A side note:
Does Robert Cantwell’s description of Radio’s power to connect remind anyone else of the Internet’s role today?
“Before the pervasive influence of network broadcasting, federal regulation, and commercial homogenization, the radio dial was an instrument of fantastic sweep and power, which could convey the listener aurally from region to region, city to city, and voice to voice, and even in effect move him about in time at the speed of light, establishing in his imagination far more effectively than a geography book a sense of the larger society to which he belonged, with ceaseless activity, prodigious strength and variety, even its” fleetingly perceptible form.”
– Robert Cantwell, Bluegrass Breakdown
I mean, seriously. Switch around a few words, and Cantwell could be describing modern connectivity. I’d argue that a big difference is the public’s ability to directly interact with the medium, but I think the comparison is worthwhile. For instance, consider the threats “network broadcasting, federal regulation, and commercial homogenization” may pose to the “free space” we experience today.