The history of radio began with 19th-century theories on electromagnetic waves by Maxwell, proven by Hertz, then developed into practical wireless telegraphy by Marconi, who achieved the first transatlantic signal in 1901.
Early use was for maritime Morse code, but Fessenden's 1906 voice broadcast paved the way for the "Golden Age of Radio" (1920s-1940s) with household news and entertainment, ending print's media monopoly before television emerged in the 1950s, though the term "radio" now includes internet and satellite streams.
Here are some standouts, moving roughly from the medium’s early mystique to its louder, messier modern incarnations:
Golden age & radio as imagination
- The Vast of Night (2019) – One of the purest modern tributes to radio ever made. Long stretches of talk, dead air, callers with strange stories—proof that sound alone can still conjure dread and wonder.
- Radio Days (1987) – Woody Allen’s nostalgic love letter to growing up with radio as a shared family hearth, where voices felt like celebrities and companions at once.
- A Prairie Home Companion (2006) – Altman’s gentle, melancholy farewell to live radio, filled with overlapping dialogue, music, and the sense of an era slipping away.
News, talk, and real-time tension
- Talk Radio (1988) – Eric Bogosian’s caustic portrait of a shock jock spiraling into self-destruction, capturing the intimacy and volatility of call-in radio.
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) – Robin Williams channels radio as both rebellion and morale booster, where music and humor become subversive acts.
- Dead Man’s Wire (2025) – As you note, radio here becomes a moral battleground: a live microphone mediating life, death, ego, and spectacle.
Music radio & cultural impact
- American Graffiti (1973) – Wolfman Jack’s voice floats through the night like a mythic presence, binding teenage lives together through rock ’n’ roll.
- FM (1978) – A time capsule of freeform FM radio, when DJs still felt like curators rather than algorithms.
- Pirate Radio / The Boat That Rocked (2009) – Joyous, romantic nonsense about outlaw DJs, celebrating radio as communal rebellion powered by pop music.
Radio as last human connection
- Pontypool (2008) – A horror film that understands radio’s unique power: the voice as contagion, comfort, and authority, all at once.
