Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Larry Shmagin, who recently discovered this May 2025 interview with Katie Thornton, host of The Divided Dial series, on The Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC).
Click here to listen to the show on WNYC or use the embedded player below:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Amy Barry for sharing this tip.
WNYC’s On the Media recently aired an episode titled The Power of Shortwave Radio—and What Gets Lost with Voice of America? Reporter Katie Thornton explores shortwave’s historic role in connecting the world, its continuing importance where the internet cannot reach, and the implications of VOA’s decline.
In the second half of the program, host Micah Loewinger sits down with Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to discuss the network’s role in countries lacking a free press and her own nine-month detention in Russia. Bay Fang, president of Radio Free Asia, also weighs in on why the shutdown of RFA will further diminish press freedom in Asia.
Award-winning journalist Katie Thornton has launched a new season of the Peabody-winning podcast, The Divided Dial, produced by On the Media and WNYC Studios. In this season, Katie focuses on shortwave radio—a medium that is near and dear to our hearts.
In Episode 1, “Fishing In The Night”, Thornton explores the international ambitions and shadowy past of shortwave broadcasting. The episode features our friend and resident Shortwaveologist, David Goren, who shares rich insights on the cultural and political influence of the shortwave dial.