America Idle

This little essay titled Intemperate Listening is from The Art of Listening by Filson Young and was printed in the 1928 BBC Handbook. The value of its insights can only be matched by the wonder of its improbable publication.

"No one, however leisured his or her life, ought to listen all the time. There would be something excessive and intemperate about such a person. Yet like so many other things, listening to wireless transmissions may become a habit, and a bad habit. Fear that one may be missing something by not listening is one cause; but a more insidious one is the feeling that something is going on somewhere, and that rather than take the trouble to do anything else for oneself, one might as well listen to it. That, of course, is as great an injustice to the art of Broadcasting as it is to the listener himself. It is a misuse of what, properly used, can be a very real boon to the aesthetic life af any household. I would urge listeners to cultivate the art of using their wireless receivers intelligently and artistically, so that the immense care and trouble that are taken in compiling and presenting the programmes shall achieve their true direction and effect."