The Victory of Public Broadcasting: Joshua Shepperd

Our guest, Joshua Shepperd, is an expert on the history of radio. His recent book, Shadow of the New Deal, tells the amazing story of the rise of public broadcasting in the United States.

Despite uncertain beginnings, public broadcasting emerged as a noncommercial media industry that transformed American culture. Josh Shepperd looks at the people, institutions, and influences behind the media reform movement and clearinghouse the National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB) in the drive to create what became the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio.

Josh Shepperd is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the Sound Submissions Project at the Library of Congress.