Mon, Apr 27
|801 E St NW
Profs & Pints DC: Fake News and War of the Worlds
a look at an infamous Orson Welles broadcast as an early lesson on mass media’s dangers, with Daniel H. Foster, associate professor and chair of liberal arts at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute.
Time & Location
Apr 27, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
801 E St NW, 801 E St NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA
About the event
Profs and Pints DC presents: “Fake News and War of the Worlds,” a look at an infamous Orson Welles broadcast as an early lesson on mass media’s dangers, with Daniel H. Foster, associate professor and chair of liberal arts at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute.
On the evening of October 30th, 1938, somewhere between 6 and 12 million Americans tuned in the radio version of New York City’s experimental Mercury Theater. It was a decision that some, no doubt, came to regret. What they heard was an all-male chorus of talking heads—scientists, journalists, politicians, and military experts—repeatedly telling them that New Jersey was being invaded by Martians.
The ensuing hours were alarming ones for those who did not realize they were listening to Mercury Theater on the Air’s adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells science fiction novel War of the Worlds. The performance, directed by and starring Orson Welles, pushed…