Seldes was born in a farm in Alliance, N.J., without electricity or running water. During his college years he became the editor of the Harvard Monthly. Always a champion of the lively (or popular) arts, in 1924 he published an influential collection of essays, The Seven Lively Arts. In 1937 he became CBS's first Director of Programming. He later hosted a famously eclectic show on WNYC called The Lively Arts.