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I try to always have a portable am radio with me. My favorite two radios are the Sony SRF-M37W (a favorite among blue collar workers, like electricians. It fi

I try to always have a portable am radio with me. My favorite two radios are the Sony SRF-M37W (a favorite among blue collar workers, like electricians. It fits in the overalls.), and CC pocket radio. I've had a problem with anxiety, and loneliness, over the years. I just need something in the background. I miss the old time radio programs, and Art Bell. If had money I'd buy up any AM radio frequency, and put out new material. Even as a kid, I preferred AM old time theater to tv.

JKCalhoun 4y ago
AM does seem preferable to FM (jumping back to the VOA discussion) since, if you had to, you could make an AM radio out of almost anything. (In this regard though I am not thinking about Ukrainians or Russians but rather 3rd world countries.)
- hilbert42 4y ago
  Ever so true and it's dirt cheap as there's precious little infrastructure needed. If necessary, even an amateur radio transmitter re-tuned to broadcast frequencies could be used (for legality it'd still have to be re-licensed for broadcast use).
hilbert42 4y ago
Yeah, right I understand that. Radio back then was formative stuff that one never forgets. Radio is by far the most effective electronic medium to keep one company, it's more intimate than any of the others - it's not only the broadcast program per se but also the fact that the announcer is talking to you. I've still two Sony ICF 2001D receivers, in fact I'm looking across my room now at one. As FM, AM and SW RXes they're second to none outside a proper communions receiver.
- xattt 4y ago
  > Radio is by far the most effective electronic medium to keep one company. What’s your take on podcasts?
  - hilbert42 4y ago
    Well I listen to them for specific information but unlike normal radio broadcasting they don't provide a 'live' presence in one's home as does the latter.
kraussvonespy 4y ago
Wow, thank you. You didn't intend this but you've helped me to understand my mom's life a little better. After my dad died, my mom had a radio going in her house almost 24/7. I never really thought of that as being her way to deal with loneliness but sadly I think that's exactly what it was. Maybe it was better for her to fill her head with the radio voices rather than having to deal with her own lonely internal voice.
- hilbert42 4y ago
  I'm so glad to have read your reply and to know that my comment helped you to appreciate and understand your mom's situation a little better. These days, radio is still a powerful tool but it's often underappreciated. Whilst one can have the TV on it's not of much help unless one's watching it, whereas radio is more intimate in that one can go about one's daily life and its presence is still with one. What you observed about your mom's life I've also seen in my own relatives especially the women in my family whose partner had died. For them, the radio was pretty much a 24/7 comfort and a protection against loneliness. My appreciation of this never fully struck me until they'd died. It's now a big regret that I never spent more time with them when they were alive. The fact that I cannot undo that hurts. (BTW, I often post comments on line more as a diary or aide-mémoire to remind myself of what I thought about a story. I wouldn't bother to do so if it remained on my home PC but the added incentive that others may read it spurs me to write. These days, there's so much competition for people's attention online that one posts on the understanding that if one's lucky one's comment will receive a few fleeting glances. Occasionally, when one receives genuine heartfelt feedback as with your post, it makes one's efforts feel as if they've been worthwhile. Thanks.)

JKCalhoun 4y ago

AM does seem preferable to FM (jumping back to the VOA discussion) since, if you had to, you could make an AM radio out of almost anything. (In this regard though I am not thinking about Ukrainians or Russians but rather 3rd world countries.)

hilbert42 4y ago
Ever so true and it's dirt cheap as there's precious little infrastructure needed. If necessary, even an amateur radio transmitter re-tuned to broadcast frequencies could be used (for legality it'd still have to be re-licensed for broadcast use).

hilbert42 4y ago

Yeah, right I understand that. Radio back then was formative stuff that one never forgets. Radio is by far the most effective electronic medium to keep one company, it's more intimate than any of the others - it's not only the broadcast program per se but also the fact that the announcer is talking to you. I've still two Sony ICF 2001D receivers, in fact I'm looking across my room now at one. As FM, AM and SW RXes they're second to none outside a proper communions receiver.

xattt 4y ago
> Radio is by far the most effective electronic medium to keep one company. What’s your take on podcasts?
- hilbert42 4y ago
  Well I listen to them for specific information but unlike normal radio broadcasting they don't provide a 'live' presence in one's home as does the latter.

kraussvonespy 4y ago

Wow, thank you. You didn't intend this but you've helped me to understand my mom's life a little better. After my dad died, my mom had a radio going in her house almost 24/7. I never really thought of that as being her way to deal with loneliness but sadly I think that's exactly what it was. Maybe it was better for her to fill her head with the radio voices rather than having to deal with her own lonely internal voice.

hilbert42 4y ago
I'm so glad to have read your reply and to know that my comment helped you to appreciate and understand your mom's situation a little better. These days, radio is still a powerful tool but it's often underappreciated. Whilst one can have the TV on it's not of much help unless one's watching it, whereas radio is more intimate in that one can go about one's daily life and its presence is still with one. What you observed about your mom's life I've also seen in my own relatives especially the women in my family whose partner had died. For them, the radio was pretty much a 24/7 comfort and a protection against loneliness. My appreciation of this never fully struck me until they'd died. It's now a big regret that I never spent more time with them when they were alive. The fact that I cannot undo that hurts. (BTW, I often post comments on line more as a diary or aide-mémoire to remind myself of what I thought about a story. I wouldn't bother to do so if it remained on my home PC but the added incentive that others may read it spurs me to write. These days, there's so much competition for people's attention online that one posts on the understanding that if one's lucky one's comment will receive a few fleeting glances. Occasionally, when one receives genuine heartfelt feedback as with your post, it makes one's efforts feel as if they've been worthwhile. Thanks.)