The Radio Tower is a podcast dedicated to exploring all aspects of Long Island’s radio and television past. You’ll hear from former DJs, station owners, engineers, researchers, and more.
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Episode 49: John Caracciolo and JVC Media
John Caracciolo has been a mainstay in Long Island radio for decades, from learning his trade at WNYT to the glory years at WLIR to now overseeing stations like LI News Radio (103.9 FM) and La Fiesta (98.5 FM). On today’s episode you’ll hear more about his journey from engineer to entrepreneur and why he…
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Episode 48: Alex Magoun and the IEEE History Center
Dr. Alex Magoun is the outreach historian for the IEEE’s History Center (IEEE stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). On today’s episode, he gives us the history of the History Center and the organization’s drive to document and preserve the innovations and developments fostered by its members over the years. Along the…
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Episode 47: John Kannenberg and the Museum of Portable Sound
John Kannenberg is the man and the mind behind the Museum of Portable Sound. Based in Portsmouth, England, the Museum is actually found wherever John has his iPhone 4S. Visitors sit down with John, don their headphones, and enter the Museum by listening to the curated galleries of MP3s on the device. We talk to John…
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Episode 46: Remembering Bob Lundquist
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Lundquist. Bob was a long-time member of the Long Island Radio & Television Historical Society who spent much of his professional life as an engineer at the RCA “Radio Central” facility in Rocky Point. This interview between Bob and Connie Currie was recorded in 2015. …
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Episode 45: Long Island Home Front with Josephine Eichner
We’re revisiting our Long Island Home Front oral history project! Although most of our interviews foccused on people who experienced the years of World War II on Long Island, we also met a few current Long Island residents who, in the 1940s, were living nearby. So today we’re bringing you excerpts of our talk with…
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Episode 44: Nick Hirshon, WFAN and the Nassau Coliseum
In the late 1980s, WFAN was on the rise as the first all-sports radio station in the country. They brought a fast-paced, rowdy style to the air, epitomized by the likes of Don Imus, Steve Somers, and Mike Francesa. At the same time the New York Islanders, years past their glory days and playing in…
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Episode 43: Islip Radio History with Connie Currie
Listen to LIRTVHS board member Connie Currie relate some of the radio-related stories and personalities from the town of Islip, Long Island. Including: Music from Pixabay.
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Episode 42: Islip Living History Day
Join us to experience what it was like attending Islip Living History Day at the Grange in Sayville. You’ll hear from some of our stellar colleagues in the Islip history community including the Oakdale Historical Society and the Connetquot River State Park Preserve.
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Episode 41: Norm Prusslin and WUSB
Norm Prusslin came to Stony Brook in the late 1960s and was immediately drawn to the radio station. WUSB was then an AM station heard only in the dorms and building on campus. But there was music in the air, not the least of which was coming from the vibrant concerts given on campus by…
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Episode 40: Peter Kurz and the Marconi-Patent
Peter Kurz is a patent attorney from Germany who fulfilled a lifelong dream by writing a technological thriller set in the early days of the radio industry. The Marconi-Patent weaves together historical events and people into a tale of intrigue, danger, and romance. What’s even better, it features the Telefunken transmission site in West Sayville! On today’s…
