On Halloween 1938 young radio star Orson Welles scared the pants off of America with a fictional news bulletin claiming Martians had landed and were destroying the country. People across the nation ran wild with panic in the streets – or did they? Listen to this classic episode to find out.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know - War of the Worlds Episode Summary
Josh and Chuck dive deep into the legendary 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds," exploring how Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater adapted H.G. Wells' classic novel into a realistic-sounding fake news program that had audiences questioning what was real. They trace the production from its humble beginnings as a Halloween special to broadcast night, breaking down the clever production techniques that made it so believable, and then examining what actually happened in the days after—separating the myth of nationwide panic from the real, more nuanced reactions people had to the broadcast.
Animal Farm
1954
1h 13m
★ 7.0
"it was intended to cause people to take kind of a hard look at Animal Farm to make sort of a social statement — Referenced as thematic parallel to War of the Worlds' commentary on human treatment of animals."
— Chuck
"I've been watching that German sci fi series Dark, which is very challenging to follow. — Referenced as an example of modern TV requiring rewinding to understand complex plots."
— Chuck
Laverne & Shirley
1976
★ 7.1
"I recognize Lenny from Laverne and Shirley anywhere — Josh uses the TV show as a reference to explain how people in 1938 would have recognized actors and known something was fake."
— Josh
Little Orphan Annie
1932
1h 10m
★ 6.4
"Maybe you can listen to Little Orphan Annie on the radio, but that's about it — Referenced as example of entertainment radio content versus news programming."
The Blair Witch Project
1999
1h 21m
★ 6.4
"I know Christopher Guest. This is sort of a scary version. I've seen Blair Witch. — Josh references the found-footage style of Blair Witch Project to explain what modern audiences would recognize as a faux documentary."
— Josh
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The Chase and Sanborn Hour
"there's one that's running opposite, which is a really, really popular radio show at the time, probably the most popular chase in Sandborn hour — Named as the competing radio program playing opposite War of the Worlds broadcast."
— Josh
The Paper Chase
1973
1h 53m
★ 6.7
"the great John Houseman, who you all know from the paper chase — Josh mentions John Houseman's role in The Paper Chase film as a reference point for who he is."
— Josh
Treasure Island
1990
2h 11m
★ 6.6
"CBS had them do our long radio adaptations of classic like novels like Treasure Island. — Referenced as an example of classic literary adaptations the Mercury Theater performed."
— Josh
Treasure Island
1950
1h 36m
★ 6.6
"they did radio adaptations of classic like novels like Treasure Island — Josh mentions Treasure Island as one of the classic novels the Mercury Theater adapted for radio."
— Josh
War of the Worlds
2025
1h 31m
★ 4.2
"Mercury Theatre on the Air began broadcasting its adaptation of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. — The main subject of the entire episode - the famous 1938 radio broadcast adaptation."
— Josh
What We Do in the Shadows
2019
TV-MA
★ 8.0
"Orson Welles he was already a big name in radio as the voice of the Shadow, which was a big hit. — Mentioned as an example of Orson Welles' previous radio work before War of the Worlds."
— Josh
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