Inspired by dynamic flows of people and ideas through Afghanistan and the rich history of Kabul, the capital city, as an important site of cultural production and intercultural exchange, this paper brings attention to the history of the radio as a medium that connected Afghans to a wider transnational network in the latter half of the 20th century. In so doing, it highlights this form of popular culture as the site in which significant patterns of contemporary movement, regional exchange and connectivity are visible. From the early days of radio broadcasting in the 1920s to its more advanced developments in the 1960s and 1970s, the service drew heavily on the expertise of radio specialists spanning the globe: German, Russian, English, American and Indian technocrats came to Kabul to train the new technical professional workforce. This paper narrates a history of these committed Afghan and international experts alongside dissenting political movements through the decades of the 1960s and 1970s that witnessed two coups and the transformation of the nation from a constitutional monarchy, to a democracy and finally, a communist republic. Following the radio’s traces in music, literature and film, the paper illustrates how the technology’s sonic power created and transformed the Afghan soundscape. In the effort to illuminate one chapter in Afghanistan’s modern history, this contribution also raises questions concerning the historical study of sound, music, and communication technologies in Middle Eastern studies. Sources for this paper are drawn from sound recordings, newspapers, memoirs, historical photographs and a collection of oral histories.