America's Town Meeting of the Air

America's Town Meeting of the Air was an hour-long political analysis and discussion show that ran from 1935 until 1956. It featured a wide range of guests ranging from government figures to perennial Socialist candidate for president, Norman Thomas, to literary figures such as Lanston Hughes and Pearl Buck. The show was designed to promote public knowledge and discussion of issues, not advocacy (though some advocacy was of course unavoidable).

The show was distinguished by a higher level of audience participation than most such shows. At its height, in the late 1930s, listeners formed local "listener clubs," which would meet to discuss the week's topic.

With the advent of World War II and a resulting hardening of public feelings, maintaining an atmosphere of discussion, as opposed to opinionated conflict, became more difficult. In addition, the show's started to jump about on the schedule. The program entered a long slow decline until its eventual cancellation.

For more information, see Wikipedia.

Series description provided by Frank Bell.