Letter from America
Alistair Cooke’s weekly talks on American life, history and politics, as broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 1946 – 2004.
The BBC has released over 900 episodes, as podcasts and mp3 downloads, available free and without time restriction. The archive is organised by presidential periods, or by date.
Speaking as an American, I can say: Mr. Cooke was the best reality check we’ve had since de Toqueville.
I used to listen avidly to Alistair Cooke’s “Letters from America”. They were absolutely fascinating. It was one thing on radio that I never used to miss.
The first thing I thought when I read Hans’ post was that I had always wondered what the Americans thought of it and that this forum might provide some views on that !
When I finally did get to the USA I found Cooke’s descriptions were a better preparation than the news media and imported TV shows.