#  Radio Contact: Tuning In to Politics, Technology, & Culture (2016) 

 



**Presentation Date:** Thursday, March 10, 2016

**Location:** Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

 ![Radio Contact banner](/sites/g/files/omnuum1416/files/saraschechner/files/radio_contact_banner_sm.jpg)

 

Remember the times when the whole family gathered round the living room radio to listen to Roosevelt's fireside chats or detective dramas like *The Shadow*? When boys and sometimes girls tinkered with ham radio in garages in order to talk to people across the country? When commercial, underground, and political networks broadcast to a fragmented society, giving voice to diverse ideas and music, which anyone could sample? Showcasing radio equipment from the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, *Radio Contact* examined the evolving technology and cultures of listening, tinkering, and broadcasting.

 ![Radio Programs](/sites/g/files/omnuum1416/files/saraschechner/files/radio-contact_11.jpg)

 

   ![Living Room](/sites/g/files/omnuum1416/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/saraschechner/files/radio-contact_6.jpg?itok=PjjjDlby) 

 

   ![Ham Shack](/sites/g/files/omnuum1416/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/saraschechner/files/radio-contact_15.jpg?itok=SUp5twk1) 

 

Co-curated with graduate students, Devin Kennedy and Mia Metivier. For more photographs and links to press stories, visit [http://chsi.harvard.edu/radio\_contact.html](http://chsi.harvard.edu/radio_contact.html). The program guide for the soundscape of radio clips is [here](/file_url/201).



 



 

 See also:- [ 2010s ](/exhibitions-decade/2010s)
- [ Presentation ](/page-categories/presentation)