{"podcast":{"title":"History Shorts","slug":"history-shorts-6691663","podcast_index_feed_id":6691663,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/571725/rss","website_url":"https://www.historyshortspodcast.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/e/f/4/7/ef47fe58bf123b5e16c3140a3186d450/pod_37.png","author":"History Shorts Network","episode_count":941,"summary":"Dive into the past with award-winning historian Peter Zablocki in this captivating daily podcast! Uncover hidden stories you never knew existed. And don't miss Friday Conversations where Peter teams up with top experts for riveting, in-depth discussions that bring history to life.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-25T14:18:27.449302+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-shorts-6691663"},"episode":{"title":"The Truth Behind the War of the Worlds Broadcast","slug":"the-truth-behind-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast","published_at":"2026-09-08T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-shorts-6691663/the-truth-behind-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-shorts-6691663","url":"https://2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c.libsyn.com/the-truth-behind-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdcn.co/e/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/War_of_the_Worlds.mp3?dest-id=4947215","summary":"On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles interrupted America's radios with terrifying news: Martians had invaded New Jersey. Except they hadn't. Welles's War of the Worlds was a radio drama presented partly as breaking-news bulletins. Some listeners who tuned in late mistook fiction for reality, and stories of nationwide panic quickly followed. But did millions of Americans really flee their homes in terror? Not quite. Later research suggests the legendary mass hysteria was greatly exaggerated—ironically, by newspapers eager to portray radio as dangerous competition. In this episode of History Shorts , we separate the broadcast from the myth and uncover how a fictional invasion created a very real media legend. SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast ADVERTISE : https://www.historyshortspodcast.com/advertise LEARN MORE: https://www.historyshortspodcast.com/ SPONSORED BY: https://www.podcastrepublic.net/get-it-now","meta_description":"On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles interrupted America's radios with terrifying news: Martians had invaded New Jersey. Except they hadn't. Welles's War of…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":810,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/history-shorts-6691663/episodes/the-truth-behind-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-shorts-6691663/the-truth-behind-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}