Kansas State University history professor Michael Krysko has released a new book examining how radio crossed political and cultural boundaries during a time of global upheaval.

Contested Airwaves: American Radio at Home and Abroad, 1914–1946, published by the University of Illinois Press, explores how cross-border broadcasts sparked controversy, anger, and diplomatic tension throughout a period marked by two world wars. Krysko analyzes how radio broadcasts, especially in foreign languages, were perceived by many American listeners and policymakers as threatening or unpatriotic, often provoking protests and intense backlash.

As American radio became more commercially driven in the 1930s, resistance to non-English broadcasts intensified. Even celebrities like Groucho Marx voiced concerns. Efforts to use radio as a tool for language education were often derailed by cultural misunderstandings and nationalistic bias.

A central figure in the book is John Brinkley, a Kansas-based broadcaster whose powerful transmissions from Mexico disrupted U.S. stations and fueled a decade-long radio dispute between the two countries.

Krysko, who began researching Brinkley in the late 1990s, said the emotional responses in listener letters reveal broader ideas about race, ethnicity, and nationalism in early 20th-century America.

“The road to completion for this book was a really long one and I’m both delighted and relieved it’s finally finished. I first researched John Brinkley in the late 1990s, never imagining that I might someday wind up at Kansas State University just a few miles away from John Brinkley’s old stomping grounds in Milford,” Krysko said.

A member of the Department of History since 2006, Krysko teaches and writes on the history of technology and U.S. foreign relations. “Contested Airwaves”is his second book and is part of the University of Illinois’ series in the History of Media and Communications.