On Demand
Are People Fooled...Over and Over Again?
Listeners panicked. Many fled their homes. Women miscarried. Why did some people
respond so strongly?
In this segment, we hear re-enactments of listener accounts from 1938, performed
by on-air and behind-the-scenes WNYC staff, descriptions of subsequent Martian
panics in Chile (1944), Ecuador (1949, and northern New York (1968). Plus: War
of the Worlds set to disco, and an interview with professional storyteller Doug
Lipman about the power of a well-told narrative.
» Listen
to the WBKW Version
» Can't
get enough of Jeff Wayne's 1978 rock opera version
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