Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow

 

Last night, I finished reading Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow. This nonfiction book is about how a radio drama, based on H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds and performed by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre players, caused some listeners to really believe that America was being attacked by aliens from Mars. When they found out that the invasion wasn't real, they were angry that they were tricked and wrote letters to both Orson Welles and the Federal Communications Commission expressing their outrage. Afterwards, there was a national discussion about whether or not radio should be regulated more heavily because it could be used to spread fake news and propaganda.

I thought this book was utterly fascinating. I saw the War of the Worlds film in 2005 and heard about how people thought the 1938 radio play was real, so I wanted to know more about why the radio play incited so much panic. Based on what I knew about the story, I didn't really understand how people could think it was anything other than science fiction. The book definitely answered my questions, though, and it's very relevant to current issues relating to fake news. It really made me think about how important it is to have critical thinking skills, especially when using social media. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in hoaxes and the spread of fake news.