Our first mini-series of 2025 is here: Making Waves tells the stories of three controversial broadcasters in American history. They each used the microphone in different ways: one to warn, one to rile, one to preach. And today, they’re largely forgotten.

There’s the Black preacher who reached millions on the airwaves before the civil rights movement…
The woman who tried to warn the public of Hitler’s rising power…
And the talk show host who first proved that outrage sells.

Episode 1: The Happy-Am-I Preacher

In 1934, the Washington Post called Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, the “best known colored man in America.” Michaux was called the Happy-Am-I Preacher. His Sunday services were broadcast to over 25 million listeners on CBS radio. Black America saw Michaux as a leader for racial harmony and progress. But during the civil rights movement, his reputation took an unlikely turn.

Episode 2: The Original Angry Talker

Before shock jocks, like Howard Stern, and in-your-face talk show hosts like Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh, there was Joe Pyne. At the height of his career in the 1960s, the New York Times called him “The ranking nuisance of broadcasting.”

Episode 3: The Woman Who Warned Us

In 1939, Time Magazine called Dorothy Thompson a woman who “thinks, talks and sleeps world problems — and scares men half to death.” They weren’t wrong. Thompson was a foreign correspondent in Germany in the years leading up to World War 2, and she broadcast to millions of listeners around the world. She became known for her bold commentaries on the rise of Hitler. The Nazis even created a “Dorothy Thompson Emergency Squad” to monitor her work. She was an eloquent and opinionated advocate for the principles of democracy. But by the end of the war, those strong opinions put her career in jeopardy.

The stories in this series were produced by Alissa Escarce and Mycah Hazel, with help from Nellie Gilles. They were edited by Joe Richman, Deborah George, and Ben Shapiro.