Morris S. Novik

Morris S. Novik (1903 - 1996), an early pioneer in radio, is credited with being one of the first people to understand the potential that radio had for public service and education, especially with regard to the emerging labor movement throughout the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century.

Born in Nevel, Russia, Novik emigrated to New York City’s lower East Side with his family, and, as a teenager, became active in socialist politics. In 1918, he worked for anti-war activist Scott Nearing, who was opposing the Republican Fiorello La Guardia for Congress. In a 1989 The New Yorker interview, Novik said that this was when he first saw the future mayor, for whom he would work 20 years later as station manager of WNYC.

During the 1920s, Novik chaired the local chapter of the Young People’s Socialist League, and worked to bring socialist education to public schools. He also worked for The Daily Record, a labor oriented newspaper focussed on the clothing industry. Still advocating for a socialist, labor oriented agenda, he joined the staff of the International Ladies' Garment Workers’ Union as the director of the Unity House, the union’s summer resort that provided culture and education for its members. There, he created the Discussion Guild, arranging lectures and debates among some of the most notable thinkers of the day, including Clarence Darrow, Bertrand Russell, Will Durant, John Dewey and many others.

But even though these events were often held in large venues such as Carnegie Hall, Novik understood that they were limited in their exposure, and that the new medium of radio could bring the latest thinking on the labor movement to households throughout the country. In 1932, Novik joined the staff of the relatively new radio station WEVD, named for the most notable socialist of the day, Eugene V. Debs, who had died five years earlier. As associate manager and program director, he founded the University of the Air, featuring broadcast lectures, discussions and debates focusing primarily on a socialist thinking and organized labor.

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