Radiolab

The Annotated Guide

On Halloween Night, 1938, 12 million Americans sitting around "the wireless" froze. The regular Sunday night music programming had been interrupted by a news bulletin: strange alien spacecrafts had landed in Grover's Mill, New Jersey. A trip back in time to 1938, into the ears and mind of a frightened radio audience...

» Read the original script
» Review the news coverage of the 1938 broadcast

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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
»  Read Don Moore's article about the 1949 Radio Quinto version
» Can't get enough of Jeff Wayne's 1978 rock opera version

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It's the End of the World as We Know it

David Anzuelo	Mark Hammer	David Harnett

The Labyrinth Theater Company performs an updated version of the final scene, where a confused Professor Pierson wanders through a post-apocalyptic dream world in search of answers. Directed by David Anzuelo, with Mark Hammer as "The Professor" and David Harnett as "The Stranger". Sound design by Jocelyn Gonzales.

» Visit the Labyrith Theater Company

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Credits

This program was produced by Neda Pourang & Ellen Horne, with sincere thanks to Don Moore, Andy Lanset, the WNYC readers (Robin Bilinkoff, Alissa Desmarais, Rex Doane, Brenna Farrel, Joanna Fee, Tony Field, Susan Gerardi, Brooke Gladstone, Richard Hake, Margaret Juntwait, Allison Lichter, Ilya Maritz, Brendan McDonald, Arun Rath, Cheryl Rodgers, Jennie Schneier).

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