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Broadcast Hysteria

Orson Welle's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News

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Broadcast Hysteria

Written by: A. Brad Schwartz
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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About this listen

In Broadcast Hysteria, A. Brad Schwartz examines the history behind the infamous radio play. Did it really spawn a wave of mass hysteria? Schwartz is the first to examine the hundreds of letters sent directly to Orson Welles after the broadcast. He draws upon them, and hundreds more sent to the FCC, to recapture the roiling emotions of a bygone era, and his findings challenge conventional wisdom. Relatively few listeners believed an actual attack was underway. But even so, Schwartz shows that Welles's broadcast prompted a different kind of "mass panic" as Americans debated the bewitching power of the radio and the country's vulnerabilities in a time of crisis.

Schwartz's original research, gifted storytelling, and thoughtful analysis make Broadcast Hysteria a groundbreaking work of media history.

©2015 A. Brad Schwartz (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Americas Entertainment & Performing Arts United States
All stars
Most relevant
Well done research, good narration. Learnt so much about this event that I previously didn't know of.

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