Audio Maverick

Radio drama resurfaced during the early days of public radio, and a generation of producers began to reinvent the form, working with actors, theatre companies, and become creative laboratories for adventurous, sonically complex productions. The advent of podcasting has re-invigorated the audio drama form even more, and today’s “audio mavericks” include producers of contemporary drama, science fiction and fantasy, and works like th...

This very public man also had a private side, and Brown’s granddaughter Melina Brown and his grandson Zach Sansted share their recollections of Brown, his homes in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut and his important art collection. We get to know him as a presence at family birthday parties; a thrifty clothes horse; and a workaholic who edited scripts even on country walks.

Credits

- Executive Producers: Melina Brown, Sa...

Himan Brown was a busy philanthropist and producer during the two decades following the end of Golden Age broadcast radio, creating over 100 films in support of causes he believed in, and a concert series in Madison Square Garden among other projects. He also opened a production studio in Chelsea.  But Brown was finally able to return radio drama to the air with the CBS Mystery Theater, which he established in 1974. It was a fully ...

Brown was a prolific and inventive producer and packager, but he was also, as he said, “a sound guy” who shaped the sound of his shows, both in the Golden Age, and when he established CBS Mystery Theater in 1974s. This episode will explore his influence on sound design, and the distinctive “signatures” of his shows. It will also explore what sound effects and sound design contribute to a drama, and Audio Maverick’s own sound desi...

As Himan Brown consolidated his success, he grew his program portfolio and impressive client base. At the onset of WWII, he not only helped to reshape existing shows in response, but created special programming designed to celebrate American’s values and what was being fought for. He also created programs in support of the Jewish community. In the 1950s, radio began to be displaced by television, and this era of Brown’s career i...

This episode celebrates the rich and colorful world of Golden Age radio. During this period networks were formed, stars were established, and iconic shows from The Shadow to Abie's Irish Rose, were created. This episode showcases genres like the sitcom and the thriller, and includes some of the most significant of works by Brown’s contemporaries including Norman Corwin, Lucille Fletcher, Arch Obler, and Orson Welles, including Sorr...

Brown was radio prodigy and prodigious multi-tasker, who began producing and performing in audio, and making groundbreaking deals, while he was still in high school, and was servicing the radio entertainment industry by the time he was in law school. This episode charts his early performance and production history, his relationship with key advertisers and emerging talents like Agnes Moorehead and Irwin Shaw, and the start of his D...

In this episode we hear about Himan Brown’s childhood and family background. Brown recalls the experience of growing up in the Jewish immigrant community in Brownsville, Brooklyn (which included run-ins with a youthful Bugsy Siegel), his hard-working father and his early professional experiences with mentors like Moss Hart (who started by casting him as Fanny Brice.)

This episode features excerpts from Alfred Kazin’s A Walker in ...

We learn about the early days of broadcasting in the U.S. and how this fledgling technology became the dominant entertainment form. The episode honors pioneers including Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi, as well as the colorful and combative characters who established the broadcast empires of the early years.

Credits

- Executive Producers: Melina Brown, Sarah Montague

- Executive Director, CUNY TV: Chiqui Cartagena

- Director...

The history of radio crackles to life with Audio Maverick, a 9-part documentary about one of the most visionary figures in radio, Himan Brown. Explore the Golden Age of radio through Brown's life, as we travel from the birth of audio drama to the programs that brought millions of families into their living rooms every night.

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Credits

- Executive Producers: Melina Brown, Sarah Montague

- Executi...