My interest in radio was spurred at the age of 13, when I used money from my Detroit Free Press paper route to buy a radio from the local department store; there was an unknown bonus on that Sony radio, the shortwave bands, which opened my eyes to the world, one still sharply divided between East and West.
I spent that summer glued to the radio, listening to the BBC, West Germany's Deustche Welle, the Voice of America, Radio Moscow and many other Soviet bloc stations.
At the time, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, along with the VOA, were a mainstay of western programming for Communist audiences - some called it propaganda - others simply labeled it the truth from the West about the Soviet system.
Many years later, the Cold War is over, and U.S. broadcasting in Eastern Europe on shortwave radio is almost a thing of the past, as the internet made many see such broadcasts as outmoded, with the VOA focusing more on TV-style programming and internet features.
But Russia's recent moves have some in Washington re-thinking that new reality.
"We should be broadcasting in a whole bunch of languages that you maybe haven't heard of," said Paul Goble, a former State Department and CIA analyst.
In a Monday event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, Goble argued that the internet has not prevented Russian authorities from using their press for propaganda purposes in Crimea - and that it is time to ramp up the message of the U.S. into areas that might be threatened by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
"Those are the only kind of broadcasts that make sense," Goble argued.
Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty already broadcast a number of hours of Russian language programming, using shortwave transmitters in Germany, Kuwait, Thailand, Great Britain and the Philippines - but some argue it isn't enough.
Other broadcast languages include Belarussian, Uzbek, Chechen, Turkmen, Tajik, Avar and Circassian; but some RFE/RL programs are on the air for as little as 20 minutes.
Congress recently approved, and President Obama signed into law, a bill that increases money for Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and the Voice of America by $10 million, specifically in Russian, Ukrainian, and Tatar; it also steps up support for Balkan and Moldovan language services.
The plan also would help find ways to get around Russian jamming of Ukrainian radio and television stations.
"The free flow of information forms the foundation of a strong democracy. Russian propaganda kills democratic prospects," said Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who is currently leading a Congressional delegation to Ukraine.
So far, there have been no recent reports of Russia trying to jam U.S. shortwave broadcasts - that ended for the most part back in the late 1980's.
Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has done less on shortwave, and ramped up resources to let people listen via their computers, either live or with on demand podcasts.
But as we have seen in recent weeks, sometimes access to the internet can be easily disrupted - as has happened in Ukraine and Crimea.
In Ukraine, the U.S does have access to local FM stations for short bursts of programming, but critics argue the Americans are acting like a rookie compared to the propaganda/media tactics of the Russians right now.
"The Voice of America shouldn't be a whisper," wrote John Lenczowski, a former Soviet adviser in the Reagan Administration.
The Cold War ended, and U.S. international broadcasting policy changed - just as it did at the BBC and in a number of other countries, as more people probably knew the song "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M. than had actually listened to one of those foreign language broadcasts.
But now there are echoes of the Cold War - and the question is relevant: Can the U.S. and other Western nations win a battle with Russia that is also taking place on the AM, FM and shortwave radio bands?
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