The Illusion of Independent Radio — a Russian samizdat radio program, created in 1989 at Rostov-on-Don and distributed on tape reels and cassettes. It was the world's first (Soviet-Russian) prototype of podcasting, the media phenomenon that emerged in the 2000s.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Conceptually, The Illusion of Independent Radio was the forerunner of Russian podcasting, since the Internet did not exist, and attempts to go on the radio air were not considered in principle – due to the ferocity of South Russian media censorship.[1][2][3][5] Independent radio appeared in Rostov-on-Don only in 1992 (Radio Provincia).[9]
The first mention of The Illusion of Independent Radio appeared in the third issue of Hurray Boom-Boom! (1989).[10]
Programs were recorded in a home studio and reproduced on reel-to-reel tape. Issues of were distributed by subscription nationwide. As the creators of the project joked, it "went 'on the air' on a range of 49 meters to 5 liters multiplied by a dozen hecto-pascals".[11]
The author of the logo of the project was artist Fima Musailov (Efimius Musaymelidi).[14]
Journalist Katerina Gordeeva wrote in 1995: "Hooray Boom Boom has another interesting quality: each issue has a sound supplement. Over the ten years of its existence, Hooray Boom Boom amassed a collection of rare recordings, including albums of 35 Ukrainian bands. Some English friends sent records by London bands.[15]
1 2 Dorofeeva A. A. Podcasting: new radio on the Internet // Journalism of the XXI century: in the coordinates of historical time. — 2018. — No. 1. — p. 194.
1 2 3 Kozinaki M., Ptitseva O., et al. In Voice! A non-boring guide to creating a podcast. — M.: Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2020. — P. 32. — ISBN 978-5-00169-0.
