Brave New World (CBSW)

"A dram is better than a damn!" And "ending is better than mending." These are lessons that we have learned well in the 21st century, though perhaps we don't uses the same phrases and we didn't learn it from "our Ford." Self-medication is so popular that makers of prescription drugs find it worthwhile to advertise on mainstream television and many of our most useful devices are cheaper to replace than to fix.

Brave New World is an incredible, under-appreciated book. The opening chapters alone are worth reading, as Huxley swiftly delineates a horrific dystopia. The remaining two-thirds of the book are given over to exploring the premise of clashing value systems, one hyperbolically artificial and the other intensely romantic. Though written in 1931, the book is far from dated. 

William Froug adapted the novel for these two premier episodes of the CBS Radio Workshop. The first voices we hear are host William Conrad, perhaps the most recognizable voice in 1950's radio drama, and Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World himself. Quite an impressive start to a really fascinating, if uneven, series of shows.

CBS Radio Workshop #1-2
Brave New World, Parts 1 & 2
27 Jan & 3 Feb 1956

19560127(001)_CBSW_BraveNewWorldPart1.mp3

19560203(002)_CBSW_BraveNewWorldPart2.mp3

Aldous Huxley (author, narrator), William Conrad (announcer, performer), William Froug (adaptor, producer, director), Joseph Kearns, Billy Idelson, Herb Butterfield, Parley Baer, Lurene Tuttle, Doris Singleton, Vic Perrin, Gloria Henry, Charlotte Lawrence, Sam Edwards, Jack Kruschen, Byron Kane, Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor), Hugh Douglas (announcer)

1st edition cover, 1932