The Ruler & The Regent | The Audio Monarchy | The history of radio predicts the future of podcasting and audio advertising.

The Ruler & The Regent | The Audio Monarchy | The history of radio predicts the future of podcasting and audio advertising.

From Ad Infinitum by Stew Redwine

January 28, 2026 · 1h 7m · Season 3 · Episode 19

About this episode

The episode explores the history of audio advertising and its evolution, framing it as a monarchy with insights from various experts.

In the Season 3 Finale of Ad Infinitum, host Stew Redwine hands the mic to producer Jeanna Isham for a special editorial episode - no ad roundup, no scoring, no guest interview - just a wide-angle story about the history of audio advertising and why sound has always been the hidden power in advertising, regardless of how it shows up. Jeanna frames audio history as a monarchy: King Radio establishes the original six “sonic laws” that still govern the medium today - Attention, Trust, Memory, Proximity, Monetization, and the Covenant (the promise not to abuse a listener’s time). Through a “Royal Council” of historians, strategists, and creators - including Kraig Kitchin, Cynthia Meyers, Tom Webster, Paul Riismandel, Arielle Nissenblatt, Shaun Michael Colón, and Dallas Taylor - the episode traces how radio evolved from scarce, centralized broadcast into today’s fragmented, platform-shaped attention economy. Along the way, the story tracks the transfer of power: from advertisers who once owned the show, to broadcasters who later owned the minutes, to the reality that now rules everything audio and audio advertising - the audience owns the time. Podcasting rises as the rebellious…

People in this episode

Host: Stew Redwine

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Books & works: Ad Infinitum, The Ruler & The Regent, The Audio Monarchy

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