# Airborne: A Life in Radio with Orson Welles



## Steerpike (May 7, 2012)

Not exactly Film or Television, but a more venerable medium. You can listen to this interesting documentary online. I enjoyed it. Probably the most fascinating part is at the end, where Welles is essentially blacklisted from U.S. radio. Right after WWII he related the story of a young black soldier returning from war who was beaten and blinded by a white police officer in South Carolina. Welles spoke forcefully of the shame of racism and the antiquated Jim Crow laws. America wasn't ready to hear this yet. People were outraged, and for the first time in his career Welles was told he would have to run his material past the ABC censors prior to delivering it. Welles went forward reporting on the story and making statements again racism, and did not run the material past the censors. And thus his career pretty much came to an end.


Off-Ramp documentary "Airborne: A Life in Radio with Orson Welles" for October 29, 2011 | 89.3 KPCC


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