Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

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of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.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

Jason Robards Narrator (voice) Red Barber Self - Radio Announcer Erik Barnouw Self - Historian

Ken Bilby Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff

Norman Corwin Self - Writer Susan Douglas Self - Historian

Frank Günther Self - Engineer

Jeanne Hammond Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong

Loren Jones Self - Engineer

Garrison Keillor Self - Writer Helen Kelley Self - Radio Broadcaster Robert Morris Self - Engineer

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