9XM Talking: WHA Radio and the Wisconsin Idea

Winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s award for best book on Wisconsin history

This is the fascinating history of the innovative work of Wisconsin’s educational radio stations, from the first broadcast by experimental station 9XM at the University of Wisconsin to the network of stations known today as Wisconsin Public Radio. Randall Davidson provides the first comprehensive history of the University of Wisconsin radio station, WHA; affiliated state-owned station, WLBL; and the post-World War II FM stations that formed the WPR network. Davidson describes how, with homemade equipment and ideas developed from scratch, 9XM became a tangible example of the Wisconsin Idea, bringing the educational riches of the university to all the state’s residents.