Strange Country Ep. 191: War of the Worlds
May 20, 2021
On Oct. 30, 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio play version of HG Wells War of the Worlds. People didn't realize it wasn't a news broadcast, and mass panic ensued...or at least that's what the newspapers led people to believe. But it was really more panic-lite or fat-free panic where it doesn't taste nearly as satisfying. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss the infamous broadcast and the overreaction of the media, which luckily never happens anymore. . . oh wait.
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources:
Abumrad, Jad, and Robert Krulwich. “War of the Worlds: Radiolab.” WNYC Studios, 30 Oct. 2018, www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/war-worlds.
Klein, Christopher. “Inside ‘The War of the Worlds’ Radio Broadcast.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 Oct. 2013, www.history.com/news/inside-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast.
Memmott, Mark. “75 Years Ago, 'War Of The Worlds' Started A Panic. Or Did It?” NPR, NPR, 30 Oct. 2013, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/10/30/241797346/75-years-ago-war-of-the-worlds-started-a-panic-or-did-it.
Pooley, Jefferson, and Michael J. Socolow. “Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Did Not Touch Off a Nationwide Hysteria. Few Americans Listened. Even Fewer Panicked.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 29 Oct. 2013, slate.com/culture/2013/10/orson-welles-war-of-the-worlds-panic-myth-the-infamous-radio-broadcast-did-not-cause-a-nationwide-hysteria.html.
Schwartz, A. Brad. Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welless War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News. Hill and Wang, A Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.
Schwartz, A. Brad. “The Infamous ‘War of the Worlds’ Radio Broadcast Was a Magnificent Fluke.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 6 May 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/.