Revolutionary Radio

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BBC Radio 4 Extra - Revolutionary Radio

Fi Glover investigates radio's 90 years as a potent political force in revolutions.

Are guns or microphones more dangerous in the people’s hands? Fi Glover investigates radio’s role in revolutions. From 2012.

A revolutionary general in Nicaragua asks what is more dangerous in the hands of the public – guns or microphones?
 
For well over 90 years, radio has proved a powerful political force, not just for reporting on changes of government but also for sending out a call to arms during some of the biggest revolutionary uprisings of the 20th century. 

These events track radio's evolution, from its rise as an exciting new technology used by the Bolsheviks to demonstrate their modernity to its reported demise amid the social media buzz of the Arab Spring.
 
Fi Glover speaks to those who participated in these events, as well as ordinary listeners who stood by their radios during extraordinary times. 

In Prague, May 1945, William Greig calls for American assistance amid Nazi machine gun fire. 

In Greece, Antonia Moropoulou recalls Junta Military Police playing her student radio broadcasts during her incarceration in 1976. 

And in Serbia, Dusan Masic describes reading the news to the masses protesting below from the window of B92 radio during a government shutdown. 

Together they will tell the story of how radio became such a revolutionary medium.

Producer: Kate Lamble

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2012.

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