Before H.G. Wells penned War Of The Worlds, the alien invasion genre as we know it didn’t exist. And perhaps more than any text in this series, his landmark science fiction novel focused readers deliberately on the monster in the mirror: the British Empire’s civilizing, Christianizing mission, refracted through his technologically enhanced Martian colonizers. But 120 years later,
War of the Worlds
and its central premise have been coopted by the forces of nationalism, and Christian nationalism in particular. Today we’re going to talk about how
War of the Worlds
captures the tension between two visions of the future amidst escalating crises today: a world that moves beyond the hallowing of blood and soil, and a world that
violently, defiantly, embraces it.
With Dr. Sarah Cole of Columbia University
Written, produced, and narrated by Lucas Kwong
Voice acting: Christian Young-Valdovinos, Lucas Kwong
Special Thanks to Pixabay’s audio artists for public domain FX clips
Clips from various films and news used under fair use laws
Theme song “Lair” by The Brother K Melee (brotherk.bandcamp.com)
Closing song “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” by The Brother K Melee
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Further Reading
Michael Barkun. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America
Sarah Bond. “Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens.” https://hyperallergic.com/470795/pseudoarchaeology-and-the-racism-behind-ancient-aliens/
Jason Colavito. The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestial Pop Culture
Jason Colavito. “Review of Ancient Aliens S03E12: Aliens and Deadly Cults.” //http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/review-of-ancient-aliens-s03e12-aliens-and-deadly-cults
Sarah Cole, Inventing Tomorrow: HG Wells and the Twentieth Century
Michael Coren, The Invisible Man: The Life And Liberties Of H.G. Wells
John Carlos Frey. Sand and Blood: America’s Stealth War on the Mexico Border
Michael Heiser. “Ancient Astronaut Nonsense as an Interpretive Filter for the Bible.”
https://drmsh.com/ancient-astronaut-nonsense-interpretive-filter-bible/
Sam Moore and Alex Roberts, The Rise of Ecofascism: Climate Change and the Far Right
A. Brad Schwartz. Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News
Alexander Zaitchik. “Close Encounters Of The Racist Kind.” https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/01/02/close-encounters-racist-kind
Ben Zeller, Ed. Handbook of UFO Religions.
Full Text of War Of The Worlds: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36/36-h/36-h.htm
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