191: Halloween Special V: “The War of the Worlds” on the Radio

“No more defenses. Our army is wiped out—artillery, air force, everything wiped out.” This is the story of the invasion of New Jersey. “The War of the Worlds” is a 1938 radio adaptation of an 1897 science fiction novel by H.G. Wells that details an alien invasion of Earth, a seminal work that popularized the term “Martian” and the theme of “first contact” in sci-fi. 23-year-old Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre team were tasked with zhuzhing up the classic novel for their series of one-hour CBS radio plays, but unfortunately, the contemporary American setting, the shockingly realistic news bulletins, and the harrowing eyewitness accounts all added up to produce a panic among out-of-the-loop listeners. Invasion, fictional or otherwise, was at the fore of many minds as Germany broke treaties and demanded more land—the Allies ceded the Sudetenland just one month prior to the broadcast. The stories of a mass hysteria that gripped the nation have been exaggerated, but have no fear: we’ll take you through the radio play and the aftermath so you can decide whether or not you believe it. ____ Connect with us on ⁠HTDSpodcast.com⁠ and go deep into ⁠episode bibliographies⁠ and ⁠book recommendations⁠ join discussions in our ⁠Facebook community⁠ get news and discounts from ⁠The HTDS Gazette⁠ come ⁠see a live show⁠ get ⁠HTDS merch⁠ or become an ⁠HTDS premium⁠ member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

You can listen to 191: Halloween Special V: “The War of the Worlds” on the Radio online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

191: Halloween Special V: “The War of the Worlds” on the Radio is an episode from History That Doesn't Suck by ProfGregJackson.

This episode is 41:50 long.

This episode was published on Oct 20, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from History That Doesn't Suck when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.