America's Town Meeting of the Air
1935 promotional brochure for America's Town Meeting of the Air
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| Genre | analysis, commentary, discussion |
|---|---|
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Syndicates |
NBC Blue Network (1935–1943) ABC Radio (1943–1956) |
| Hosted by | George V. Denny, Jr. |
| Recording studio | The Town Hall, New York City |
| Air dates | May 30, 1935 to July 1, 1956 |
| Sponsored by | Reader's Digest (1944–1956) |
America’s Town Meeting of the Air was a public affairs discussion broadcast on radio from May 30, 1935, to July 1, 1956, mainly on the NBC Blue Network and its successor, ABC Radio. One of radio's first talk shows, it began as a six-week experiment, and NBC itself didn't expect much from it.
Broadcast live from New York City's Town Hall, America's Town Meeting of the Air debuted on Thursday May 30, 1935, and only 18 of NBC's affiliates carried it. The topic for that first show was "Which Way America: Fascism, Communism, Socialism or Democracy?” The moderator was George V. Denny, Jr., executive director of the League for Political Education, which produced the program. Denny moderated the program from 1935 to 1952 and had a major role in choosing weekly topics. Denny and the League wanted to create a program that would replicate the Town Meetings that were held in the early days of the United States.
The show's introduction tried to evoke the old town meetings, as the voice of the mythical town crier announced, “Town meeting tonight! Come to the old Town Hall and talk it over!” Denny and the League believed that a radio town meeting could enhance the public's interest in current events. Denny worried that an uninformed public was bad for democracy; and he believed society had become so polarized that the average person didn't listen to other points of view.
His goal was to create a new kind of educational program, one that would be entertaining as well as mentally challenging, while exposing listeners to various perspectives on the issues of the day. Explaining the rationale behind a radio town meeting, Denny wrote that it was "... a device which is designed to attract [the average American's] attention and stimulate his [sic] interest in the complex economic, social and political problems which he must have a hand in solving."
On paper, America's Town Meeting looked like a typical panel discussion, with high-profile celebrity guests, who were experts on a particular current issue. For example, on a December 19, 1935, show about Social Security, one of the panelists was U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, who explained and defended the new government program. (What she said about it can be heard here.)
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