The Bloomsbury Handbook of Radio presents exciting new research on radio and audio, including broadcasting and podcasting. Since the birth of radio studies as a distinct subject in the 1990s, it has matured into a second wave of inquiry and scholarship. As broadcast radio has partly given way to podcasting and as community initiatives have pioneered more diverse and innovative approaches so scholars have embarked on new areas of inquiry.

Divided into seven sections, the Handbook covers:
- Communities
- Entertainment
- Democracy
- Emotions
- Listening
- Studying Radio
- Futures

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Radio is designed to offer academics, researchers and practitioners an international, comprehensive collection of original essays written by a combination of well-established experts, new scholars and industry practitioners. Each section begins with an introduction by Hugh Chignell and Kathryn McDonald, putting into context each contribution, mapping the discipline and capturing new directions of radio research, while providing an invaluable resource for radio studies.

Kathryn McDonald is a Principal Academic at the Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, UK. Her research, practice and teaching are focused on broadcast talk, community engagement and audio production. McDonald has worked as a radio producer, led the BA Radio Production degree, and now teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Hugh Chignell is Emeritus Professor of Media History at the Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, UK. He taught on the MA Radio Production and BA Radio and was director of the Centre for Media History. Chignell has published widely on radio including Key Concepts in Radio Studies (2009), Public Issue Radio (2011) and British Radio Drama 1945-63 (Bloomsbury 2019).