Episodes
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Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1936, in original transmission order.
- 1. Columbia Workshop — A Comedy of Danger / The Finger of God · 18 Jul 1936
- 2. Columbia Workshop — The San Quentin Broadcast · 5 Sep 1936
- 3. Columbia Workshop — Hamlet, Part One · 19 Sep 1936
Columbia Workshop — A Comedy of Danger / The Finger of God
18 Jul 1936 · 29 min
The first Columbia Workshop broadcast: CBS handing an experimental hour to Irving Reis with no sponsor and no rules. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — The San Quentin Broadcast
5 Sep 1936 · 29 min
A live outside broadcast from inside San Quentin prison, made by the Workshop in its first season. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — Hamlet, Part One
19 Sep 1936 · 29 min
Shakespeare staged for microphone alone, performed live with the sound department improvising an entire castle. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
6 Feb 1937 · 29 min
Coleridge performed live, an early demonstration of what the Workshop's sound engineers could build out of nothing. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — Danse Macabre
21 Mar 1937 · 29 min
A sound-and-music experiment from the Workshop's most inventive season. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — The Fall of the City
11 Apr 1937 · 26 min
Archibald MacLeish's verse drama, staged in a New York armoury with a crowd of hundreds and a young Orson Welles as the announcer — the first verse play written for radio. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — A Night at an Inn
23 May 1937 · 29 min
Lord Dunsany's one-act horror, played live to disc. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Columbia Workshop — The Tell-Tale Heart
11 Jul 1937 · 29 min
Poe as a study in microphone intimacy: one voice, one heartbeat, no audience. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
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