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The Jefferson Exchange

Commercial Radio Networks Once Fought Over Shakespeare

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Leslie Howard and Rosalind Russell in "Much Ado About Nothing" on CBS.
michaelpjensen.com

As you survey the current landscape of unscripted "reality" and game shows on broadcast TV, it's hard to imagine the major networks having a fight over Shakespeare.  But they did, way back in radio days. 

Both NBC and CBS broadcast adaptations of Shakespeare plays in 1937, a situation Rogue Valley writer Michael Jensen explores in his book The Battle of the Bard: Shakespeare on U.S. Radio in 1937.  The author joins us on the radio to talk about radio.  
 

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.