Society & Culture

Made in the Middle: That Sounds Good

KIOS | By E_Newton

Published September 6, 2019 at 7:22 AM CDT

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Merrill Workhoven, taking time off from broadcasting for a family fishing trip.

Courtesy of Melanie Workhoven

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Marvin Breckinridge at work, Middle Fork, Kentucky River, Leslie County, Kentucky], c. 1930. Courtesy of Marvin Breckinridge Patterson, Library of Congress (21.1)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/images/wcf021a.jpg

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A women playing piano while a man leads a physical fitness radio program for WOW Radio, Omaha Nebraska.

Courtesy of The Durham Museum Photo Archives

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Johnny Carson with Merrill Workhoven (left) and Percy Zeigler, former WOW-T engineer on the right.

Courtesy of The Durham Museum Photo Archives/Omaha World Herald Collection

In this month’s episode we explore the idea that the familiar American broadcast voice comes from the American Midwest. We take a walk through radio history, the innerworkings of the human ear and psychological influences on listening to find out how all of this has formed the American broadcast voice. Omaha native, Kurt Andersen, author and host of Public Radio’s Studio 360, joins us for the conversation.

We would like to thank our special guest, author and host of Studio 360, Kurt Andersen. We also thank The Durham Museum for the archival photographs and Melonie Workhoven for the family photos and stories of her father. Lastly, a big thank you to the professors and authors we interviewed for this episode: Dr. Shawn VanCour, Dr. Laura Huang, Dr. Dennis R. Preston and Dr. Mary M. Flaherty.

To request citations from this episode or to suggest a topic for "Made in the Middle" please email emily.chennewton@kios.org .

https://open.spotify.com/show/7LH3zZ1ULdSxgdUBgrZbsj

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/made-in-the-middle/id1473043910