Susan Ware

It's One O'Clock and Here is Mary Margaret McBride: A Radio Biography

(New York University Press, 2005)

One of the most beloved radio hosts of the 1940s and 1950s, Mary Margaret McBride was the Oprah Winfrey of her day, and yet she has been practically forgotten, primarily because she was a woman and because she was on daytime radio. This radio biography explains how Mary Margaret McBride was one of the first to exploit the cultural and political importance of talk radio, pioneering the magazine-style format that many talk shows still use. By recreating the world of daytime radio from the 1930s through the 1950s, the book confirms the enormous significance of radio to everyday life, especially for women.