When commercial radio came onto the scene in 1920, listeners were amazed. This new mass medium brought music, sports, religious services, and so much more into their homes for free. But amidst the singers, and the sports reports, and the religious sermons, there were also some fraudsters and charlatans. Early radio was an all-volunteer enterprise, and on many local stations, informational talks were an easy way to fill up some time. Some of the talks were educational, given by professors or business leaders. But others were given by folks with fake credentials and dubious expertise. They offered miracle cures for diseases, or promised to help you speak to your dead relatives, or trafficked in bigotry (the Ku Klux Klan even owned an early station).

Donna Halper will take you back to the first decade of radio, when the rules were still being written, a time when the public was much more trusting, and they tended to believe what they heard on their favorite station. You'll meet some of the era's earliest fraudsters, as well as a few folks who tried to confront them.

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