War of the Worlds 80th Anniversary Events

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PRINCETON PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS

WAR OF THE WORLDS Documentary: War of the Worlds Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m. This PBS American Experience documentary explores how Welles’s ingenious use of radio struck fear into an already anxious nation. 51 minutes. Community Room Raconteur Radio performs The War of the Worlds Wednesday, Oct. 10, 7 p.m. This troupe presents a staged radio play of “The War of the Worlds,” loosely adapted from the H.G. Wells classic. The 55-minute production features theatrical lighting, period costumes, Golden Age radio equipment, sound effects and vintage commercials. Community Room Author Talk: A. Brad Schwartz

Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” and the Art of Fake News

Thursday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m.

The Princeton University doctoral candidate discusses his acclaimed re-examination of the broadcast and its aftermath. Schwartz shows how the post-broadcast media coverage, the “fake news” of the day,” combined with dubious research (some of it conducted at Princeton), created enduring inaccuracies about reaction to the broadcast. As part of his research, Schwartz reviewed the surviving listener letters, including nearly 1,400 letters written by listeners to Orson Welles. Once thought lost to

A SERIES OF EVENTS MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE HISTORIC BROADCAST

history, these letters, now part of the University of Michigan’s Richard Wilson-Orson Welles Papers, are featured for the first time in Schwartz’s book. Community Room Open Archive: War of the Worlds Fan (and Hate) Mail Tuesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. Specialists from the University of Michigan will present firsthand archival material related to the “War of the Worlds” broadcast. This event will feature access to original letters sent from Princeton and across New Jersey in response to the broadcast, as well as digital access to additional letters sent from across the country. Historians from the University of Michigan will be on hand to speak about the material and answer questions. Newsroom and Discovery Center Co-sponsored by the library and the University of Michigan Special Collections Library.

Concert: War of the Worlds.80 Sunday, Oct 28, 3 p.m. The original radio script will be adapted into a series of vignettes, between which musicians from the Einstein Alley Musicians Collaborative will perform a piece which reflects the mood of the story. Community Room All programs presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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