Today, we listen to the world. The University of Houston presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.
My father gave me an old radio when I was barely a teenager. What made this radio distinct was that it looked unlike any radio I had seen before. I don't know why or where he got it. The thing was a bit old and in need of some light repairs. But he knew I liked to tinker with things and thought I might enjoy fixing it. I did.
It could receive the normal AM and FM broadcasts but it also had special words printed on it's dial– short wave.
Author's Realistic DX-440 Shortwave radio receiver purchased in the early 1990's
The term “Short Wave” is a common name for radio frequencies that can travel around the world. These frequencies bounce off the earth's atmosphere to go long distances. A single transmitter in England can send a radio program to the other side of the planet.
This trick of physics made short wave broadcasts an important, even critical, means of communication in the early 20th century. News could travel instantly around the world. People in heavily censored regimes could get real news prohibited by their own state media. Prisoners of war could build primitive receivers to get updates on their armies. It was an information highway. Just on one direction.
Shortwave started in the 1920's as an experiment in long range broadcasts. So it should be no surprise that the technique came from the actual inventor of radio - Guglielmo Marconi.
His experiments proved that certain radio signals can be heard across thousands of miles with only modest transmitter power. The concept worked so well that by the 1930's it was firmly established as a practical means of relaying information over long distances. It even became a popular way for ships to talk to each other.
Countless news and world events became first known via shortwave. I happened to be listening during one such major event. The collapse of the Soviet Union was immediately known to shortwave radio listeners like me – well before major news media knew.
I knew something was wrong when Radio Moscow mysteriously and unexpectedly changed their normal programming to only playing music. Flipping the dial to other foreign stations confirmed the world shattering event. All before American network news told anyone
I spent many, many hours listening to short wave broadcasts from all corners of the world. Karaoke competitions from radio Japan. World news from the BBC in England. Classical music and communist propaganda from radio Moscow, more communist propaganda from radio Beijing. And of course American propaganda broadcast from the voice of America. It was all so fascinating.
Shortwave radio transmitting towers in Japan that have been in operations for over 80 years.
Shortwave radio remained in heavy use until the 1990s. Where the internet slowly but surely drowned out its utility. But it's not completely dead. Some countries use 21st century updates to shortwave for more efficient communications to their people.
I no longer have that old radio that dad gave me. But I still have a fancy shortwave radio I bought from Radio Shack a few years later. Which still works to this day.
I’m Fitz Walker for the University of Houston, and I too am interested in the way inventive minds work.
(Theme Music)
Links:
Whatever Happened to Shortwave Radio?
https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/whatever-happened-to-shortwave-radio
Why listen to shortwave radio?
https://swling.com/blog/2021/10/guest-post-why-listen-to-shortwave-radio/
Shortwave Frequency List
https://ccrane.com/shortwave-frequency-list/
This episode first aired February 19, 2025