Ralph Swain: The Genesis of Radio Broadcasting Hysterias

For the Halloween season, historian and radio theater performer Ralph Swain will conduct a multimedia presentation on a 1938 fictional radio broadcast of a Martian invasion of the U.S. that thousands of listeners across the country believed was actually occurring. The ensuing panic was a foreshadowing of the impact of the new medium of radio, strange happenings occurring here and abroad, and the ominous signs of global warfare. Pundits continue to this day to dissect and analyze the causes of mass hysteria, misinformation, and disinformation.