From Radio Diaries: Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier
HISTORY This Week
The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios
4.5 • 4.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why did Orson Welles take on a murder mystery? Listen for yourself.
This week, we're sharing a special preview of Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier from the podcast Radio Diaries. In this series, we learn how Welles used his platform to shed light on a crime in a small, southern town. A crime that became a spark for the budding Civil Rights movement.
For more, visit radiodiaries.org
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What I've dedicated my life to is revenge. |
| 0:04.0 | A brand new drama based on the best-selling novel. |
| 0:07.0 | They think they're better than us. |
| 0:08.0 | Who do you think you are? |
| 0:10.0 | I'm going to prove to them that they're wrong. |
| 0:11.0 | She's punishing me. |
| 0:13.0 | You destroyed my family. |
| 0:14.0 | I will not rest until I've destroyed yours. |
| 0:17.0 | A woman of substance on Channel 4 starts tonight at 9. |
| 0:22.0 | Hello, this is Orson Wells. |
| 0:24.5 | I've come to visit with you for a few minutes, and with your permission, every week at this time, |
| 0:28.2 | we'll have a little conversation about people and the things they're doing all over the world. |
| 0:33.9 | In 1946, Orson Wells, the director of Citizen Kane, was at the height of his fame. |
| 0:40.8 | At the time, he had a national radio show called Orson Welles Commentaries on ABC. |
| 0:46.1 | I'll try to have a story for each time, and I'm going to speak my mind about the news. |
| 0:50.2 | You know, we don't have to agree on everything to be friends. |
| 0:53.5 | After a year on the radio, discussing politics and Hollywood, Wells heard of a shocking crime. |
| 1:01.6 | It was the end of World War II. |
| 1:04.0 | A black soldier heading home was brutally beaten by a white police officer in South Carolina. |
| 1:10.2 | No one knew the identity of the police |
| 1:12.6 | officer. No one even knew the town where it had happened. And Wells pledged to solve the mystery, |
| 1:20.3 | on air. Today, we're bringing you a special episode from the Radio Diaries podcast and their new series, Orson Wells and the Blind Soldier. |
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