Mysteryshows.com

[Brad]

Hi friends,

Our good friend Edwin just told me that this Halloween is the 70th anniversary of Orson Wells "War of the Worlds". Here is his review on the show:

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Quote:

A month from today is the 70th anniversary of what is doubtless one of the most (in)famous broadcasts in the history of radio--the Orson Welles Mercury Theater War of the Worlds broadcast (1938-10-30-WarOfTheWorlds.mp3). I think it only fitting that it should be the podcast for the week of October 30, so here's my review:

This week marks the 70th anniversary of perhaps the most (in)famous broadcast in the history of radio. As a Halloween treat on October 30, 1938, The Mercury Theater on the Air did an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel War of the Worlds. Because of its format, many listeners who tuned in late believed the play about an invasion from Mars to be live news coverage of the actual event! Public panic ensued, CBS was briefly scandalized, and producer/director/star Orson Welles went on to a brilliant Hollywood career. Only in America…

End Quote.
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I've just added the show to the home page so everyone can enjoy it. It'll be up the entire month of Oct. Also the show will be our podcast for the last two weeks of the month. Should be popular around Halloween. I'm sure folks will be looking for it. It really is a great classic of Old Time Radio.

I'm also adding a directory of Halloween type shows on the home page for this month. Some good ghost stories and such. This was done last year too so I think I'll do it every year.

Brad
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[human]

I told Brad earlier in an e-mail that I'm teaching a class this semester called "Technology and Society," which looks at the ways in which society is affected, both positively and negatively, by technological change. One of my favorite units in the course is on mass media. It begins with printing and publishing, then works its way through radio and TV to the Internet.

We'll be getting to that part of the course in a couple of weeks and I've decided to have my students to listen to War of the Worlds as a homework assignment. Guess where I'm sending them to download the show?

Depending on how time goes, we may listen to something shorter in class as well. Any suggestions?

I'm also hoping at least a few of them will stick around and explore some of the other offerings on the site.

[Brad]