I would love to delve into GNU Radio - but not really sure where to start without a background in communication theory. Should I start by reading a textbook on electronic communication? My background is "EE"CS, with 90% being cs.
I found some good online resources to understand how to do the decoding (e.g. learning the different protocols used). You can dive into more theory (FFT etc.) of course. It was a winter break project. Pretty fun. But be warned SDR generally can be a deep rabbit hole.
One note: gnuradio is a shockingly bloated suite of software, so pick a machine you don't mind getting tons of new packages.
Sounds like a good thing to use docker for.
This was one solution to that problem on macOS at least but hasn't had much love in a few years:
https://github.com/ktemkin/gnuradio-for-mac-without-macports
There are many howtos and YouTube videos you can watch, and start picking up a little here and there. It doesn't have to be a steep learning curve.
The $30 SDR is an amazing source of samples once you get past that point. It's quite amazing how much you can do with the the pair of GNU Radio and the RTLSDR. I built a receiver/display of VOR aircraft navigation signals, for example.