'Martian Invasion! Decoding the War of the Worlds' Oct 26-27

Victory Gardens Theater Fresh Squeezed
and
WNYC's Radio Lab

Present

"Martian Invasion!
Decoding the War of the Worlds"

On the eve of the War of the Worlds 70th Anniversary

Sunday, October 26th and Monday, October 27th at 7:30pm
Victory Gardens Biograph Theater
2433 N. Lincoln Avenue Chicago
Tickets:  $30
773-871-3000 or victorygardens.org

"Radio Lab is the most innovative show on radio."
-Ira Glass, This American Life

The response to Orson Welles' 1938 national radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, which convinced over one million listeners that Martians were invading a small town in New Jersey, is now legendary: frantic calls to the police, women fainting, and in Seattle (where a purely coincidental blackout took place during the broadcast)
people fleeing town, firearms in hand.

How is it, then, that with the international publicity the broadcast triggered (Hitler had a thing or two to say about it), and its ongoing mystique, subsequent stagings were still able to inspire panic, terror, and mass hysteria over and over again throughout the world?

On the eve of the War of the Worlds 70th Anniversary, RADIO LAB - public radio's award-winning show about wonder, discovery and big ideas - is coming to Chicago to crack the case.

"MARTIAN INVASION! DECODING THE WAR OF THE WORLDS," a special live edition of the cult sensation Radio Lab, will take place at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, on Sunday, October 26 and Monday, October 27 at 7:30 pm. This special event, ideal for getting into the Halloween spirit, is presented as part of Victory Gardens' new Fresh Squeezed series of late night shows, out-of-the-box performances and edgy
social events showcasing fresh talent from Chicago and around the country, targeting younger, culturally adventurous audiences.

RADIO LAB hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich will deconstruct the original broadcast of War of the Worlds and describe what was happening-sociologically and psychologically-at each step. They will also stage a "field report" on the panic induced by the 1949 broadcast of War of the Worlds in Quito, Ecuador - which incited a riot at the radio station in which 15 people were killed. Along the way, Abumrad and Krulwich will hear from eyewitnesses, scientists, and master storytellers to investigate the nature of belief and skepticism, uncovering the neurological differences between those who believed and those who did not.

This innovative blending of old-time radio with Radio Lab's signature cutting-edge audio will be accompanied by the adventurous cellist Zoe Keating.

WHAT:           Radio Lab Live! Martian Invasion: Decoding the War of the
Worlds

WHO:            Radio Lab hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich

WHERE:    Victory Gardens Biograph Theater
               2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

TICKETS:  $30, with a discount for Fresh Squeezed Members.
             Or purchase online at http://www.victorygardens.org/radiolab

GETTING
THERE:    Discounted parking is available one block south of the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater at Children's Memorial Hospital, and Lincoln Park Hospital two blocks south on Webster, at all times (no overnights). By CTA
train, take the Red, Purple and Brown lines to the Fullerton stop. Walk east on Fullerton to Lincoln, then north 1/2 block to the theater.  The #8 Halsted, #11 Lincoln,  #37 Sedgwick/Ogden, and #74 Fullerton CTA buses all stop at the corner of Fullerton and Halsted, 1/2 block south of the theater. See transitchicago.com for times and routes.

ABOUT RADIO LAB

Winner of the 2007 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's Communication Award, Radio Lab explores big ideas and big questions - such as Morality, Deception and Mortality -- through a potent elixir of science, first-person storytelling and innovative radio theatre. Radio Lab is produced by WNYC Radio in New York and is heard on over 150 stations, including WBEZ Chicago Public Radio. Podcasts, a blog, and further
information can be found at www.radiolab.org.

Robert Krulwich

Robert Krulwich has been called "the most inventive network reporter in television" by TV Guide, "the man who makes the dismal science swing" by the Washington Journalism Review, and "the man who simplifies without being simple" by New York Magazine.

In addition to co-hosting WNYC's scientific documentary series Radio Lab, Krulwich is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk, reporting on the intersections of science and technology with culture, politics and religion. He is also a regular correspondent on the PBS investigative series Frontline where he won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for his coverage of campaign finance in the 1992 presidential campaign, a national Emmy Award for his investigation of privacy on the Internet, "High Stakes in Cyberspace"; and a George Polk Award for an hour on the savings and loan scandal. His ABC special on Barbie, a cultural history of the world-famous doll, also won a national Emmy.

Krulwich anchored a cultural affairs series on PBS (and a simultaneous series on the BBC) called The Edge and has worked for CBS, Pacifica (where he covered the Watergate hearings), ABC's Nightline and World News Tonight, Rolling Stone (as Washington bureau chief), PBS's NOVA scienceNOW and NOW with Bill Moyers. He has also hosted Live at Lincoln Center and appeared on Jay Leno's premiere Tonight Show broadcast. Once a year Krulwich hosts a semi-fictional year-in-review called "Backfire," with friends Jane Curtin, Buck Henry and Tony Hendra.

Jad Abumrad

The son of a scientist and a doctor, Jad Abumrad did most of his growing up in Tennessee, before studying creative writing and music composition at Oberlin College in Ohio. Following graduation, Abumrad wrote music for
films, and reported and produced documentaries for a variety of local and national public radio programs, including On the Media, PRI's Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and WNYC's "24 Hours at the Edge of Ground Zero." The Ring & I, an insightful, funny, and lyrical look at the enduring power of Wagner's Ring Cycle which he produced and hosted, aired nationally and internationally and earned ten awards, including the prestigious 2005 National Headliner Grand Award in Radio.

Zoe Keating

Zoe Keating is a classically trained cellist who has explored a wide range of non-classical musical forms, working with modern dance, experimental theater, performance artists and both popular and improvised music. A former
member of the cello-rock trio Rasputina, Zoë has worked with Imogen Heap, Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls, John Vanderslice and DJ Shadow. She appeared on Jay Leno with Scottish singer Paolo Nutini earlier this month.

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