A telephone between us: Enabling/disabling talk on P4 i P1’s phone-in Tværs

This article presents a study of the Danish phone-in radio programme Tværs over the 1973–1996 period, during which Tværs was a part of the popular youth programme P4 i P1. It explores the character of talk on Tværs with a focus on the way talk was enabled or disabled. The study is based on a large sample comprising 167.5 hours of audio material from P4 i P1. A curated selection of empirical material from the sample, in which distinctive enablers and disablers for talk on Tværs were displayed, was chosen through systematic coding. In a qualitative analysis of this range of examples from Tværs’ mediated telephone conversations, the study identifies four main enablers/disablers for talk on Tværs (the host, the telephone, time and distance) and explores the conditions for listener access to the phone-in as shaped by these factors. Additionally, the article critically questions these conditions in relation to Tværs’ own self-understanding as presented by its hosts Tine Bryld and Emil Klausbøl.