The Silent Empress on Radio 4

„Blast from the Megaphone“

BBC Radio 4

Megaphones are by now synonymous with protest. But as Paul Farley discovers, their history and uses run much deeper – the megaphone has been making itself heard for centuries. Are these simple instruments chiefly instruments of power or resistance, and do they succeed in raising the voices of the oppressed or finally just add to the impenetrable cacophony of modern life?