex Dreier


Our forces are along the Rhine near Dusseldorf. The guest commentator is Ed Wallace, of WTAM, Cleveland, talking about Allied Pacific strategy. Dreier is amazed John L. Lewis is threatening a coal strike while Marines are dying off Iwo Jima.

Length:   14:03

Program Producer:   NBC Radio Network


Sunday Afternoon in America (How We Enjoy Ourselves)

Broadcast Date:   August 11, 1946

Series:   The National Hour

Speaker(s):   Robert St. John (host)


NBC ran "The National Hour" on Sunday afternoons at 4pm from November 1945 to September 1946. Each program dealt with a different subject or issue facing America as the nation moved forward after the end of World War II.

Length:   29:04

Program Producer:   NBC Radio Network


Still Waiting for Japan to Surrender

Broadcast Date:   August 13, 1945

Series:   Gabriel Heater News and Commentary

Speaker(s):   Gabriel Heater


Length:   14:20

Program Producer:   Mutual Broadcasting System


Special Commentary on the Japanese Surrender

Broadcast Date:   August 14, 1945

Series:   H. V. Kaltenborn Edits the News

Speaker(s):   H. V. Kaltenborn


This program cuts off after the major news story.

Length:   5:28

Program Producer:   NBC Radio Network


President Nixon Addresses the Nation About the Watergate Hearings

Broadcast Date:   August 15, 1973

Series:   CBS News Special Report

Speaker(s):   Richard Pierpoint, Richard M. Nixon


White House correspondent Richard Pierpoint provides the introduction and analysis. President Nixon talks about the Watergate investigation and hearings.

Length:   37:31

Program Producer:   CBS


Elvis is Dead

Broadcast Date:   August 16, 1977


Radio station WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky has learned that Elvis Presley has died. They spend their next 45 minutes talking with callers about their memories of Elvis.

Length:   45:00

Program Producer:   WHAS Radio


That Was the Year - 1921

Broadcast Date:   August 16, 1937

Speaker(s):   `


"That Was the Year" is a fascinating radio show that dramatizes the major historical events between the years 1896 and 1934. The show was produced from the viewpoint of the show's creators in 1937, adding unique interest to modern listeners. Every episode ends with a performance of a popular song from that year. Just over 1-minute of choral music at the beginning has been removed. It was there for stations to add local commercials.

Length:   13:27

Program Producer:   Transcription Company of America, recorded at KHJ in LA


Interview with Audie Murphy

Broadcast Date:   August 17, 1960

Series:   The Army Hour

Speaker(s):   Audie Murphy


Audie Murphy was the most-decorated U.S. soldier of World War II. He later became an actor an is interviewed while on location for a movie in Germany.

Length:   7:54

Program Producer:   Armed Forces Network


The Unsolved Murder of Jean Croyle Long

Broadcast Date:   August 17, 1950

Series:   Somebody Knows


News meets drama - In the summer of 1950, "Somebody Knows" presented, in dramatic documentary style, the facts of real unsolved homicide cases. Listeners were offered a reward of $5,000 for clues that led to an arrest and conviction. These programs were created by James L. Saphier and written by Sidney Marshall. They were directed and narrated by radio legend Jack Johnstone.

Length:   29:29

Program Producer:   CBS Radio Network


It was Batesburg, South Carolina

Broadcast Date:   August 18, 1946

Series:   ABC Commentary with Orson Welles

Speaker(s):   Orson Welles


Length:   14:23

Program Producer:   ABC Radio Network


A Plane in Every Garage (Aviation for the Average Man)

Broadcast Date:   August 18, 1946

Series:   The National Hour

Speaker(s):   Robert St. John (host)


NBC ran "The National Hour" on Sunday afternoons at 4pm from November 1945 to September 1946. Each program dealt with a different subject or issue facing America as the nation moved forward after the end of World War II.

Length:   29:18

Program Producer:   NBC Radio Network


Senator George McGovern Talks About the Watergate Tapes

Broadcast Date:   August 20, 1973

Series:   Face the Nation

Speaker(s):   George McGovern


George Stanley McGovern (1922-2012) was an American historian, author, U.S. representative, U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election. McGovern grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota, where he was a renowned debater. In this Face the Nation program, he is asked about President Nixon and the Watergate tapes. He is questioned by reporters Connie Chung, Martin Nolen, and Barry Sarafin.

Length:   28:35

Program Producer:   WBEN, Buffalo / CBS Network


Eisenhower Accepts the Presidential Nomination for Second Term

Broadcast Date:   August 23, 1956

Speaker(s):   Dwight D. Eisenhower


Eisenhower speaks at the Republican National Convention, accepting the nomination to run for re-election as president.

Length:   30:56


Should the President's Civil Rights Program be Adopted?

Broadcast Date:   August 23, 1948

Series:   America's Town Meeting of the Air

Speaker(s):   Includes Roger Baldwin, Senator John Sparkman, Senator Morris, and Donald Richberg


This is the 501st edition of this broadcast series. The debate is over the president's proposed program that would abolish the pole tax and would make lynching a federal crime, among other changes. The debaters are Roger Baldwin of the ALCU, Senator John J Sparkman (D-AL), Senator William Morris (R-OR), and Donald Richberg, the former president of the NRA.

Length:   60:18

Program Producer:   ABC Network


That Was the Year - 1902

Broadcast Date:   August 23, 1937


"That Was the Year" is a fascinating radio show that dramatizes the major historical events between the years 1896 and 1934. The show was produced from the viewpoint of the show's creators in 1937, adding unique interest to modern listeners. Every episode ends with a performance of a popular song from that year. Just over 1-minute of choral music at the beginning has been removed. It was there for stations to add local commercials.

Length:   13:27

Program Producer:   Transcription Company of America, recorded at KHJ in LA


The Unsolved Murder of the Black Dahlia

Broadcast Date:   August 24, 1950

Series:   Somebody Knows


The CBS program, "Somebody Knows" raised up the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, known posthumously as the "Black Dahlia", a young woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Her case became highly publicized due to the graphic nature of the crime, which included her corpse having been mutilated and bisected at the waist.

Length:   28:23

Program Producer:   CBS


The Story of Chicago

Broadcast Date:   August 24, 1940

Series:   The Human Adventure


The story of a city that became the master of a midland empire, a city born from a national catastrophe (the Civil War). A portrait of a metropolis. -- A drama / documentary about the city of Chicago.

Length:   23:46

Program Producer:   CBS


Strange Week in the White House

Broadcast Date:   August 24, 1973

Series:   First Line Report

Speaker(s):   Dan Rather


Length:   5:47

Program Producer:   CBS


Banned in Aiken, South Carolina

Broadcast Date:   August 25, 1946

Series:   ABC Commentary with Orson Welles

Speaker(s):   Orson Welles


Length:   14:13

Program Producer:   ABC Radio Network


Oil, Our Deepest Frontier (Are We Running Out of Oil?)

Broadcast Date:   August 25, 1946

Series:   The National Hour

Speaker(s):   Robert St. John (host)


NBC ran "The National Hour" on Sunday afternoons at 4pm from November 1945 to September 1946. Each program dealt with a different subject or issue facing America as the nation moved forward after the end of World War II.

Length:   28:53

Program Producer:   NBC Radio Network


The March of Time

Broadcast Date:   August 27, 1935


Length:   15:15

Program Producer:   CBS


I Have a Dream

Broadcast Date:   August 28, 1963

Speaker(s):   Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


This is the famous speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.

Length:   16:23


European Countries Hope to Avoid War

Broadcast Date:   August 28, 1939

Speaker(s):   Edward R. Murrow


Edward R. Murrow reports from London by shortwave radio as the nations of Europe jockey to avoid a world war.

Length:   4:01

Program Producer:   CBS


The Shortwave War Machine

Broadcast Date:   August 28, 1935

Series:   The March of Time


Sponsored by Time Magazine. Guglielmo Marconi and Mussolini discuss Marconi's new invention, which can be directed against airplanes and mechanized war machines...and stop their engines! The Canadian "Baby Race," with a $500,000 prize is up for grabs. A socialist has been elected to head the Alberta, Canada government. He plans to pay all citizens $25 per month. A mother and her twelve-year-old daughter are rescued from the desert of Death Valley.

Length:   15:30

Program Producer:   CBS


Infantile Paralysis Vaccine

Broadcast Date:   August 29, 1935

Series:   The March of Time


Sponsored by: Remington-Rand. Huey Long predicts that he might be elected president. William Randolph Hearst hasn't yet decided whom to support for president, but he does like Al Smith (his old political enemy.) Dr. Brody and Dr. Parks in New York City have invented a vaccine for Infantile Paralysis. A Polish journalist has been expelled from the U.S.S.R., King Leopold of Belgium has been in a car wreck, his wife Astrid has been killed.

Length:   15:34

Program Producer:   CBS


That Was the Year - 1918

Broadcast Date:   August 30, 1937


"That Was the Year" is a fascinating radio show that dramatizes the major historical events between the years 1896 and 1934. The show was produced from the viewpoint of the show's creators in 1937, adding unique interest to modern listeners. Every episode ends with a performance of a popular song from that year. Just over 1-minute of choral music at the beginning has been removed. It was there for stations to add local commercials.

Length:   13:27

Program Producer:   Transcription Company of America, recorded at KHJ in LA