Socolow Interviewed for ‘Big Picture Science’ Radio Show
Michael Socolow, an associate professor in the Communication and Journalism Department at the University of Maine, was interviewed on an installment of the SETI Institute’s “Big Picture Science” radio show titled “Skeptic Check: War of the Worlds.” Socolow spoke about his research on media coverage surrounding Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds.” Socolow said reports of mass hysteria following the report were overblown. Oct. 30 marks the 75th anniversary of the broadcast. The International Journal of Communication also published an article co-written by Socolow and Jeff Pooley of Muhlenberg College on the dispute over authorship of The Invasion from Mars, a 1940 study of the reported mass panic sparked by the broadcast. Socolow and Pooley also co-wrote a chapter in the new book “War of the Worlds to Social Media: Mediated Communication in Times of Crisis.”