Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

The story

For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.

Cast

J Jason RobardsNarrator (voice) R Red BarberSelf - Radio Announcer E Erik BarnouwSelf - Historian K Ken BilbySelf - Biographer of David Sarnoff N Norman CorwinSelf - Writer S Susan DouglasSelf - Historian F Frank GüntherSelf - Engineer J Jeanne HammondSelf - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong L Loren JonesSelf - Engineer G Garrison KeillorSelf - Writer H Helen KelleySelf - Radio Broadcaster R Robert MorrisSelf - Engineer

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D Dana RaymondSelf - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong G Gertrude TyneSelf - Engineer F Fred AllenSelf - Predicts Demise of Radio (archive footage) G Gene AutrySelf - Sings (archive sound) J John BarrymoreHamlet (archive sound) W Winston ChurchillSelf - Finest Hour Speech (archive sound) C Charles J. CorrellSelf - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (archive footage) L Lee De ForestSelf - Objects to Quality of Radio Programming (archive footage) R Ralph EdwardsSelf - Host of 'This Is Your Life' (archive footage) D Dwight D. EisenhowerSelf - Announces Landing in Normandy (archive footage) E Eugenia FarrarSelf (with Lee De Forest) (archive footage) F Freeman F. GosdenSelf - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (archive footage) G Guglielmo MarconiSelf - Visits Sarnoff at RCA (archive footage) M Marie MosquiniSelf - with Lee De Forest (archive footage) N Nelson RockefellerSelf - Eulogizes Sarnoff (archive footage) F Franklin D. RooseveltSelf - Makes Broadcast About Banking Reform (archive footage) D David SarnoffSelf - with Marconi at RCA (archive footage) F Frank SinatraSelf - Serenades Sarnoff (archive footage) A Arturo ToscaniniSelf - Conducts NBC Symphony (archive footage) H Harry S. TrumanSelf - Announces Bombing of Hiroshima (archive sound) B Bob WarrenSelf - This is Your Life Announcer (archive footage) O Orson WellesSelf - Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (archive sound)