The Big Broadcast

Everybody’s saluting America’s military in The Cavalcade Of America, The Lone Ranger, Family Theater, and even Dragnet and Gunsmoke. Plus a springtime garden competition from Our Miss Brooks, and, on the anniversary of his birth, we’ll hear the incomparable tap dancing of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

A spotlight on four of the greatest radio creators of all time: Orson Welles, Arch Oboler, and George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Celebrate Mother’s Day, with Jack Benny, Hank Williams, and soldiers back from the front after Victory in Europe is announced. Plus a look at how artificial general intelligence may work out, from Dimension X.

The 80th anniversary of V-E Day with historic news coverage and Norman Corwin’s On a Note of Triumph. Plus, classic episodes of Johnny Dollar, Gunsmoke, Dragnet, and a sci-fi tale from X Minus One in honor of May the Fourth.

On May 1, 1945, the world learned the news of Adolf Hitler’s death; how did the story unfold for Germans and the world? Hear rare broadcast clips announcing the news. Big Broadcast Bites presents curated clips from WAMU’s long-running radio program, The Big Broadcast. Hosted by Murray Horwitz and produced by Jill Ahrold Bailey, these shorter selections…

How did the German people hear of the death of Hitler? We’ll hear broadcasts from around the world on the 80th anniversary of the news breaking. Comedy from Jimmy Durante, the story of the last days of John Dillinger from the series Suspense, and the radio adaptation of the movie classic, Key Largo, starring Edward G. Robinson.

We mark Easter with The Columbia Workshop’s The Terrible Meek, a poignant drama set at the foot of the cross, and comedy from Jack Benny. Then, for “4/20”, we have some tok’n easter eggs presented on Dragnet, The Whisperer, and Tales of the Texas Ranger.

We’ll salute the newest inductees to the Library Of Congress’s National Recording Registry with an immortal moment in sports, and an episode of The Roy Rogers Show, and celebrate Passover with a charming fantasy from The Eternal Light. Comedy from Meet Millie, and a grisly real-life story from Crime Classics.

Radio was the first medium to break the news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death in April 1945. In “I Can Hear It Now”, Edward R. Murrow captures the moment with the original CBS bulletin voiced by John Daly. 

Comedy from Bob and Ray; poignant stories from Gunsmoke and Dragnet; and, on Theater Royal, a performance by Lord Laurence Olivier, in “The Inspector General”. Plus, we’ll mark the anniversaries of two pivotal events in American history – the death of President Franklin Roosevelt, and the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox.