Abstract
This study examines radio and television broadcasts made by prehistorian Vere Gordon Childe. Although the focus is on the BBC, Childe’s work with other global broadcasters is also examined. Childe was one of the first archaeologists to engage with broadcasting, working to ensure that reputable, academic views dominated. He was involved in children’s education, the promotion of regional British identities, the education of military personnel, scientific advocacy, and broadcasting internationalism. Childe combined his radical, left-leaning political interests with his expertise in archaeology and the history of science on air. He used radio to promote both control of public archaeological narratives by a new generation of archaeologists and left-wing ideas about science in society. Examination of these broadcasting activities both expands our knowledge of Childe’s work and reveals the role that mass media played in the global communication of archaeological knowledge during the twentieth century.