Aug 19, 2010

Could It Happen Again? (And Again?)

We take an in depth look at a War of the Worlds radio play incident with even more dire consequences. In 1949, when Radio Quito decided to translate the Orson Welles stunt for an Equadorian audience, no one knew that the result would be a riot that burned down the radio station and killed at least 7 people. Reporter Tony Field takes us to Quito to finds out what really happened. But we’d hardly have decided to dedicate an hour to this if it was only a two-time occurence. That’s right: it happens again. This time it’s in the 1960s in Buffalo, NY. Why does this keep happening? We talk to psychology professor Richard Gerrig who tells us that the answer may have to do with our natural response to stories.

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