
When Women Invented Television
The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.29
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Nan McNamara
About this listen
“Leaps at the throat of television history and takes down the patriarchy with its fervent, inspired prose. When Women Invented Television offers proof that what we watch is a reflection of who we are as a people.” (Nathalia Holt, New York Times best-selling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls)
New York Times best-selling author of Seinfeldia Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells the little-known story of four trailblazing women in the early days of television who laid the foundation of the industry we know today.
It was the Golden Age of Radio, and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women - each an independent visionary - saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch TV today.
Irna Phillips turned real-life tragedy into daytime serials featuring female dominated casts. Gertrude Berg turned her radio show into a Jewish family comedy that spawned a play, a musical, an advice column, a line of house dresses, and other products. Hazel Scott, already a renowned musician, was the first African American to host a national evening variety program. Betty White became a daytime talk show fan favorite and one of the first women to produce, write, and star in her own show.
Together, their stories chronicle a forgotten chapter in the history of television and popular culture.
But as the medium became more popular - and lucrative - in the wake of World War II, the House Un-American Activities Committee arose to threaten entertainers, blacklisting many as communist sympathizers. As politics, sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, and money collided, the women who invented television found themselves fighting from the margins, as men took control. But these women were true survivors who never gave up - and thus their legacies remain with us in our television-dominated era. It's time we reclaimed their forgotten histories and the work they did to pioneer the medium that now rules our lives.
This amazing and heartbreaking history tells it all for the first time.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Jennifer Armstrong (P)2021 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Hi Honey, I'm Homo!
- Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture
- By: Matt Baume
- Narrated by: Matt Baume
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From flamboyant relatives on Bewitched to closely-guarded secrets on All in the Family, from network-censor fights over Soap to behind-the-scenes activism on the set of The Golden Girls, from Ellen’s culture clash to Modern Family’s primetime power-couple, Hi Honey, I’m Homo! is the story not only of how subversive queer comedy transformed the American sitcom, from its inception through today, but how our favorite sitcoms transformed, and continue to transform, America.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Sage on 07-14-23
By: Matt Baume
-
Nature's Mutiny
- How the Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Transformed the West and Shaped the Present
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, the temperature by the end of the 16th century plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbors were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and "frost fairs" were erected on a frozen Thames - with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city. Recounting the deep legacy and far-ranging consequences of this "Little Ice Age", acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had subtly, but ineradicably, changed by the mid-17th century.
-
-
Starts On Track; End Becomes Ideological Rant
- By Danioton on 06-07-20
By: Philipp Blom
-
From Hollywood with Love
- The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy
- By: Scott Meslow
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An in-depth celebration of the romantic comedy’s modern golden era and its role in our culture, tracking the genre from its heyday in the ’80s and the ’90s, its unfortunate decline in the 2000s, and its explosive reemergence in the age of streaming, featuring exclusive interviews with the directors, writers, and stars of the iconic films that defined the genre.
-
-
RomCom History and Future Personified
- By Brooklyn Gem on 03-07-22
By: Scott Meslow
-
Seinfeldia
- How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never thought anyone would watch their silly little sitcom about a New York comedian sitting around talking to his friends. NBC executives didn't think anyone would watch either, but they bought it anyway, hiding it away in the TV dead zone of summer. But against all odds, viewers began to watch, first a few and then many, until nine years later nearly 40 million Americans were tuning in weekly.
-
-
This bad narration is making me thirsty...
- By Audio Gra Gra on 10-06-16
-
Gay New York
- Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
- By: George Chauncey
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Gay New York forever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.
-
-
An Eye Opening History!
- By Nelson on 04-26-22
By: George Chauncey
-
Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek
- How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television
- By: Thea Glassman, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong - foreword
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The untold stories of seven revolutionary teen shows (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My So-Called Life, Dawson’s Creek, Freaks and Geeks, The O.C., Friday Night Lights, and Glee) that shaped the course of modern television and our pop cultural landscape forever.
-
-
Behind the scenes view
- By anthony petro on 11-24-23
By: Thea Glassman, and others
-
Hi Honey, I'm Homo!
- Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture
- By: Matt Baume
- Narrated by: Matt Baume
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From flamboyant relatives on Bewitched to closely-guarded secrets on All in the Family, from network-censor fights over Soap to behind-the-scenes activism on the set of The Golden Girls, from Ellen’s culture clash to Modern Family’s primetime power-couple, Hi Honey, I’m Homo! is the story not only of how subversive queer comedy transformed the American sitcom, from its inception through today, but how our favorite sitcoms transformed, and continue to transform, America.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Sage on 07-14-23
By: Matt Baume
-
Nature's Mutiny
- How the Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Transformed the West and Shaped the Present
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, the temperature by the end of the 16th century plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbors were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and "frost fairs" were erected on a frozen Thames - with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city. Recounting the deep legacy and far-ranging consequences of this "Little Ice Age", acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had subtly, but ineradicably, changed by the mid-17th century.
-
-
Starts On Track; End Becomes Ideological Rant
- By Danioton on 06-07-20
By: Philipp Blom
-
From Hollywood with Love
- The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy
- By: Scott Meslow
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An in-depth celebration of the romantic comedy’s modern golden era and its role in our culture, tracking the genre from its heyday in the ’80s and the ’90s, its unfortunate decline in the 2000s, and its explosive reemergence in the age of streaming, featuring exclusive interviews with the directors, writers, and stars of the iconic films that defined the genre.
-
-
RomCom History and Future Personified
- By Brooklyn Gem on 03-07-22
By: Scott Meslow
-
Seinfeldia
- How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never thought anyone would watch their silly little sitcom about a New York comedian sitting around talking to his friends. NBC executives didn't think anyone would watch either, but they bought it anyway, hiding it away in the TV dead zone of summer. But against all odds, viewers began to watch, first a few and then many, until nine years later nearly 40 million Americans were tuning in weekly.
-
-
This bad narration is making me thirsty...
- By Audio Gra Gra on 10-06-16
-
Gay New York
- Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
- By: George Chauncey
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Gay New York forever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.
-
-
An Eye Opening History!
- By Nelson on 04-26-22
By: George Chauncey
-
Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek
- How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television
- By: Thea Glassman, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong - foreword
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The untold stories of seven revolutionary teen shows (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My So-Called Life, Dawson’s Creek, Freaks and Geeks, The O.C., Friday Night Lights, and Glee) that shaped the course of modern television and our pop cultural landscape forever.
-
-
Behind the scenes view
- By anthony petro on 11-24-23
By: Thea Glassman, and others
-
Visionary Women
- How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World
- By: Andrea Barnet
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of four visionaries who profoundly shaped the world we live in today. Together, these women - linked not by friendship or field, but by their choice to break with convention - showed what one person speaking truth to power can do. Jane Jacobs fought for livable cities and strong communities; Rachel Carson warned us about poisoning the environment; Jane Goodall demonstrated the indelible kinship between humans and animals; and Alice Waters urged us to reconsider what and how we eat.
-
-
Engagingly written
- By an exerciser on 07-05-18
By: Andrea Barnet
-
Rather Outspoken
- My Life in the News
- By: Dan Rather, Digby Diehl - contributor
- Narrated by: Dan Rather
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rather - who has won every prestigious journalism award in his distinguished career - discusses all the big stories from his decades of reporting. This very personal accounting includes (but is certainly not limited to) his dismissal from CBS, the Abu Ghraib story, the George W. Bush Air National Guard controversy, his coverage of the JFK assassination, the origin of "Hurricane Dan", as well as inside stories about all the top personalities Dan has either interviewed or worked with over his remarkable career.
-
-
Excellent first-hand exploration of media today
- By J. James-Long on 05-07-12
By: Dan Rather, and others
-
Cokie
- A Life Well Lived
- By: Steven V. Roberts
- Narrated by: Steven V. Roberts
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through her visibility and celebrity, Cokie Roberts was an inspiration and a role model for innumerable women and girls. A fixture on national television and radio for more than 40 years, she also wrote five best-selling books focusing on the role of women in American history. In this loving tribute, Cokie’s husband of 53 years and best-selling coauthor Steve Roberts reflects not only on her many accomplishments but on how she lived each day with a devotion to helping others.
-
-
great testamony
- By Trisha on 11-12-21
-
Prince Albert
- The Man Who Saved the Monarchy
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawn from the Royal archives, including Prince Albert’s voluminous correspondence, this brilliant and ambitious book offers fascinating never-before-known details about the man and his time. A superb match of biographer and subject, Prince Albert, at last, gives this important historical figure the reverence and recognition that is long overdue.
-
-
Excellent Bio!
- By Nancy on 04-24-24
By: A. N. Wilson
-
The Social Transformation of American Medicine
- The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry
- By: Paul Starr
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 24 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered the definitive history of the American healthcare system, The Social Transformation of American Medicine examines how the roles of doctors, hospitals, health plans, and government programs have evolved over the last two and a half centuries. Updated with a new preface and an epilogue analyzing developments since the early 1980s, this new edition is a must-listen for anyone concerned about the future of our fraught healthcare system.
-
-
Fascinating Survey of Healthcare in Amerixa
- By Rob on 06-24-19
By: Paul Starr
-
Becoming Dr. Seuss
- Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination
- By: Brian Jay Jones
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 18 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive, fascinating, all-reaching biography of Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss is a classic American icon. Whimsical and wonderful, his work has defined our childhoods and the childhoods of our own children. The silly, simple rhymes are a bottomless well of magic, his illustrations timeless favorites because, quite simply, he makes us laugh. The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, Horton, and so many more are his troupe of beloved and uniquely Seussian creations.
-
-
Good enough to read but not listen to.
- By Vetbo on 05-21-19
By: Brian Jay Jones
-
The Day the World Stops Shopping
- How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves
- By: J.B. MacKinnon
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The economy says we must always consume more. The planet says we consume too much. Addressing this paradox head-on, acclaimed journalist J. B. MacKinnon asks, What would really happen if we simply stopped shopping? Is there a way to reduce our consumption to Earth-saving levels without triggering economic collapse? Drawing from experts in fields ranging from climate change to economics, MacKinnon investigates how living with less would change our planet, our society, and ourselves. Along the way, he reveals just how much we stand to gain.
-
-
Thought Provoking
- By Tyler on 06-29-24
By: J.B. MacKinnon
-
Dr. Benjamin Rush
- The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revealing biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush - fiery signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent physician, ardent politician, zealous social reformer, passionate humanitarian, and dedicated educator. Known primarily as America's most influential and leading physician, Rush was also among the first to call for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, free education and health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation facilities, an end to child labor, and universal public education, among other causes.
-
-
A Great Humanitarian
- By Jean on 10-08-19
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
I'll Have What She's Having
- How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy
- By: Erin Carlson
- Narrated by: Pippa Armstrong
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In I'll Have What She's Having, entertainment journalist Erin Carlson tells the story of the real Nora Ephron and how she reinvented the romcom through her trio of instant classics. With a cast of famous faces including Reiner, Hanks, Ryan, and Crystal, Carlson takes listeners on a rollicking, revelatory trip to Ephron's New York City, where reality took a backseat to romance and Ephron - who always knew what she wanted and how she wanted it - ruled the set with an attention to detail that made her actors feel safe but sometimes exasperated crew members.
-
-
Good story, bad reading
- By Maine Colonial 🌲 on 09-04-17
By: Erin Carlson
-
Hollywood: The Oral History
- By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
- Length: 28 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a listener “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen.
-
-
Picky, Picky!
- By Patrick on 12-22-22
By: Jeanine Basinger, and others
-
All In
- An Autobiography
- By: Billie Jean King, Johnette Howard, Maryanne Vollers
- Narrated by: Billie Jean King
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this spirited account, Billie Jean King details her life's journey to find her true self. She recounts her groundbreaking tennis career - six years as the top-ranked woman in the world, 20 Wimbledon championships, 39 grand-slam titles, and her watershed defeat of Bobby Riggs in the famous "Battle of the Sexes". She poignantly recalls the cultural backdrop of those years and the profound impact on her worldview from the women's movement, the assassinations and anti-war protests of the 1960s, the civil rights movement, and, eventually, the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
-
-
Wonderful Book
- By glass1748 on 08-25-21
By: Billie Jean King, and others
What listeners say about When Women Invented Television
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cindy
- 05-18-21
Must Read T.V.
Such a FABULOUS book. Covering MORE than just the early days of television history, this book covers Jim Crow’s South & racism, anti semitism & Judaism , feminism & the equal rights movement, communism & McCarthyism, US History and World history. Told through the careers of four amazing women; Gertrude Berg, Irna Phillips, Hazel Scott and Betty White this book was unbelievably entertaining and informative.
Audio narration was wonderful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Lois A. Rose
- 09-12-21
thanks for finding these lost stories
I loved this. thanks for researching these wonderful women. they should not be lost to history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Richard Fitzpatrick
- 01-24-23
Love old radio shows, love history
I really enjoy the topic, how the writer covered it and I admire the contribution women made. Female Powerhouses indeed and they were just using their talent (immense) doing what they loved.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!