Fall 2025 OLLI Digital Catalog 

The Martians Are Coming: How Orson Welles Terrorized The Nation (G511)

G – History

On Halloween eve 1938, millions of Americans were stunned and spellbound by a nationwide radio broadcast reporting an alien invasion that seemed to threaten humanity with extinction. We explore how Orson Welles’ dramatization of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds was able to terrorize Americans, touch off a nationwide panic and spur suspicions and recriminations in its aftermath,. We also review Welles’ career and circumstances that led many listeners to believe what they heard.

This offering meets for a total of 5 session(s).

INSTRUCTOR: Peter Harrigan

HARRIGAN, PETER — B.S., finance, Siena College; executive leadership program, University of Maryland. Retired Lockheed Martin Corporation, communications executive. Former reporter, editor with the Staten Island Advance, where assignments included state government correspondent. (D270, D284, G511)

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