Radiolab
War of the Worlds
Show #403
Friday, March 07, 2008
An examination of the power of mass media to create panic. In Radio Lab's very first live hour, we take a deep dive into one of the most controversial moments in broadcasting history - Orson Welles' 1938 radio play about Martians invading New Jersey. And we ask: Why did it fool people then? And why has it continued to fool people since? From Santiago, Chile to Buffalo, New York to a particularly disastrous evening in Quito, Ecuador.
The Annotated Guide
When Orson Welles decided to make a radio play of the H.G. Well’s classic, "War of the Worlds," he had no idea that he would be branded by the FCC as a "radio terrorist." The audience reaction - panic on a mass level never before witnessed – isn’t just a testament to Welles’ talent for gripping drama, it’s also a reflection of that moment in history. We take a close look at the way that the evolving news media collaborated with the events in Europe to prime the pump.
The Mercury Theater of the Air
Read the Original Script
News Coverage of the Incident
Could It Happen Again? (And Again?)
We take an in depth look at a War of the Worlds radio play incident with even more dire consequences. In 1949, when Radio Quito decided to translate the Orson Welles stunt for an Equadorian audience, no one knew that the result would be a riot that burned down the radio station and killed at least 7 people. Reporter Tony Field takes us to Quito to finds out what really happened. But we’d hardly have decided to dedicate an hour to this if it was only a two-time occurence. That’s right: it happens again. This time it’s in the 1960s in Buffalo, NY. Why does this keep happening? We talk to psychology professor Richard Gerrig who tells us that the answer may have to do with our natural response to stories.
Read More about the Quito Panic
Once More? Try Chile
Hear Buffalo's WKBW Version
Do Martians Disco? The Jeff Wayne Version
Richard Gerrig at Stony Brook University
What Were They Thinking?
To get some insight into what would make a person want to fool their audience, we talk to Daniel Myrick. Myrick, with Eduardo Sanchez, made a film called "The Blair Witch Project," which terrified its way to cult success and convinced a few people to never go camping again. We also talk with Jason Loviglio, a media historian, about how the soothing tone of FDR’s fireside chats, mirrored in the wartime reporting of Edward R. Murrow may have been the true target of Orson Welles’ adaptation of War of the Worlds. And in an ironic twist, the news media fully embraces Orson Welles greatest insight into broadcasting. It’s a truth so terrifying you won’t want to miss it: if the audience is scared, they will keep listening.
The Blair Witch Project Movie Website
Watch Miss Piggy in a Blair Witch Parody
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- The Brian Lehrer Show: Meet Johnny Bunko (May 06, 2008)
- The Brian Lehrer Show: Private Apples, Public Teachers (May 05, 2008)
- The Brian Lehrer Show: A Gut Feeling About China (May 08, 2008)
- The Leonard Lopate Show: Bill Clinton in Exile (May 08, 2008)
- The Leonard Lopate Show: A Year with Nicolas Sarkozy (May 05, 2008)