Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 22, 2008 at 15:42:12:
In Reply to: Celebrating 'War of the Worlds' in Joliet posted by chicagomedia.org on October 21, 2008 at 12:01:15:
Decoding 'Radio Lab'
Mars attacks again - 70 years later.
The hosts of the New York-based radio show "Radio Lab" will do a live show deconstructing Orson Welles' famed "The War of the Worlds" broadcast, which aired in 1938. The show, called "Martian Invasion," plays Sunday and Monday at Victory Gardens Theater.
Called "the most innovative show" on radio by "This American Life's" Ira Glass, "Radio Lab" is an experimental documentary/anthology show heard locally on WBEZ.
Below, we take a few moments to deconstruct "Radio Lab" itself.
Hosts: Jad Abumrad, 35, and Robert Krulwich, 61, both alums of New York's WBAI radio, National Public Radio and Oberlin College
Background: They discovered their mutual backgrounds after a chance meeting in 2001. At the time, Krulwich told his young counterpart, "It's like you're living my life 25 years after I lived my life."
So, they started having breakfast together.
First 'War': Krulwich later heard a short radio piece Abumrad produced about "War of the Worlds." He realized that Abumrad "wasn't a beginner or even an intermediate. He was doing a kind of radio jazz that I had never heard before. And I wanted to do it too."
Beginning: In early 2002, Abumrad had started developing "Radio Lab" on WNYC. By 2003, Krulwich was appearing as a regular guest, then as a co-host.
Second 'War': The two expanded the original "War of the Worlds" program that brought them together. "It turns out there was a subsequent broadcast of 'War of the Worlds,' from the same script, in Quito, Ecuador. It caused a lesser-known, but far bigger panic involving the army ... the entire town, multiple deaths," Krulwich said.
Abumrad said, "Why did people believe it? Today, I feel like I'm in front of the television asking, 'Is that really true?' That feels like a question that's with us very profoundly right now."
History lessons: "I think, frankly, that Orson Welles was a good showman and he was just having a good scare," Krulwich said. "But 20 years later, he was talking as if it was a political theory experiment and he wanted people to beware of the Big Lie told by a Hitler or a Mussolini ... so he wanted people to [be suspicious of] the powerful voice on the radio."
On performing live: "It's either absolutely wonderful or absolutely harrowing," Krulwich says. "It's not an in-between experience. ... To have an audience breathe at you, it's very dangerous."
Season 4 of "Radio Lab" aired on 150 stations nationwide with 920,800 terrestrial listeners and about 350,000 monthly downloads.
Season 5 debuts Nov. 16 and will air at 6 p.m. on five consecutive Sundays.
(Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune)