Category Archives: Radio History

Radio Documentary: The Wireless World of Gerry Wells

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I just discovered (via PRI’s The World Technology Podcast) a 2010 radio documentary about lifelong radio designer and repairman, Gerry Wells.

If you haven’t heard it before, I suggest you drop what you’re doing and give it a listen below. This is the most charming radio doc I’ve ever heard out of the BBC World Service.

For archival purposes, I have a full copy of the radio doc available for download by clicking here.

Again, a special thanks to Clark Boyd with PRI’s The World for bringing this to my attention.

Victorian era “radio”

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A stentor reading the day's news to 6200 subscribers - An image depicting the stentor of Telefon Hirmondó. Source: Wikimedia Commons

A stentor reading the day’s news to 6200 subscribers – An image depicting the stentor of Telefon Hirmondó. Source: Wikimedia Commons

This post is off topic from my typical posts about wireless technology. Nonetheless, I’m a sucker for documentaries regarding the history of technology.

BBC Radio 3 recently had a Sunday documentary about the “Pleasure Telephone”–a Victorian era technology that used telephone almost like we use radio today. As someone interested in broadcasting and technology, I found the story fascinating.

BBC no longer has the documentary available to stream from their site.

However, Clark Boyd, of PRI’s The World Technology Podcast, picked up the story and published the bulk of it at the end of his July 14th show. You can find it here.

It’s worth a listen–in fact, the PRI World Technology Podcast series in general is worth a subscription. I never miss an episode.

For more information on the pleasure telephone, check out this article in Early Radio History, or its Wikipedia entry.