The word “draadloos” is a very old Afrikaans word that was used for “radio”, and it literally means “wireless”.
Last Thursday, one of my closest friends reached a wonderful feat. She has for many years played in radio dramas but for the first time she has written one; a feel-good romantic drama in Afrikaans. It was absolutely delightful. She also produced the drama and played the leading role. I have always been her biggest supporter, especially of her career in the entertainment industry, and it was such a treat to share this moment with her. (You can listen to it here: Soete drome)
It got me thinking about this medium of communication – the radio. It seems radio dramas are making a bit of a comeback. Now I am not sure whether this is strictly a South African phenomenon due to load shedding: in the very least, you can buy a cheap radio with a battery to get you through the hours of no electricity (do you remember those boom boxes being carried around, blasting music? Oh, the 90s… how I miss it). Who would have thought we would be in the situation again, needing radios working with batteries, i.e., reverse technology? Only in South Africa!
I have always loved radio dramas, either the standalones, or the series of around 15 minutes every day, which means it could run for years at times. In fact, some of my most cherished childhood memories are racing back home after school on our bicycles, to be in time to listen to the radio drama series (“radio vervolgverhaal”) called Wolwedans in die Skemer. In case you forget, it was not considered cool at all to be racing on your bicycle; certainly not in high school. Not that I ever cared about being or looking cool – on the contrary. It was always a race between me and my sister who could get the four kilometers to school done the quickest, regardless of what your hair looked like when you arrived. In fact, the most important thing on my bicycle was my brain, and my case (“tas”) with my precious, precious books. Same thing in the afternoon: race back, quickly prepare your slice of brown bread with “peanut botter en stroop”, just in time for the theme song of the radio drama. Good times.
Perhaps this is also the reason why I so enjoy and prefer podcasts over videos, especially since one can multitask while listening. Then again, sometimes it is just nice to lie on your couch, or outside in the sun, to close your eyes, and relax while being transported away to a different world, since so much of our lives involve looking at screens: the television, computers and our damned phones. Another favourite pastime is going for a walk while listening to a story or learning from a podcast conversation between thoughtful commentators.
With radio dramas now available online or as podcasts, it is wonderful to discover them again, (particularly the Afrikaans ones). While listening to a story on the radio, you can create your own world, and use your own imagination to experience it. I have listened to ghost stories that are produced and acted so well, you don’t want to listen to them alone at night! Also, when I think of radio dramas, I imagine families sitting around the table, listening to the “draadloos”. Now isn’t that a much better picture than families eating in front of the TV, or even worse, being on their phones while at the dinner table? There is an old saying, something about having two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak, attributed to Epictetus, the slave who became a stoic philosopher. Good advice indeed. Worst case, you get to listen to great stories or conversations.
As I listen to an increasing number of experts debating whether World War III has not perhaps already started, I can’t help but think of anecdotes or scenes from movies where people are glued to their radios for news and other developments during the war. If you think that the next war might involve sabotaging internet lines, or satellites… I don’t know. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to dust off that old boom box in the garage, get your hands on some batteries, and figure out how AM radio works again.
Anyway, simply thinking out loud. Thank you for being here, and if find my Substack interesting or inspirational, please click on the 🤍 button, and subscribe for free if you want to receive a notification of the next “Thinking Out Loud”.
Good ole times!