Radio America

Wendy McCloud is ordered into Anger Management Therapy. But it's not much help when pirates murder her father, Planetary President of Chromius. Now that Anne Manx has left, Chromius still needs someone else just as smart, relentless, incorruptible...and sexy.

In The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll, Wes Smith examines the phenomenon of the AM deejays who captivated a generation and helped define the counterculture that has forever changed the landscape of American youth. Smith takes a close look at nine of the men who made this happen and explores the reasons for their influence and its lasting effects on the generation whose lives still unfold to the soundtrack laid down by these platter-spinners of their youth.

Clergymen rarely make good politicians. There is perhaps no better example of this than Father Charles Coughlin, a Depression-era priest-turned-demagogue who was seen as an angel by some and a devil by others. The same man who cruelly castigated the Jews also spoke eloquently on the needs and rights of the most downtrodden in society. The same orator who said, "Roosevelt or ruin", later cried, "Roosevelt and ruin." In the 1930s, his effective use of the radio revolutionized mass communications, and millions of people listened to his every word.

Shortly after taking office in 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered the first of his radio broadcasts to the American public. In simple, plain language, he took pains to explain the basic mechanics of the banking system, the causes of the present banking crisis, and the steps he was taking to stabilize the system. It was an extraordinary moment, the first time an American President had bypassed the traditional channels of communication (newspapers largely owned by conservative Republicans) and taken his message directly to the people.

Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1940, Alex Trebek grew up listening to the radio and hoping to one day become a broadcaster. His dream became a reality when he was hired as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961. Alex's composed nature and ability to skillfully improvise while on television eventually led to his role as the host of Jeopardy!, the biggest quiz game show in the United States.