For more than a century, the Outer Banks has been acclaimed as the birthplace of flight — but what if it was also the birthplace of the wireless world we live in today?
In his new book, “The Inventor Reginald Fessenden and the Origins of American Radio on North Carolina’s Outer Banks,” historian and author Kevin Duffus draws on years of archival research to reexamine the life and work of radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden. Fessenden’s experiments on the North Carolina coast helped lay the groundwork for modern broadcasting and wireless communication.
Duffus challenges long-standing assumptions about where those experiments took place, questions decades of accepted history and argues that Fessenden’s innovations were on par with, and just as transformative as, the Wright brothers’ achievements in flight.
He also brings readers in on the race to evolve wireless technology, the myths that shaped Fessenden’s legacy and why the Outer Banks may deserve the credit and recognition as the birthplace of modern communication.
On this episode, we revisit the origins of American radio with Kevin Duffus and explore how a stretch of the North Carolina coast helped give voice to the world.
GUESTS:
Kevin P. Duffus, documentary filmmaker, research historian, and author of “The Inventor Reginald Fessenden and the Origins of American Radio on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.”
Local Event:
Join award-winning research historian Kevin Duffus in Charlotte on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 7pm, at Independent Picture House, when he distills fact from fiction in his multi-media program titled “The Origins of American Radio on North Carolina’s Outer Banks”. Learn why North Carolina will soon rightfully take its place to not only be First In Flight, but First in Broadcast. Get your tickets here and at IndependentPictureHouse.org
