Dystopian Old Time Radio

Our fears of the future have been explored in what-if scenarios in fiction, radio and film for many years now, since at least 1932 when Fritz Lang brought Metropolis to life.

I remember during High School, being assigned a book written by perhaps, the most influential writer in the last century. In fact, some of the terms he coined such as big brother, cold war, thought police, room 101, are all now a part of the English language because of him.

The author I speak of is, of course, George Orwell, and he wrote the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984). I remember thinking at the time that the story was, in a nutshell, pretty strange to say the least, telling the tale of a dystopian society in the future, where everyone is being watched, individualism is persecuted, and the country has been transformed into a totalitarian state.

In fiction, George Orwell created a picture of what the world could have been like should the totalitarian forces succeed with their plan to become the Earth's masters. 

Both Theatre Guild on the Air, and NBC University Theatre adapted 1984 for radio, which you can listen to on RUSC.

There have been many dystopian and post-apocalyptic tales in old time radio over the years, such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and The Time Machine by H G Wells, and as the popularity of these radio programs and series on RUSC have proven, we remain captivated by stories of societies gone wrong and the struggle of individuals to overcome.

As this collection grows, I have been adding them to a page of their own for you to listen to at your leisure.

You can find that by clicking on the link below:-

Dystopia and Post-Apocalyptic Old Time Radio 

Or if you're a bit of a worrier like Joy, you can ignore these and spend your time with a cup of hot cocoa, enjoying some good old time radio programs in a different genre!

Happy listening my friends,