One Year: 1955 | 3. The Weather Girls

Slow Burn

Slate Podcasts

News, Society & Culture, History, Documentary, Politics

4.6 • 25.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the early days of television, women struggled to find their place. In 1955, they got it: forecasting the weather, on stations all across the country. But as these “weather girls” transformed the airwaves, a group of powerful men hatched a plan—one that had the potential to push women weathercasters off the air forever. Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung. This episode was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with additional production by Sophie Summergrad. It was edited by Joel Meyer and Derek John, Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. Join Slate Plus to get the first three episodes of One Year: 1955 right away—and a bonus 1955 story at the end of the season. Slate Plus members also get to listen to all Slate podcasts without any ads. Sign up now to support One Year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	June 12th, 1955 was a big day for NBC, the debut of a massive block of programming,
0:08.0	when the network hoped might save a dying medium.
0:12.0	You are listening to Monitor.
0:15.0	Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
0:18.0	and welcome to Monitor our new NBC weekend radio service.
0:22.0	Monitor was an ultra-long format radio show.
0:27.0	Forty hours every weekend, broadcast nationwide.
0:31.0	And it sounded different than everything else in the audio universe. The first
0:36.2	episode featured a series of dispatches from behind prison walls.
0:40.3	Tell me this is your last night at San Quentin.
0:43.6	How's it feel?
0:44.6	Pretty nervous and hopeful.
0:46.6	Kind of scared.
0:48.0	There was also breaking news about an auto racing disaster in France, comedy from Jerry Lewis, and live jazz from Howard Rumsey
0:56.9	and his Lighthouse All-Stars.
1:00.8	The New York Times called Monitor an electronic grab bag designed to keep a listener guessing.
1:07.0	But it was one thing in particular that got America's attention.
1:11.0	Her voice is so soft and easy.
1:14.0	You can't imagine her ever getting excited about anything
1:18.0	and I could even take a typhoon very calmly
1:21.0	when she tells me about it.
1:30.0	That soft and easy voice belonged to a woman who wasn't identified by name. She was mysterious and alluring and she drove everyone absolutely wild.
	...

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