{"id":11805,"date":"2014-12-21T15:19:14","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T19:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=11805"},"modified":"2014-12-21T15:19:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-21T19:19:14","slug":"ny-times-recalling-the-imperfect-radio-and-tv-reception-of-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/ny-times-recalling-the-imperfect-radio-and-tv-reception-of-the-past\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Times: &#8220;Recalling the Imperfect Radio and TV Reception of the Past&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TV-Analog-Noise-Snow.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11807\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TV-Analog-Noise-Snow.jpg\" alt=\"TV-Analog-Noise-Snow\" width=\"645\" height=\"483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TV-Analog-Noise-Snow.jpg 645w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TV-Analog-Noise-Snow-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\" \/><\/a>Many thanks to my dear friend, <a title=\"BJ's bio\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/2100788\/bj-leiderman\" target=\"_blank\">BJ Leiderman<\/a>, for sharing <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2014\/12\/21\/arts\/television\/recalling-the-imperfect-radio-and-tv-reception-of-the-past.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone\" target=\"_blank\">this brilliant piece by\u00a0Dana Jennings in the NY Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m only including a few quotes from this piece (below), so <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2014\/12\/21\/arts\/television\/recalling-the-imperfect-radio-and-tv-reception-of-the-past.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone\" target=\"_blank\">please visit this link to read the full article<\/a>\u00a0about the adventures, charm and nostalgia of analog TV and radio:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>by Dana Jennings<\/p>\n<p>I miss the television snows of yesteryear. And I don\u2019t mean easy nostalgia for the inevitable reruns of \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d or \u201cA Charlie Brown Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m talking real television snow, a longing for static, ghost images and the picture endlessly rolling and flip-flopping. While we\u2019re at it, I ache for well-used vinyl crackling like bacon sizzling in a skillet &#8230; and the eerie whistles and wheezes from terrestrial radio.<\/p>\n<p>This eccentric pining for the primitive electric hiss and sputter of my 1960s childhood is an honest reaction to our modern culture\u2019s unhealthy addiction to (apparent) perfection. We want it all, we want it now, and we want it sublime.<\/p>\n<p>We not only demand our television, radio and music in unblemished HD on whatever device we choose, but also our weddings, children, houses and bodies. And in our heedless embrace of digital cosmetic surgery, we\u2019ve forgotten that it\u2019s the flaw that makes a thing all the sweeter \u2014 like the bruise on a peach.[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>[Like TV, my]\u00a0radio needed the human touch, too. As I listened to Boston Red Sox night games, I\u2019d grip the radio like a vise, its hot, orange guts stinging my hand; my skin would lobster up, but I didn\u2019t care, because I could hear the game better. (That radio, a yellowing white Sylvania, also hummed constantly, kind of like the ringing in your ears hours after a Metallica concert.)<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the utter delight of reeling in a far-away station late at night: from Montreal, from Wheeling, from Nashville. Even more bewitching were the otherworldly soundscapes to be found between station stops: eeps and boops, trills and squeals, shrill dronings from the ether that maybe signaled an alien invasion, or first contact with another galaxy.[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2014\/12\/21\/arts\/television\/recalling-the-imperfect-radio-and-tv-reception-of-the-past.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone\" target=\"_blank\">Read the full article on the NY Times&#8230;<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to my dear friend, BJ Leiderman, for sharing this brilliant piece by\u00a0Dana Jennings in the NY Times. I&#8217;m only including a few quotes from this piece (below), so please visit this link to read the full article\u00a0about the adventures, charm and nostalgia of analog TV and radio: by Dana Jennings I miss the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,3,26],"tags":[625,3123,680,3478,3479,3477,371],"class_list":["post-11805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-news","category-radios","tag-am-radio","tag-analog","tag-analog-radio","tag-analog-tv","tag-bj-leiderman","tag-dana-jennings","tag-ny-times"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-34p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61113,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/the-shipping-forecast-a-special-1993-filmed-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":11805,"position":0},"title":"The Shipping Forecast: A Special 1993 Filmed Version","author":"Thomas","date":"November 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and good friend, BJ Leiderman, who shares the following video on YouTube--a special Shipping Forecast tribute: On 18 December 1993, as part of the Arena Radio Night, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 2 collaborated on a simultaneous broadcast so the shipping forecast \u2013 read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Longwave&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Longwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/longwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/shipping-forecast-locations.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/shipping-forecast-locations.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/shipping-forecast-locations.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38128,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/the-guardian-the-loss-of-rural-radio-leaves-us-communities-with-another-cultural-and-informational-gap\/","url_meta":{"origin":11805,"position":1},"title":"The Guardian: The loss of rural radio leaves US communities with &#8220;another cultural and informational gap&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"June 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: The Guardian via BJ Leiderman and Kris Partridge) America's rural radio stations are vanishing \u2013 and taking the country's soul with them When I arrive at the radio station, Mark Lucke is standing in the doorway, looking out at the spitting, winter rain. He\u2019s slim and stoic, with sad,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AM-Tower-Blue-WHKY-1024x658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AM-Tower-Blue-WHKY-1024x658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AM-Tower-Blue-WHKY-1024x658.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28235,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/lunch-with-a-friend-and-a-hearty-side-of-enabling\/","url_meta":{"origin":11805,"position":2},"title":"Lunch with a friend (and a hearty side of enabling)","author":"Thomas","date":"October 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago, I had lunch with my good friend, BJ Leiderman. \u00a0If you ever listen to public radio programming, especially NPR, you've probably heard BJ's name. BJ is a musician, singer, and composer, and has written the bulk of the theme music you hear on National Public Radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BJ-Leiderman-and-Thomas-Witherspoon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BJ-Leiderman-and-Thomas-Witherspoon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BJ-Leiderman-and-Thomas-Witherspoon.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BJ-Leiderman-and-Thomas-Witherspoon.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43553,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/radio-waves-hacking-satellites-close-knit-ham-radio-culture-tv-drama-diplomacy-and-ofcom-relaxes-restricted-service-licence\/","url_meta":{"origin":11805,"position":3},"title":"Radio Waves: Hacking Satellites, &#8220;Close-Knit&#8221; Ham Radio Culture, TV Drama Diplomacy, and Ofcom Relaxes Restricted Service Licence","author":"Thomas","date":"May 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0readers.\u00a0 To that end:\u00a0Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/satellite-NASA-e1590581853624.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/satellite-NASA-e1590581853624.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/satellite-NASA-e1590581853624.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/satellite-NASA-e1590581853624.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2238,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/leeds-radio-featured-in-the-ny-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":11805,"position":4},"title":"Leeds Radio featured in the NY Times","author":"Thomas","date":"November 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: NY Times) WHEN an insurance company declared the merchandise at Leeds Radio \u201cnot pilferable\u201d last year, it meant that the store\u2019s hundreds of thousands of analog electronic parts \u2014 all manufactured before 1968 \u2014 were unlikely to be stolen anytime soon. [...]And yet Leeds, one of the oldest electronics\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/200px-RCA_%E2%80%99808%E2%80%99_Power_Vacuum_Tube.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49864,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/bob-colegrove-on-the-joys-and-challenges-of-tuning-analog-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":11805,"position":5},"title":"Bob Colegrove on &#8220;The Joys and Challenges of Tuning Analog Radios&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"August 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who recently shared this excellent article and has kindly allowed me to share it here in the the Post. Bob prefaced it by saying, \"Being a retired technical writer, I started the attached article some time ago for my own amusement, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bob-Colegrove-Book-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}