As the dominant form of electronic mass communication in the United States from the 1930s into the 1950s, radio helped to forge a modern continental nation. It fused myriad subculturesheavily rural, ethnic, and immigrantinto a national identity, unifying the nation in the face of the Depression and war. Later, federal deregulation allowed the radio of the Golden Age, 19261952, to devolve into a chain-dominated, satellite-fed plaything of Wall Street. Today, radio has the highest profit ratio of all the media outletsand Golden Age traditions of programming taste, diversity, balance, and localism are a legacy squandered. This anecdote-rich sweep of radio history, from its birth as Marconis wireless telegraph through its current status under deregulation, analyzes the changing mediums social, political, and cultural impact. It casts new light on many topics, including the roles of women and African Americans, programming sources outside the Hollywood-Broadway nexus, and arguments about Amos n Andyonce the hit that jump-started radios young networks, now a controversial remnant of a bygone era. The book is augmented with more than sixty photos, extensive source notes, and a bibliography.