4 Radio Broadcasts That Changed History: Feb 13 is World Radio Day

It’s hard to imagine how it would’ve felt to tune into the first ever radio broadcast back in 1906. Exciting? Sure. Terrifying? Probably. And did it make people worry – as we’re seeing with AI right now – that radio was coming for their jobs? 

Over the last 120+ years, radio has had a huge influence on the world and even played a major role in some of the biggest events in history. 

To celebrate World Radio Day, let’s take a minute to think about the radio moments that had a huge historical and cultural impact on the world – and how these moments have shaped how we use audio media today.

1. War of the Worlds Broadcast 

October 30, 1938

On the day before Halloween in 1938, Orson Welles adapted H.G. Wells’ alien invasion novel, War of the Worlds, for radio. This was before the concept of audio drama/fiction was widely understood by the public. Many at that time would’ve only known radio as a means of communicating real-world events and distributing information. 

The result? Welles created mass hysteria across the US. The show’s realistic “breaking news” format convinced thousands of Americans that aliens were actually invading Earth. 

The broadcast demonstrated radio’s unprecedented power to influence public perception and revealed the massive potential of audio storytelling.

2. Roosevelt’s First Fireside Chat 

March 12, 1933

In the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcast a national transmission where he spoke directly to the American people about the banking crisis. His warm, conversational tone and clear explanations of complex issues transformed how political communication was handled at that time. 

These “fireside chats” established a new relationship between presidents and citizens, making governance more accessible to the average American and setting a precedent for how leaders would communicate in times of crisis (and, of course, use media to manipulate public opinion).

This is a technique leaders still use when dealing with crisis situations to this day. For example, when communicating strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic or when announcing a country is going into a recession.

But the birth of the fireside chat also opened the world up to the intimate power of audio in creating trusted parasocial relationships with listeners and the influence these connections can have.

And while radio pioneered this human connection, there’s no other medium where this is clearer than in podcasting. In a recent study, as many as 31% of podcast listeners said they trust their favourite hosts to deliver news more than they trust official news sources.

The parasocial relationship that hosts build with their audiences in podcasting is powerful, and it originated from these fireside chats, first broadcast almost a century ago. 

3. King Edward VIII’s Abdication Speech 

December 11, 1936

When King Edward VIII chose to abdicate the British throne to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, he announced it directly to the British public through a national radio address. 

His speech had a much wider reach than was expected, with an estimated 300 million listeners tuning in worldwide. A monarch explaining his personal choices to his subjects marked a pivotal moment in the modernization of the British monarchy and demonstrated how radio could turn private royal matters into global events.

This event also introduced radio’s strength at humanising people in power – like monarchs and political figures – something that lives on in podcasting.

With Prince Harry and Meghan landing an (albeit shortlived) $20 million podcast deal with Spotify and the Obamas launching their own audio media company, Higher Ground, it’s clear that people in high places know the power of audio in shaping public opinion of them.

This is also why guest podcast appearances have become a considerable part of political campaigns nowadays – with Trump’s second presidency dubbed the result of a “podcast election.”

4. Radio Free Europe’s Coverage of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

November 9, 1989

For decades, Radio Free Europe had broadcast uncensored news behind the Iron Curtain, becoming a vital source of information and counter-propaganda for Eastern Europeans living under communist rule.

When the Berlin Wall began to fall in 1989, RFE’s continuous coverage helped spread the news throughout Eastern Europe, catalyzing similar democratic movements across the Soviet bloc. The broadcast symbolized radio’s role in facilitating democracy and demonstrated how international broadcasting could help topple authoritarian regimes through the free flow of information.

These broadcasts all demonstrate moments when radio transcended its role as a communication tool to become a catalyst for something much bigger. A single audio transmission has the power to ripple through society, altering public opinion, influencing behaviour, and even shaping the course of history. As podcasters, we have an important role to recognise and respect, too.

And who knows – maybe in another hundred years, someone will be writing an article just like this one about how podcasting has shaped the course of history…

Still hungry for more reasons to celebrate audio this World Radio Day? These fascinating facts about sound should do the trick.