Talk to the People
The famous Sunday afternoon talks by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, “the people’s mayor.”
Mayor La Guardia’s talks have become one of WNYC's iconic broadcastings. In these original radio chats (1942-1945) from his desk at City Hall, he discussed daily food prices, condemned gambling, and admonished wayward schoolboys, politicians, and gangsters alike. Mayor La Guardia also used this address to rally New Yorkers to the war effort and press forward on his agenda, taking breaks to digress on music, the news, and whatever crossed his path during the preceding week. The program won the 1944 Peabody Award for Outstanding Public Service by a Local Station.
These recordings, made during World War II, include the two iconic readings of the comics (only two of three were ever recorded) during the newspaper deliverymen’s strike of July 1945.
WNYC Archives
Established in the year 2000, the New York Public Radio Archives are the station's physical link to its rich and storied past.
WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations