Radio: Red Ears

How many radio sets are there in Russia? For years this question has fascinated politicians, pundits and propagandists. Last week, for whatever it may be worth, a Soviet broadcast supplied the missing statistics: “more than 5,500,000.”

With the U.S.S.R.’s estimated 197 million population, this means one radio set for every 36 Russians. The U.S., with 60 million radios, has one set for every 2.3 of its 140 million population.