Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 1, 2025 · 1H

Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds

from The History Hour · host BBC World Service

Emerante de Pradines's son, Richard Morse, tells us about his mother’s life and her commitment to de-demonising vodou culture through her music. Haiti expert Kate Hodgson, from University College Cork in Ireland, expands on the history of the country in the 20th Century. The story of how an Argentinian doctor was inspired to create a new treatment for heart disease and when the death of a Catholic priest sent shockwaves through El Salvador in 1977. Plus, the memories of a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, when thousands of Bosnian Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb Soldiers thirty years ago. The first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup and Orson Welles’s famous re-telling of the War of the Worlds, which sparked mass panic in America. Contributors: Richard Morse – son of Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines Kate Hodgson – lecturer in French at University College Cork in Ireland Dr Julio Palmaz – the inventor of the balloon-expandable stent Gabina Dubon – colleague of Father Rutilio Grande Sister Ana Maria Pineda – theologian and author Hasan Nuhanovic – survivor of the Srebrenica massacre Michelle Payne – 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Archive recordings of Orson Welles, his producer John Houseman and writer Howard Koch Presenter: Max Pearson(Photo: Orson Welles rehearsing a radio broadcast of H.G. Wells' classic, The War of the Worlds on 10 October, 1938. Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

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