Do batteries wear out faster if you turn up the juice of a radio?
If you mean turn up the volume the answer would have to be yes. Since higher volumes mean the speakers must move more air, requiring more power. I have a high power car stereo and at high volumes it can draw enough power to cause the lights to dim. But I don’t know if it makes a measurable difference on a portable radio.
Yes it would. Get a boombox and let it run on tape/cd until the batteries start to go out. Especially on tape. When you crank up the volume, the tape will slow down and eventually stop, but you’ll have a little juice left for the radio.
Non-rechargeable batteries give their longest life when they are used in relatively low current bursts and then allowed to recover for say 24 hours.
On my battery radio alarm I can get over three months use out of them at maybe half an hour a day.