Letter from America – Nostalgia Central

1 9 4 6 – 2 0 0 4 (UK)
2,869 x 15 minute broadcasts

This weekly 15-minute BBC radio broadcast by Alistair Cooke first aired on 24 March 1946. It was first heard on the BBC Home Service and eventually on BBC Radio 4, broadcasting until 20 February 2004 – the longest-running speech radio programme in the world hosted by a single individual.

A British native but a long-term American resident, Cooke would speak to a topical issue in the US, tying together different strands of observation and anecdote and often ending on a humorous or poignant note. His dual nationality enabled him to portray the USA from both internal and external perspectives.

The series attracted an enormous audience, being broadcast not only in Britain and many other Commonwealth countries, but also throughout the world via the BBC World Service.

Following advice from his doctors, Cooke (aged 95) announced his retirement from Letter from America on 2 March 2004. He died less than a month later, on 30 March 2004, at his home in New York City.