Inside the Box: The TV History Podcast

On this week's mini-episode Jonathan discusses the current state of podcasts and how it connects to the pre-history of radio over one-hundred years ago.

Join us as Steve and Jonathan continue their conversation with Dr. Craig Coenen about the 1978 NBC mini-series Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss. Where does the mini-series fall within the context of Americans' understanding of the Jewish Holocaust? How was the mini-series received? How does the late-1970s network context of big, prestige mini-series play into its creation? All this and a l...

This week join Andrew, Jonathan, and Steve as Andrew leads a deep dive discussion into the history of The History Channel. The guys discuss how programming on the channel has changed, who owns the channel, and what strategies they've employed to stay relevant to capture advertiser dollars. If you like History, history, or the history of History, you'll dig this episode.

Join Jonathan as he weighs in on the recent argument that gained social media attention regarding how Martin Short is perceived by audiences.

Join Steve and Jonathan in conversation with Dr. Craig Coenen about the 1978 NBC mini-series Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss. Where does the mini-series fall within the context of Americans' understanding of the Jewish Holocaust? How was the mini-series received? How does the late-1970s network context of big, prestige mini-series play into its creation? All this and a lot more in Part 01...

This week join Andrew as he leads a discussion with Steve and Jonathan about how TV was used not before, not after, but during World War II. Contrary to popular belief the then new medium was at least thought about as another technology to be harnessed during the war effort. We also discuss how the rudimentary uses of TV in the immediate post-war era is surprisingly similar to how we use it today.

Tune-in and listen to a brief history of the Time-Life Music line of releases and hear Jonathan's theory about how and why we got to one of the best Time-Life Music releases - if you consider the TV commercial - CLASSICAL THUNDER!

Join us for the first episode of our brand new season! Jonathan and Steve sit down to discuss the prevalence of NFL high-scoring games and ask what role media has played in this current and evolving situation. They also provide historical context both for the game and the league's relationship to TV and other media.

This week join Jonathan, Andrew, and Steve for a discussion of the AFL of the 1960s and how TV allowed the AFL to come - THIS CLOSE - to toppling the NFL. Also in this lengthier episode, listen as the guys discuss the "marriage" of US football and television and what that means for how we understand the sport today.

Jonathan discusses the current Hollywood labor strike and attempts to contextualize it through a historical lens.

This week join Andrew and Jonathan as they give you the hard sell on the history of TV pitchmen. We go a little into the history of salesmanship on television, the self-imposed and government regulations, and each of us discuss our favorite local and infomercial-based pitchmen. Be sure to act now; operators are standing by and supplies ARE limited.

How the heck did a 1950s comedy legend get a shot at usurping Johnny Carson some 23 years AFTER his career peak? Join Jonathan as he discusses the three incarnations of The Jerry Lewis Show and in particular the June 1984 5-episode test-run for the third, and final, incarnation.

This week join Steve as he drags Andrew kicking and screaming into the 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee Special, while Jonathan attempts to deconstruct all the deep thoughts flying around the pianos and gorillas.

Join Jonathan for an infamous TV show from 1969 that really should just be famous for being innovative, clever, surreal, with the good intention of trying to speak some truth to power. It is a short introduction / interpretation of Turn On! Episode 2.

This week join Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan as they provide a brief overview of television pilots and attempt to pitch one another some pilots that REALLY deserve a second chance. Come join the fun. ;)

Jonathan plays catch...up with the idea of the 1970s's The Bionic Dog. Join Jonathan as he discusses the silly wonderfulness that was this spin-off idea.

This week join Andrew in conversation with historian Gary Edgerton about Ken Burns's new documentary Vietnam. They discuss Burns as a filmmaker, whether Burns is a "proper" historian, and who he considers to be the audience for his films.

It is all about the tension between the old and the new in today's mini-episode. Join Jonathan as he discusses three recent history-focused TV programs: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+, 2022-present), Call Me Kate (Netflix, 2023), and Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators (Netflix, 2023).

This week Andrew and Steve school Jonathan on appreciating the rare delicacy that is Richard Dean Anderson's MacGyver. What lies at the heart of the show's appeal?

Join Jonathan for a new mini-episode where he discusses procrastination, "summer guilt", the Peter Jackson Beatles documentary, and teases a late 1980's TV special discovered via YouTube.

This week join Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan as they discuss children's television show host and PBS all-star, Fred Rogers as a counter-cultural figure. Can we view his choices regarding race and sexual preference as revolutionary? Pragmatic? or did he simply NOT do enough? Join us as we attempt to unwrap the relationship between Mr. Rogers, social issues, and his own personal spirituality.

In preparation of our brand new Fall season of NEW episodes, join Jonathan for a new, short (16 min.) mini-episode to find out about all the new ideas and goals we have planned for the new season.

In honor of Mr. Minow's birthday (01/17), we're re-releasing our interview with the former FCC Chair. Joining us from his office in Chicago, we discuss the role of television in presidential debates, his decisions that supported the rise of PBS, and of course, his famous “vast wasteland” speech.

Happy Holidays from Inside the Box. For this last main feed episode of our limited-episode season, we bring you the gift of Steve Voorhees! Steve climbs back aboard the good ship ITB to discuss with Jonathan Universal Music's latest efforts to recontextualize classic holiday recordings with newly produced animated music videos.

This week Jonathan switches from TV and memory to social media and memory. He takes you through some core ideas about collective memory and how they connect to social media. He also explains a few different ways younger people think about the idea of social media as memory machines.