Radio the Theater of the Mind

Brought to you by Hopkins at Home 

May 28, 2020 - June 18, 2020 (4 weeks)
Thursdays, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT 

Each week will consist of a live lecture with discussion immediately afterwards.

Course Description

Are you frightened by the thought of unseen invaders in your living room? Do you suspect foreign agents or even your own family members of trying to poison you? Is the government lying to you? If you said yes to any of these questions then you may be ready to return to the theater of yesteryear: Radio, The Theater of the Mind. Here drama is performed on the stage of your imagination. Voices become characters and sound effects props. Like bats flying blind, with radio we create set designs in our own minds through such simple means as reverb and echo. A gasp or a held breath can thrill or tickle us as much as the special effects Hollywood now spends millions on. In this course we will investigate how radio classics like the “War of the Worlds” and “The Jack Benny Program” used mere sound and even more meagre silence to spread both panic and laughter. We will consider how the Golden Age of Radio’s favorite genres and much-beloved shows were shaped by society, technology, and politics: the fear of big government, greater equality for women, the aftermath of one shadowed by the threat of another World War, as well as the invention of radio itself and the spread of other technologies designed to bring the world right into your living room.

Hyperlinks below lead to radio shows for each week, if students would like to listen before each class.