Introduction -- Unintended consequences: radio news and talks in the 1920s and 1930s -- News, talks and the War -- Radio in decline: 1945-1960 -- The reinvention of radio: the 1960s -- The serious decade: radio in the 1970s -- The sound of breaking glass: commercial radio -- The critical decade: radio in the 1980s -- The age of uncertainty: radio in the 1990s -- Conclusion.