Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier 2: Officer X

Last week, we shared the story of Isaac Woodard, a Black soldier who was brutally beaten by a white police officer in South Carolina. No one knew the name of the police officer. Or even the town where it happened. Not even Woodard himself. By the summer of '46, the case was gaining national attention thanks to Orson Welles, who was investigating the crime, week-by-week, on his radio show. Today, episode 2 of our series Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier, about an incident in a small, southern town that became a spark in the growing civil rights movement. --- Thanks to Richard Gergel for his book Unexampled Courage and Indiana University’s Lilly Library for archival audio. Music from Matthias Bossi and Duke Ellington. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You can listen to Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier 2: Officer X online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier 2: Officer X is an episode from Radio Diaries by Radio Diaries & Radiotopia.

This episode is 13:12 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

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