What's Fair on the Air?: Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest
by Nicole Hemmer
Mentioned once across 1 show · first heard May 2026 on Behind the Bastards.
The general take
Robert Evans calls Heather Hendershot's 'What's Fair on the Air' a great book and relies on it as a major source for understanding Cold War-era right-wing broadcasting figures. He specifically credits Hendershot's research for covering stories about figures like Hunt that don't typically appear elsewhere, and notes her analysis of how broadcasters like Smoot balanced their conservatism by presenting multiple political perspectives.
About
The rise of right-wing broadcasting during the Cold War has been mostly forgotten today. But in the 1950s and '60s you could turn on your radio any time of the day and listen to diatribes against communism, civil rights, the United Nations, fluoridation, federal income tax, Social Security, or JFK, as well as hosannas praising Barry Goldwater and Jesus Christ. Half a century before the rise of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, these broadcasters bucked the FCC's public interest mandate and created an alternate universe of right-wing political coverage, anticommunist sermons, and pro-business bluster. A lively look back at this formative era, What's Fair on the Air? charts the rise and fall of four of the most prominent right-wing broadcasters: H. L. Hunt, Dan Smoot, Carl McIntire, and Billy James Hargis.
Who said what
Robert Evans👍 Recommends
…discussing sources about h.l. hunt's early life and media influence
“You don't tend to see this story mentioned in most other articles on the guy, with a notable exception of one of my major sources for this, which was a chapter from Heather Hendershot's great book, What's Fair on the Air, which is about Cold War-era right-wing broadcasting. She devotes a chapter to Hunt, and she writes this.”
Behind the Bastards — Part One: H.L. Hunt: The First Elon Muskat 34:09
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