Edward R Murrow Radio Recordings, News, and I Can Hear It Now

Edward Murrow
(1908 – 1965)

Historical News Broadcasts

"Calling Ed Murrow ... come in Ed Murrow."

Edward R. Murrow was one of the greatest American journalists in broadcast history. He became a household name, after his vivid on the scene reporting during WWII.

Edward R. Murrow was born Egbert Roscoe Murrow in a log cabin North Carolina. When he was a young boy, his family moved across the country to a homestead in Washington State. He was a popular and accomplished student in high school and was the student body president and on the debate team.  He studied speech at Washington State College then moved to New York after graduation.

In 1935, Edward R. Murrow joined CBS and worked with William L. Shirer. When Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938 called Anschluss, Edward R. Murrow was in Poland and flew to Vienna giving a first hand account of Anschluss for the radio. It was his first on the scene reporting for CBS and was considered ground breaking at the time.

Soon Edward R. Murrow was on the scene giving live reports throughout Europe on the eve of the second world war. He would be introduced on air with "Calling Ed Murrow ... come in Ed Murrow."

As WWII began, Edward R. Murrow was based in London and gave radio broadcast even during the height of the war and during the German bomb raids on London known as The Blitz.

Edward R. Murrow would open each broadcast with "This is London," and would end with "good night, and good luck." This catchphrase was also used by the then Princess Elizabeth.

When the US entered WWII, Edward R. Murrow flew with Allied Bombing raids giving vivid firsthand accounts of the bombing of Europe. He also reported the horrors he saw at the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp saying he saw "rows of bodies stacked up like cordwood." He suggested that sensitive listeners turn off their radios for his grisly firsthand account.

In later years, Edward R. Murrow hosted the beloved radio show with regular folks, This I Believe. After gaining fame with his news shows, Edward R Murrow and Fred W Friendly teamed to create this historical chronicle, I Can Hear It Now.

After Edward R. Murrow publicly criticized Senator Joseph McCarthy's Red Scare and communist witch hunt, popularity for the controversial senator plummeted.

Murrow made a fascinating program about the existence of UFO's with Kenneth Arnold and Donald Menzel which is included in this collection.

In 1960, Edward R. Murrow made an important documentary about the conditions of farm laborers called "Harvest of Shame"

Edward R. Murrow continued to work for CBS until President John F. Kennedy offered Murrow the job as Director of the United States Information Agency.

At the too young of age of 57, Edward R. Murrow died of lung cancer after a long life of cigarette smoking.

This collection contains many excerpts and full broadcasts of his WWII broadcasts as well as the hourly weekly broadcasts from 1950-51 broadcasts covering current events as well. Using old and recreated clips from transcripts of radio broadcasts, Murrow narrates a short and fascinating series, I Can Hear It Now, about US history from 1932-1949. From prohibition to the end of WWII, Churchill speeches, the Lindburgh flight, and the depression, Murrow brings 30 years of US history alive in this fascinating program.

For additional news commentary, see also:

• America Looks Abroad
• CBS World News Today
• CBS News Around the World (AM Edition)
• Edward R. Murrow
• Gabriel Heatter
• HV Kaltenborn Edits the News
• Elmer Davis and the News
• Keys to the Capitol
• Monitor
• NBC National Hour
• Robert Arden News Commentary
• Summer of 1940 News Broadcasts
• Today in Europe
• War Telescope
• For additional WWII news coverage, see disk volume 1-4 of WWII Collection.