Book Review: 'European Radio Documentary: A History of the Format and its Festivals'

This is an invited essay and review of the book 'European Radio Documentary: A History of the Format and its Festivals' by Tereza Reková, Trans. Eva Kuchtová (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). This essay responds in positive and negative ways to this first monograph of Reková which is largely focused on documenting and interacting with a number of the key radio/audio festivals which have been significant to the development and culture of European radio and audio documentary and its 'feature' making traditions, especially since 1975 with the inauguration of the first International Features Conference (IFC) in Berlin. In responding to the book and its subject, audio documentary festivals and the culture they enabled and cultivated over 50 years of development, this review-essay praises much of the new research presented by Reková especially in her encounter with the more recent 21st century period and offering of valuable insights drawing on informants and lesser known national traditions and initiatives in this field of media (especially the Czech) . The book is recommended but with some expression of disappointment as the reviewer finds cause for concern as she is compelled to identify and challenge some of the core arguments put forward by Reková. Drawing on the wider literature and her own developed research and expertise in this field, Madsen questions the notable gaps and omissions in this account of a form, rather than a 'format'. Ultimately, the book's proposition as 'a history' is considerably weakened by these unexplained silences and missing perspectives.