This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

This show would not be possible without our advertisers.

Seriously, don't worry. I'm not about to read some ads right now.

I just want you to consider the way we use advertising.

A lot of podcasters and radio hosts, myself, included readout messages from our sponsors,

rather than play pre-recorded commercials. Rush Limbaugh does it.

Bowl and branch, they have re-invited sheets and bedding with the sole purpose of making your nighttime rest more comfortable than ever.

Howard Stern does it.

It's snorestop extinguisher. Yes, the fast-acting snore spray.

And these ads, in some ways, actually harken back to where audio advertising began.

But the journey of how we got to now is fascinating.

The organist, a podcast from KSW and McSweeney's,

recently featured a two-part documentary about the surprising, strange history of radio advertising,

as heard to the years of Clive Desmond, a radio producer and podcast host,

who has worked extensively in the ad industry.

His account of the evolution of ad spots, jingles, and voiceovers all add up into a story of his own journey.

And it starts when he was a boy.

I grew up in a little bungalow-style house in Buffalo, New York.

There was a beautiful radio in the kitchen.

It was always on.

In 1959, when I was two and a half, I began listening.

My favorite station was WKBW.

...