By 1931 CBS radio and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were regularly transmitting programs across the Atlantic to one another. By far the most controversial of these transmissions was the broadcast of author and all-purpose curmudgeon George Bernard Shaw from London to New York on 11 October. Shaw had just returned from the Soviet Union. In this period Russia was perceived by its admirers as buzzing with activity and purpose while the West sank deeper into Depression. Many writers and intellectuals were impressed with Russia and critical of western economies, including Shaw. His broadcast to America began:

Hello America! Hello, all my friends in America! How are you dear old boobs who have been telling one another for a month that I have gone dotty about Russia?. . . Russia has the laugh on us. She has us fooled, beaten, shamed, shown up, outpointed, and all...