Radio's America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture
Bruce Lenthall
Abstract
Orson Welles' greatest breakthrough into the popular consciousness occurred in 1938, three years before Citizen Kane, when his War of the Worlds radio broadcast succeeded so spectacularly that terrified listeners believed they were hearing a genuine report of an alien invasion—a landmark in the history of radio's powerful relationship with its audience. This book documents the enormous impact radio had on the lives of Depression-era Americans and charts the formative years of our modern mass culture. Many Americans became alienated from their government and economy in the twentieth century, an ... More
Orson Welles' greatest breakthrough into the popular consciousness occurred in 1938, three years before Citizen Kane, when his War of the Worlds radio broadcast succeeded so spectacularly that terrified listeners believed they were hearing a genuine report of an alien invasion—a landmark in the history of radio's powerful relationship with its audience. This book documents the enormous impact radio had on the lives of Depression-era Americans and charts the formative years of our modern mass culture. Many Americans became alienated from their government and economy in the twentieth century, and the book explains that radio's appeal came from its capability to personalize an increasingly impersonal public arena. Depictions of such figures as proto-Fascist Charles Coughlin and medical quack John Brinkley offer insight into radio's use as a persuasive tool, and the book is unique in its exploration of how ordinary Americans made radio a part of their lives. Television inherited radio's cultural role, and as the voting tallies for American Idol attest, broadcasting continues to occupy a powerfully intimate place in American life. The book reveals how the connections between power and mass media began.
Keywords:
Orson Welles,
Citizen Kane,
radio,
alien invasion,
Depression-era Americans,
mass culture,
government,
economy,
Charles Coughlin,
John Brinkley
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2007 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226471914 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: March 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226471938.001.0001 |
