Radio is the theater of the mind, where drama is performed on the stage of your imagination. Voices become characters and sound effects props. Like bats flying blind, with radio, we create set designs in our own minds through such simple means as reverb and echo. A gasp or a held breath can thrill or tickle us as much as the special effects Hollywood now spends millions on. In Session 4, Associate Professor Daniel H. Foster, who chairs the Liberal Arts Department at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, reviews Jack Benny in terms of stereotypes and recurring characters, how silence leaves room for laughter, and when the lavender gentleman goes “swish” in "The Jack Benny Program."

Listen to "The Jack Benny Program": https://soundcloud.com/dhfoster67/the-jack-benny-show-your-money-or-your-life