This history of Argentina"s pioneering efforts in broadcasting shows how the country set the pace for almost all radio innovations in the region. The country"s influence in radio was so great that by 1940 Argentina had the second largest commercial radio network in the world. From the broadcast of Richard Wagner"s opera Parsifal in 1920 to 1944, when Juan Peron"s popularity was on the rise, radio in Argentina created a sense of national pride: radio theater produced a common past, sportscasting built new allegiances, and broadcasts popularized Argentine music. And while it did present listeners with the possibility of social change, the highly successful medium also helped fortify power within the central government. "From Parsifal to Peron" is a case study of the ways in which a society can receive new technology. Skilled amateur operators and risk-taking entrepreneurs created the early industry, improving receiver and transmitter technology and financing radio...