When I was a kid we had crystal Rocket Radios, so named because they were shaped like a rocket ship. You slid the nose cone in and out to tune it, it had a little ear piece to listen with. I lived in a little town 70 miles or so from the nearest radio station, AM, and used to listen to the World Series on it, plus other things of course. I don't recall if we picked up stations farther away. Not a Bose, but it worked. For those of you that are handy with that kind of thing, here are instructions on how to make one.

As far as EMP goes, I suspect it would have more effect on the transmitters than receivers. If the transmitter is down, you aren't gonna hear anything, no matter what radio you have...