Latest Episodes
August 23, 2026
E53: The Missiles of October: The Missiles of October: Television On The Brink of Nuclear War
On the evening of October 22, 1962, regular television programming came to an abrupt halt as President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation from...
00:14:33
August 16, 2026
E52: How ABC's Wide World of Sports Transforms The Network - And the Medium
For most of the 1950s, ABC was the forgotten third network—outgunned by NBC and CBS in affiliates, programming, and advertising. But a series of...
00:18:07
August 09, 2026
E51: The Parlor Presidency: How Television Changed American Politics (1960) | Countdown to the Centennial #56
Long before presidents dominated television, they were distant figures known mainly through newspapers and occasional public appearances. Radio brought Franklin Roosevelt’s voice into American...
00:18:24
August 02, 2026
E50: Color, Style – and Scandal: Television Grows Up (1958–1959) | #57
By the end of the 1950s, television was no longer a novelty—it had become the center of American life. In this episode, we explore...
00:21:34
July 26, 2026
E49: The Only Time Philo Farnsworth Appeared on Television | #58
By 1957, television had become America’s dominant medium—but almost no one recognized the man who had invented it. On June 3, Philo T. Farnsworth...
00:11:48
July 19, 2026
E48: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: The Wizard of Oz Brings Hollywood to Television |#59
On November 3, 1956, CBS took a gamble that changed the relationship between Hollywood and television. When The Wizard of Oz made its television...
00:11:42