From 2LO to the World: A Century of the BBC
How a crackly voice from a London rooftop in 1922 became the world's most trusted broadcaster — from 2LO to the Empire Service to today.
Read the story →Museum journal
Journal articles are in English.
Sputnik: what a repeating signal could mean to a listener
A small radio beacon made an orbiting satellite audible from Earth. Its beeps differ from both speech and a broadcast programme.
Read the story →Titanic: why having wireless was not enough
The 1912 disaster connects communication equipment with the human and institutional work of listening for distress.
Read the story →Radio waves were discovered, not invented
Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory and Hertz’s experiments answer different questions from the invention of a receiving set.
Read the story →How a telegraph key turns a circuit into a message
A simple electrical circuit explains the key, but different telegraph systems used different ways to represent information.
Read the story →Morse code: why the silence matters as much as the beep
Dots and dashes are only part of the system. Spacing tells a listener where a character or word ends.
Read the story →AM, FM and internet radio: three different signal paths
Armstrong’s frequency modulation work helps explain why a station’s programme and its delivery method are different things.
Read the story →Finding more historical voices: a guide to public archives
Explore Brazil, France and Australia through holding institutions, while checking what each recording actually represents.
Read the story →Who invented the radio? Start by asking which radio
A radio receiver, a wireless telegraph and a broadcasting service have different histories. The invention question becomes clearer when we separate them.
Read the story →2LO: connecting a transmitter with the people who listened
London station 2LO provides a specific starting point for exploring the relationship between broadcast equipment and regular programmes.
Read the story →A radio in a pocket: looking at the Regency TR-1
The 1954 Regency TR-1 offers a way to explore the relationship between new components, portable design and everyday listening.
Read the story →How to preserve a radio memory
A practical invitation to record the ordinary details of listening, while keeping personal recollection distinct from independently verified history.
Read the story →Listening through a crystal: a small receiver, a large question
A surviving receiver helps us think about the practical experience of early listening, from setting up equipment to following a programme.
Read the story →When the world entered the living room
Thinking about radio as part of everyday life means looking beyond its circuitry to rooms, routines and the people who listened.
Read the story →Radio in the Second World War: voices, audiences and evidence
Broadcasts could inform, persuade or mislead. Understanding a wartime recording begins with its maker, intended audience and historical setting.
Read the story →Welcome to the Open Radio Museum
A free exhibition linking the machines and histories of radio with the living experience of listening around the world.
Read the story →Who invented radio? Start by defining the question.
Wireless signals, receivers and regular broadcasting developed in different stages. A useful history starts by asking which stage we mean.
Read the story →WORLD RADIO NOW · LIVE
From radio history to radio today
World Radio Now helps you listen to live stations around the world. Explore a historical voice, then discover music, news and culture on today’s airwaves.