During a 1937 appearance on NBC's top-rated Chase & Sanborn Hour, Hollywood icon Mae West starred in a comedy skit based on the Garden of Eden that drew complaints of indecency from offended listeners. Much of the reaction came from Catholic reformers seeking to expand the Legion of Decency's influence to radio. The sponsor and network apologized, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a letter of reprimand to NBC and its affiliates. This action spurred a backlash among critics, who charged the FCC with censorship. The incident was an important landmark in the prewar debate over government's role in regulating radio.

This study examines the effect of mode of listening to radio news on cognitive processes. An experimental design using 82 undergraduates from Kuwait University was employed to test the research hypotheses. The stimulus is a real newscast that was recorded and manipulated into four versions in line with the research problem: Traditional radio newscast, online newscast played with one click, linear interactive netcast with a click for each news item, and a support activity condition in which additional links for details were added to each link. The study showed that nonlinear news listening yields better levels of news recall and comprehension. Moderate levels of interactivity on sites of radio news caused better memory performance compared to lower and higher levels of interactivity.

It is widely believed that radio regulation imposed by the 1927 Radio Act was required to control signal interference that threatened broadcasting with a tragedy of the commons: too many stations producing interfering signals. Thomas W. Hazlett (1990, 2001) disputes this view, contending that powers adequate to cope with interference were already provided by the 1912 Radio Act, but, more important, that no such government regulation was needed to eliminate signal interference, a fact well known to policymakers of the period. This article evaluates Hazlett's claims.

In Study 1, 93 judges using the Creative Product Analysis Matrix (CPAM) evaluated the creativity of 120 Flemish radio ads, measuring a poor level of "original" while reaching a satisfying level of "useful" and "expressive." Study 2 used critical literature analysis and content analysis on 30 creative formats. Cluster analysis yielded five groupings that were profiled in terms of creativity, confirming that Flemish radio ads shared similar levels of "useful" and "expressive." Two clusters of creative formats proved successful to reach a higher level for "original." These clusters shared an emotional approach of real-life stories, with "SFX" (sound or special effects) and imagery evoking "theatre of the mind." In addition, the third cluster used "testimonial" and "direct address," whereas the fifth cluster used "jingle," "voice-over," "dialogue," "female voices," and "humor."

Rockefeller philanthropies' support for educational radio began in the 1920s and increased in the 1930s in response to the Depression. Radio was funded as part of the humanities. Broadcasts were intended to uplift culture and introduce new ideas and practices to schools and families. Educational radio was also seen as a means of social control, to adjust popular culture to changing economic conditions. Rockefeller support for experimental radio in the 1930s significantly advanced the new field of communication studies by the 1940s. The social uses of broadcasting in this period raise questions about the role of media, past and present.