Episode 352: The Earth Men

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of Radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:38] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:38] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:39] Speaker B: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:45] Speaker C: This week we present the Earthmen from Escape, an episode selected by our Patreon supporter, Mark. [00:00:52] Speaker A: From its debut in 1947 to its final broadcast in 1954, Escape produced 230 episodes of thrilling, intelligent escapism. The program's stated mission was to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. In 1947, Radio Life magazine praised the quality of escape's scripts, declaring, these stories all possess many times the reality that most radio writing conveys. [00:01:22] Speaker B: The Earth Men is based on a story by Ray Bradbury, first published in the August 1948 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories and later incorporated into Bradbury's 1950 fix up novel, the martian chronicles. Another of his martian tales, Mars is Heaven, was produced by Escape a year earlier. Both tales imagine the unexpected consequences of humanity's first contact with the inhabitants of Mars. [00:01:45] Speaker C: Bradbury's martian stories exemplify author Ursula K. Le Guin's description of science fiction as a thought experiment. According to Le Guin, the purpose of a thought experiment, as the term was used by Schrodinger and other physicists, is not to predict the future, but to describe reality. The present world science fiction is not predictive. It is descriptive, something to consider as we listen to the Earthmen from escape, first broadcast July 25, 1951. [00:02:17] Speaker A: It's late at night, and a chill has set in. You're alone, and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:02:34] Speaker D: You finding life rather dull? Dreaming again of exotic places, wishing you were somewhere else? We offer you escape. Escape with us now to the outer limits of space and the terrifying experiences of four men who penetrated it. As Ray Bradbury, famous science fiction writer, tells it in his gripping story, the Earth menta. You ready, Clithero? Yes. Communication number one. Mission accomplished? Yes, sir. You better make sure you pause after that. Give them a few seconds to get over their excitement down there. They'll go crazy. Be bigger than New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve. Be bigger than the armistice. Only one celebration will top it in our lifetime. What does that say? The one they throw when we get back. Right. Now, where was I? Mission accomplice. Yeah. First rocket expedition to Mars. Landed upon Mars. 1203 Earth time. Estimated position of landing approximately longitude 345 degrees. Latitude, minus seven degrees. Landed without incident at edge of forest. Atmosphere? What's a good word to say? It's all right for breathing. Optimal. Yeah. Found atmosphere optimal. Descended from rocket. Captain Williams. Yeah. Prescott, sir. I see Prescott. He's running this way. Running? Something after him. No, he's just walking along. I think he's smiling. Keep your binoculars on him. Sound off. It looks like he's in trouble. Descended from rocket sent. Lieutenant Prescott on reconnaissance mission. Dugan. Prescott all right? Yes, sir. Want me to yell to him? No, just stay up there and watch him. Morale high. Commend efficiency and discipline of entire crew. Lieutenants Prescott and Dugan, sergeant Clitheroe. Thanks, captain. There's enough glory for all. Sergeant, any chance of sending that in now? Not for 2 hours. Channels won't be clear for voice communication until 03:00 Earth time. You don't even know yet that we made it. I'd like to be down there when they get that message. What? Excitement. Sirens, bands playing. Artillery. Toulouse, here's Prescott, sir. Good. Come on down. Dugan. Prescott? You all right, people? Here, sit down. Sit down. Catch your breath. People. Mars has people. All right, now, take your time. You want a drink? Mars is inhabited. People. Just like home. Any women? Let him talk. What sort of people? Ordinary looking people. Men? Women? Kids? Hostiles? I don't think so. I came down a road, a country road. Followed it to a right angle. To a paved highway? Yeah. Before I could decide whether to go right or left, I heard a buzzing sort of sound. I ducked behind a bush vehicle, rolled past one wheel. Must have a gyroscopic balance of some sort. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Inside was a man and a woman. What'd they look like? Just like us. Hair, eyes, nose, mouth, body. Clothes, cars. Inhabited? Wait till they hear that down there. Well, after it passed, I followed it. I came to a hill, and when I got to the top, there was a little town building. Streets just like home. Then I heard it back here. People. And just like home, huh? You suppose they're really friendly? Well, I don't see why not. You heard what he said. Civilization up here resembles the one down there. What would they do on earth if Martians came down? Un established contact and make a pretty big thing out of it. The people up here will probably treat us the same way. Even so, we're not going to take any chances. We'll be armed. We're going into town, right? Soon as we camouflage the rocket. All right. Start cutting some of those branches and gathering leaves covered up good. I don't want anybody monking around while we're gone. Right. We can't be gone long, captain. Channel's open at three. We'll be back by then if everything goes well. Oh, can you imagine their reaction when they see us? Come on, man, make it fast. All right, men, dress it up. I'm gonna knock on the door now and keep smiling to show we're friendly. And let me do all the talking. Understand? Yes. What do you want? You speak English? I speak what I speak. What do you want? Martian speaks English. We're from Earth. I'm Captain Williams, commander of the first expedition to Mars. And you are the first Martian we've met. Martian? What I mean to say is you live on the fourth planet from the sun, correct? Well, everybody knows that. Well, we're from Earth, where it's never been done before. What has it? How is it you speak such good English? I'm not speaking, I'm thinking. Telepathy. Now, what is it you want? We're from Earth. From Earth. Some other time, Mack. I got my own problem. How do you like that? He didn't look very bright. I know, but try it again. Knock on the door. I'm in command here, Dugan. I'll do all the thinking. Yes, sir. I'll knock on the door and try it again. Yeah. Oh, excuse me, ma'am. Was that your husband I was just talking to? Yeah. He shut the door so quick, I never got a chance to explain. Oh, I'm sorry, but he is busy. Can I help you? Are you strangers in town? I'll say we are. We're from Earth. Earth. The planet Earth. Maybe you have a different name for it. The third in order from the sun. We came in a rocket almost 60 million mile. Don't come near me. I just want. If you can. You and your husband are the first people on this planet we've seen. Don't come near me. You don't understand. Where from? Earth. We came in a rocket. We came in a rocket. What'd I do? Captain, don't you think we'd better get away from here? Maybe. All I did was. How far is it to town, Bretkin? Quarter of a mile. I just. I just wanted to shake hands. What was it that scared him? All right for us to smoke, captain? Sure, smoke. Yell, unbutton your buttons, do whatever you want. Doesn't seem to make any difference. Nobody's paying any attention to us anyhow. You'd think these people had visitors. From Earth. Every day. Nobody even turns around to look at us. Can I say something, captain? Yeah. We can't blame them for ignoring us, sir. We look just the same as they do. For all they know, we're just a few Martians ambling through the town square. We ought to take a chance and try telling someone else. We've told three of them already. Back at that farmhouse, the man ignored us and the woman screamed and ran away. And that girl we told fainted a captain. Looks like a bar or soda fountain in here. Would it be all right if we went in and had something to drink? Well, why not? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Could we get something to drink here? Got some nice fruit, Crystal. It's all right. Same for everyone. It's our company. I don't think I've ever seen you fellas around. You strangers. We're from Earth. Where? Earth. Third planet from the sun. Clumsy of me. Earth, huh? Well, what do you know? You mean, you. You understand what I'm trying to tell you? Sure, sure. That we're the first men from Earth ever to reach Mars. That it's never been done before. That we came 60 million mile in a rocket. Sure, sure. 60 million, huh? Rocket, you say? Well, I'm proud to make your acquaintance. I'm Captain Williams. This is Lieutenant Prescott, Sergeant Clitheroe and Lieutenant Duke. And I'm honored. I'm honored. You mind if I bring my son in to meet you? This is an occasion. Sure, sure. Bring him in. Son. Son, come in here, rocket. All the way by, rocket. Say, now you understand what we went through, the chances we took? Sure, sure. You're real heroes. Let me shake hands again. These men are from Earth. From Earth. Understand? Yes, papa. We're the first men from Earth ever to reach Mars. Isn't that wonderful, son? Think of it. It's wonderful. Go tell everyone. You don't mind if he tells people mine? I should say not. We'd like him to. As many as possible. Go ahead, son. Hurry. Think of it. All the way from Earth. There were times in there when I didn't think we'd make it, I can tell you. Hey, I'll bet there were. Turbine conked out when we hit the stratosphere and I began to sweat the big drop. I can imagine. Turbine, it's pretty serious. Even before we left, we were told we only had about one chance in three of making. Hey, I don't see where you found the courage. We didn't even know what we'd find when we got here. My. You see, it's never been done before. Never. Let me shake your hand. Lots of men were killed trying, but they never succeeded. What an honor for our little town. You're the first to know, really, the very first. Your name will go down in history and all the school books with ours. The monuments on both planets. Hey, what is your name? Hey, wait a minute, man. Hold on. What's up, skipper? Outside. All those people. Looks like the whole town. Why, they must have heard the news. The glorious news from my son. Yes, they've come to welcome you. Fire men, welcome us? It doesn't sound like they've come to welcome us. Carlos, why don't you. Why, that's the man we first spoke to. The one whose wife got scared. Gentlemen, please don't shoot. There must be some mistake. I'll just ask them why they're behaving in such a. Here, come back here. Come back here, you old. Come back here. Ran out on us. What do you make of that, captain? I don't understand this, and I don't like it. Dugan, the back way out. See if it's clear. Prescott, you fire when I say. Fire, not before. Lawyer. Guns. They're all around us, captain. We'll make a break for it. One volley at my command. Captain Williams. Yeah? Look, there's a little guy out there giving them all what for. They're starting to disperse. Let me see. Immediately, I say. Go on, now. Go on, all of you. Go on. Hold. He's coming in now. I'll do all the talking. Put your guns away, but stay on your toes. Dugan, let's keep our eye on the back, huh? Gentlemen, may I apologize for the unforgivable actions of my fellow townspeople. They've acted barbarously. Barbarously? We didn't do a thing. We were as friendly as we could be for they're ignorant. Ignorant? Just ignorant. No reverence for science. None whatever. We're from Earth. Did they tell you? Oh, yes. Yes. A great honor, sir. This is, without a doubt, the most memorable moment of my life. As a man of science, I greet you. What have we done to make them so hostile? Please put it out of your thoughts. They adults. Idiots. Simply because two women were stupid enough to be frightened. [00:14:45] Speaker A: Even. [00:14:46] Speaker D: My apologies. My sincere apologies. Believe me, sir, I. I would never have forgiven them if they had harmed so much as a hair of your head. Scientific marvel. And they would do you harm. Unforgivable. We're wasting time. The members of the institute are waiting. Institute? The Institute of Science. We have sole jurisdiction in such matters. The members have already been informed and are eagerly awaiting your appearance. It will cause a sensation. Well, that's a little more like it. This way, if you please. I have transportation waiting. And have no fear of these rustics. You're in my care now. I'm Captain Williams, sir. Who are you? I am president of the institute. My name is Doctor Boo. This way, gentlemen. This way. Escape under the direction of Norman McDonald returns in just a moment. How the gambling machine works. The far reaching effect of legal and illegal gambling. Domination of entire areas by racketeers. That's this week's topic on the nation's nightmare. Tomorrow night on CB's. And now back to escape. In here, Captain Williams. Go right into it. I won't make a speech, you understand. Just a few informal remarks. The members of the institute will listen to you with the greatest interest. No matter how informal your remarks. Go right in and make yourself at home. Thank you, doctor. I'll keep it short. We have to be back at our rocket by 03:00 our time in order to. To communicate with Earth. Yes, you told me. Yes, go right in. I'll join you very soon. Thank you. After you. Man, he's a nice fella. Wow, what an auditorium. Must be hundreds of people. Wonder how they managed to get them together at such short notice. Straight enough, men. They're looking at us. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I am Mister O. And I'm Captain Jonathan Williams of New York City on Earth. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, one and all, on behalf of myself and my crew. Thank you. It's good to see another man from Earth. I am from Earth also. How was that again? There are many of us here from Earth. You from Earth? Yes, but is that possible? Did you come by rocket? Has space travel been going on for centuries? What. What country are you from, tuile? I came by the spirit of my body years ago. Tu irio. I never heard of it. What was that about the spirit of your body? What do you mean? There are many of us here from Earth. Not only from Earth. He's from Jupiter. He's from Saturn. Jupiter, Saturn. Wait a minute. This is confusing. Where on earth is this Tuirio? At Tuirol. Is it near America? America? What is America? You never heard of America? No. You say you're from Earth and you never heard of America? Earth is a place of seas and nothing but seas. There is no land. I am from Earth and I know Earth is a place of all jungle. I am from Orion. Earth, a civilization built of silver. Silver. Men, come over here a second. You realize what this is what, sir? This is no celebration. These aren't members of the institute. This isn't a banquet or a surprise party. Huh? Look at their eyes. Listen to them. Now I understand why the woman screamed, why the girl fainted, why the old boy in the soda pan ran out on us, why the crowd was hostile, why they brought us here. Where are we, sir? In an insane asylum. They think we're crazy. Clitheroe tried the door again. I just tried it, captain. It's still locked. Go right in, gentlemen. The members of the institute will listen to you with the greatest interest. No matter how informal your remarks. I'll bet they've been listening, all right. I'll bet they've had us under observation ever since we entered this building. What? Captain, look. What? You ought to take a look. That woman who said she was from Earth, too. Blue flame is coming out of her mouth and then turning into the shape of a small, naked child. You think that's something? I've been watching one of them change into a crystal pillar, and then into a golden statue, and then into a staff of cedar, and then back into a woman again. Never saw anything like that. Logicians? No, not magicians. Those are hallucinations. They pass their insanity over into us, and we see their hallucinations, too. Telepathy. Auto suggestion and telepathy. Well, look, captain, if hallucinations can appear this real to us, to anyone, if hallucinations are catching and almost believable, it's no wonder they took us for psychotics. If that woman can produce little blue fire children and. And that one can change into a pillar, how natural. If normal Martians think we can produce our rocket ship with our minds. I've been thinking along those lines, too. If someone came up to you on Earth and said he was from Mars, just came in by rocket, wouldn't you think he was crazy? I would. Heaven help me, I would. What time is it? Uh, 235. Those channels open in 25 minutes. Where's that doctor? Where's that doctor? I said, where's that doctor? I'm here, captain. I demand our release. I demand an apology for this outrage. My government will certainly hear of this. All the governments of Earth will hear of it. I shall tell them of the indignities heaped upon their representatives. Yes, yes, of course. Don't humor me. Are you going to release us, or must I take steps? What sort of step? I'll kill you. Very interesting. Excuse me a moment, doctor. Hall. Yes, doctor? Did you call me doctor? The case is developing along classic lines. I thought you might be interested. He's just threatened to kill me. Proceed, please, captain. I wasn't joking, I tell you. Are you going to stand aside? No. All right. I. Jan. Most interesting. What do you suppose the next phase will be? Denial of insanity, reaffirmation of sanity. But we are sane. We are class men. Try to think of something. He thinks we're insane. And he won't understand that we are not. No, no, not at all. I do not think all of you are insane. Oh, no, just you. The others. The ones you persist in referring to as your crew. They do not exist. They are secondary hallucinations. Secondary hallucinations. But you can touch them. You can hear them. Go ahead and touch them. They would prove nothing. Her patients have come to me with snakes crawling from their ears. When I cured them, their snakes vanished. We'll be glad to be cured. Go ahead. It's unusual. Not many want to be cured. The cure is drastic, you know. Cure ahead. I'm confident you'll find we are all sane. He persists in referring to the others. Oh, they never stop. You know, captain, such cases as yours need special treatment. The others in this hall are simpler forms. But once a patient has deteriorated as much as you have. With primary, secondary, tertiary, auditory, olfactory and lingual delusions. As well as tactile and optical fantasies, that's a pretty bad business. We may have to resort to euthanasia. Euthanasia? You're crazy. Now listen. My crew and I left Earth three days ago in a rocket. We landed here in Mars. Yes, yes, yes. You've already told me, captain. Most detailed dream fantasy I've ever heard. But I can show you the rocket ship. I'd like to see it. Can you manifest it in this hall? No. Certainly. It's over there on the corner. I don't see it. Of course you don't. It's not there. How did you tell me to look if the rocket isn't there? I was joking, idiot. Joking. Really? You have an odd sense of humor. If you give us transportation and come with us, I can show you the rocket. It's in a small forest near that town where we first saw you. Be rather interesting to observe his reaction at the failure to show it to us. Yes. Would you care to accompany me, doctor? Low? Oh, I'd be delighted. Very well, captain. Lead us to your rocket. Here it is. Here's the rocket. Now are you satisfied? Now are you convinced? I see nothing resembling a rocket. Newgen, Prescott. Clear the row. Clear away the camouflage. Hurry. You will see, doctor. You will see. All right, there, there. Okay, men, that's enough. There you are, doctor. That's the main hatch. Now, are you convinced? Wonderful manifestation. Wonderful. But like the manifestation of your gun when you threaten to kill me, they're completely unreal and non functional. I've been thinking about why you're a gun jammed, captain. I think it's a changing atmosphere. I suppose he allows his hallucinatory companion to offer the rationale because the reality is too painful for him to offer it himself. It is precisely, doctor. It's a rocket. It's a real rocket. I can touch it. May we look inside? I insist that you look inside. Come along, doctor. Lew, this is one of the most interesting captains. It's three minutes of three. If we can keep them here until they open the channels they'll be able to hear the reaction to our report on earth and then we'll be able to. I know, I know, I know. What a suspicious bunch of louts. Two cent. I'd tell the people back home not to bother with Mars. Interesting. Fascinating. I've never seen anything like it. Nor right now. Do you believe? Why, this is the most incredible example of sensual hallucination and hypnotic suggestion I've ever encountered. We went through your. Your rocket, as you call it. I tapped it and I heard it. Auditory fantasy. I smelled it. Olfactory hallucination induced by sensual telepathy. I could even taste it. Lingual fantasy. Allow me to shake your hand, sir, and congratulate you. You are a psychotic genius. You have done the most complete job by the task of projecting your psychotic image life into the mind of another via telepathy. And keeping the hallucinations from becoming sensually weaker is almost impossible. Those people in the house usually concentrate on visuals or at the most, visual and auditory fantasies combined. But you, captain, have balanced the whole conglomeration. Your insanity is beautifully complete. My insanity? Yes, yes, what a lovely insanity. Metal, rubber, foods, clothing, fuel, nuts. Both 10,000 separate items. We've checked on your vessel. Never have we seen such complexity. Why, there were even shadows under the bunks and under everything. Such a concentration of will. Let me embrace you, Sassy. I write this into my greatest monograph. I'll speak of it at the Martian Institute next month. Doctor, he's incurable, of course. Of course. You poor, wonderful man. You'll be much happier dead. What? Have you any last word? No. No, don't. You. You poor, sad creature. I'm afraid you are far beyond any psychiatric therapy. You're an incurable king. I shall put you out of this misery. Which has driven you to imagine this rocket and these three men. I didn't. It will be most engrossing to watch your three friends and your rocket vanish once I've killed you, doctor. And then I will write a paper on the dissolution of neurotic images from what I observed here today. I'm from Earth. My name is Jonathan Williams. And these men are. I know, from earth armies. Captain. Captain Williams. They continue to exist. Superb. Have you seen nations with time and spatial existence? I wonder how they will react to a bullet. Oh, no. Put on a gun. An auditory appeal, even with the patient dead. Run. Run. They still exist. And so does the rocket. Phenomenal. Such persistence of the psychosis. First time I've ever observed it post mortem. But it will fade. It will all fade. Interesting, wasn't it? Well, shall we be returning to the institute? I should like you to explain certain aspects of the case to the members of my department. Oh, gladly, my boy. Gladly. You see this patient? Earth to Mars. Earth to Mars. Calling rocket expedition. Calling rocket expedition. Do you read me? Do you read me? Come in, Captain Williams. Come in, Captain Williams. Earth to Mars. Under the direction of Norman Macdonald, escape has brought you the Earthman by Ray Bradbury. Especially adapted for Escape by Walter Newmande. Starring parley Bear, with Harry Bartell, Hans Conrad, Larry Dobkin and Lou Krugman. Featured in the cast were John Danar, Sydney Miller, Georgia Ellis, Jack Crucian, and Byron Kane. The special music for Escape is composed and conducted by Leith Stephensh. Next week, escape with us to an island off the northwest coast of Africa and the story of a man whose quest for happiness was blocked by a giant, a madman, and a beautiful girl, as Millet Kaufman tells it in his exciting story, the Gladiator. There's all fun each of the every weekday when most of these same stations bring you CB's radio's Arthur Godfrey time. This is Roy Rowan speaking. This is CB's, where you hear the FBI in peace and war every Thursday night, the Columbia broadcasting system. If you want to take it easy and you want to take a life then you get a regal bail and you'll always know your rights. It's light and better Melamel Brew regal pails never fail. It's the better, better brew for you. [00:31:57] Speaker A: That was the earthman from escape here on the mysterious old radio listening society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. [00:32:04] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:32:05] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:32:06] Speaker A: That came to us from our Patreon supporter, Mark. Thank you, Mark, for your suggestion, and you're welcome for us listening to you. So that episode, it came up in off air discussion, according to Tim. Well, we've all heard this before. We did it on one of our happy hours. This has become a very disturbing moment for me because I have zero recollection of ever hearing this before I listened to it today. [00:32:36] Speaker C: And just to clarify for our listeners, when we say happy hour, Eric doesn't drink copiously. So this wasn't a blackout issue? [00:32:47] Speaker A: No, it's together in the bar. Let's talk about escape. We have a Patreon's invitation once a month where we sit down on Zoom and we pick some episodes and listen to them and then discuss them with our patreons. And we call it happy hour. And apparently about three years ago, during one of our morals, happy hours, we did this episode. Is that correct? [00:33:07] Speaker D: Yep. [00:33:08] Speaker A: This is the first time you remember hearing this, right? This may not be the first time, but this is the first time I remember hearing this thing from Le Guin that you said in the opening, Joshua. And this is fascinating to me, that science fiction wasn't to predict the future, but to describe reality and comment on the present. That's a really interesting take on science fiction, which X minus one and Bradbury. That's pretty much like, there's a lot of science fiction from the fifties. That's what it was about. And when you look at it that way, then going in, you have a different expectation than when you go in with a modern sense of science fiction. Right. You're like, because you want the future now, right? That's what it is. [00:33:58] Speaker C: I think that still largely holds true for much of today's science fiction, but they give more of a futuristic skin to the stories. [00:34:08] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a lot more rocket ships flying around, shooting at each other, which is cool. [00:34:14] Speaker C: There's plenty of rocket ships in the fifties. I'm talking more about how humanity is presented. [00:34:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:21] Speaker C: And the earthmen here are very much from Earth, circa 1951. The gender roles, the way they speak, the martian culture they encounter is just transplanted straight and from earth with some slightly different vehicles and some slightly different soda fountain menu items. But otherwise, it is Earth transplanted to Mars culturally. [00:34:48] Speaker A: Yep. Until the reveal, oh, they're an insane asylum and no one believes them. And they're, you know, patting them on the head and everybody else in here is great. Okay, when they said, oh, look at that guy over there. There's a baby coming out of their mouth. All the things, right? And then they were saying, I'm from Earth too, on Earth, it's all water. I'm from Earth. I literally went, oh, this is a crazy early version of alternate universe. I thought they were all going to be from Earth, but they had met in this location that they were travelers from ultimate dimensions, and they were going to explain to these guys, yes, we're all from Earth, but Earth is slightly different from Earth. And I was like, I didn't know alternate universe theory even existed when this came out yet. And then when it became insane asylum, I was kind of relieved, because I was like, that's so early to be talking about alternate universe. Marvel things. Point is, that's where I went. [00:35:50] Speaker C: DC did it early, then I stopped. [00:35:51] Speaker A: Thank you. DC did it first. [00:35:54] Speaker C: I saw the look on Jim's face. Jim was like, well, I'm not going to be that pedantic. And I'm like, I'll do it for you. [00:36:03] Speaker A: So, yeah. And then I stopped listening. No, I'm kidding. So it got really dark. Really dark after that wasn't science fictiony alternate universe, and it was just that. [00:36:19] Speaker B: You'Ve got infectious insanity. [00:36:21] Speaker A: Yes, yes. [00:36:23] Speaker B: Even if they're not actually insane, your ideas are infectious. [00:36:27] Speaker A: I think there's a commentary, and I'm sure this is, like, duh, Eric, but it seems like a commentary on. You can reach a point with certain people or certain faction of people that you can show them the truth in a billion different ways, and they still refuse to believe it. Is that fair assessment of this? [00:36:52] Speaker C: Yeah, like, but. [00:36:53] Speaker A: But that's not true. Nope, it is. This is not a. You're just making this up out of your head, like, oh, my God. [00:37:00] Speaker C: I took my interpretive cues earlier in the story when it's a little more satirical and the earthman's attitude about, like, ooh, I can't wait to get back to Earth. They're gonna be parades. I gotta find a Martian. They're gonna be so excited. We're gonna get the key to the city. And they have this image of themselves as these history makers, right? I think, which is a commentary on the american idea of history at that point in time. They see themselves as the protagonists of this great space opera called manifest Destiny. You know, they think everyone's going to be super excited to see them and that they've brought bounty and wonder to these martian people. And the Martians think it's a delusion. [00:37:46] Speaker A: Right? [00:37:46] Speaker C: And that idea of a certain point of view about yourself, whether it be as a race, as a nation, as whatever kind of group you can kind of fill in there, wherever you are in time, that delusion can be dangerous and it can be contagious. [00:38:02] Speaker B: Yeah. That people have a worldview and will work hard to make facts fit their worldview. But this very specifically, I thought what the backbone, thematically, was. At first, they're thinking, we are earthlings coming here. They will be excited to see us. And then later they ask, all right, if this is exactly like us, how would we react if somebody came to our home and said, we're from Mars. [00:38:26] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:26] Speaker B: And being able to see themselves in a way that is different than the way that they saw themselves, which also. [00:38:33] Speaker A: When they get to that point where the psychosis is contagious, whatever, that you realize why the handshake attempt was so terrifying to the housewife. And I was waiting for that to get explained. The funniest and best moment of this whole thing, hands down, worth the half an hour, the price of admission for. There are people here. I'm telling you, I just saw their people here. Were there any women? The first thing out of that guy's mouth, and quickly, were there women? [00:39:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:12] Speaker A: Oh, hilarious. [00:39:14] Speaker C: Yeah, it was hilarious. [00:39:15] Speaker A: I've been in. [00:39:16] Speaker C: Are they humanoid? I have been made of trees. No questions about what the species is like. [00:39:23] Speaker A: I've been in a rocket ship for a long time. Are there women? [00:39:28] Speaker C: A rocket ship? You know what a rocket ship is shaped like? It's all I could think about. Well, the thing opens with one of the worst escape openings. As long as we're on childish topics, escape with us now to the outer limits of space and the terrifying experience of four men who penetrated it. Not only that, it did make me feel a little better, because the announcer has a hell of a time saying penetrated it, which I also have a hard time saying, not doing. Shut up. Shut up. Escape. [00:40:10] Speaker A: Also, is this an early episode of escape? Here's why I think so. [00:40:14] Speaker C: Yes, it's. [00:40:17] Speaker A: That. Wasn't conrade correct at the opening? And it was a different style, and the words are different. Tired of the everyday routine? It was slightly different. So it made me think, this is one of the earlier versions of escape. [00:40:34] Speaker B: I had a real good time just playing the game in my head of, like, okay, so this whole planet is so telepathic that it's indistinguishable from conversation for them. So what if. And I know this. This is a pointless speculation, but it entertains me. As soon as the captain thought, like, this is an insane asylum, now it's an insane asylum, whatever it was before, like, if this was hall of science and these were people from alternate earths, you're telepathic now and strong enough to influence others. You've made an insane asylum now. Hmm. [00:41:10] Speaker A: Interesting. I love that. I was also thinking to follow up with what ifs. I was waiting for the end to be them proven right, that he was. [00:41:23] Speaker B: Actually the rest of the crew disappears. And the rocket. [00:41:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And he was actually one of them. That was psychotic for me. [00:41:30] Speaker C: I do enjoy the satire that turns dark and turns tragic at the end. I feel like it has a little more power to it than they were hallucinations all along. [00:41:43] Speaker A: Sure. [00:41:45] Speaker B: It's. It's a nice harsh hit on the, the scientific community of Mars. Of, like. [00:41:51] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:41:51] Speaker B: We continue to shoot them, and they still managed to not disappear. [00:41:55] Speaker C: Yeah. An interesting different take on the end is the original story takes it a dark step further. And the martian psychoanalyst, when he kills everybody and then sees that the ship is still tangible and real, none of the bodies disappear, he becomes convinced that he has caught the insanity. And as they've already established that the only cure. The only cure, and he shoots himself in the head. [00:42:24] Speaker A: Wow. [00:42:25] Speaker C: Yeah. And it's just this field of dead bodies and abandoned rocket ship. [00:42:29] Speaker B: That is bleak. [00:42:31] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:42:32] Speaker A: You see, this is why we can't wish for that. The ability to have that kind of psychic ability. Right. That's the whole thing. You can get three wishes, but you know something bad's gonna happen no matter what you wish for. That's the moral of the story. [00:42:46] Speaker C: Wish has to be no more wishes. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Or ice cream. Ice cream. I wish I was off the island. [00:42:53] Speaker B: My first. [00:42:59] Speaker A: Let that sit in with about four people who understood that my. [00:43:03] Speaker C: First wish would be to rewrite the end of the monkey's paw. And then I think that would take care of all issues with wishing. [00:43:12] Speaker B: Tell me how I can become wealthy with no negative consequences. Yeah, through a wish. [00:43:19] Speaker C: The guy who comes running up and he's very excited and breathily saying, people. Mars has people. There was a definite hint of Charlton Heston. Silent green. [00:43:29] Speaker A: Yeah, Mars is people, all right. Is that Soylent green? Got any women in it? [00:43:36] Speaker C: It's made out of women. I enjoy the way the suspense is ratcheted up in the first half of this as the reactions to the earthmen start comical. Like the guy who's a, like, no, thank you. Today, door slam to wife, who shrieks at them. And then the soda jerk, the martian soda jerk who can barely keep it together. And the earthmen don't pick up on this. But obviously, we, as listeners, are supposed to queue in that, like, okay, this guy's terrified, but we as listeners also know, because we've spent time alone with these earthmen, that they're harmless. They have an inflated idea of themselves. And so you're just like, who's right? Who's wrong? Am I wrong? Like, I think it's just a great scene. [00:44:26] Speaker B: Yeah, that one. I was mostly just like, why is he getting his young son involved in this? Like, if they're dangerous. [00:44:33] Speaker C: I took it as the guy who's using an excuse to get my children out of here. [00:44:38] Speaker B: I. Oh, I sussed that by the end. But, oh, as it was happening, was like, come here, kid. [00:44:43] Speaker C: I took the gun dad gave you. [00:44:46] Speaker A: I took it as there was. If this ever happens, there's a signal I'm gonna give you to go get help. Because after he talks to the kid and has that signally kind of conversation, that's when the pitchfork and torches showed up. So I took it as somehow the. [00:45:03] Speaker B: Kid got that track to me of like, hey, just between the three of us, if a marsh never shows up, I'm gonna give you the code word of, like, Earth man. [00:45:13] Speaker A: You mean? [00:45:14] Speaker B: Sure, yes. [00:45:15] Speaker A: Oh, I see. Like, here. Yeah. If it happened between the three of. [00:45:18] Speaker B: Us, just regular people. [00:45:20] Speaker A: But I think it's more of if a psychotic shows up, these guys are contagious. So if they show up in our shop, I'm gonna give you a code. We gotta go get help. [00:45:30] Speaker B: Swordfish. [00:45:32] Speaker C: It begs the question, which is not answered here, and I don't think it's answered in Bradbury's original story of why so many Martians snap and believe they came from Earth or other planets. Like, why that's a common psychosis on Mars. I have no answer. [00:45:50] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe that was just the wing of this. [00:45:54] Speaker C: Yeah, that asylum. [00:45:55] Speaker A: This is the earth I come from. [00:45:58] Speaker B: The overactive imagination makes you nuts on Mars. [00:46:02] Speaker C: But you were saying, like, does the soda jerk have a code with his son? The code seemed to be, these people are from earth. Yeah, that seems to be like, that's a common thing. Like, people who think they're from Earth are crazy. [00:46:16] Speaker A: But I think I took that as I'm about to say, crazy thing. You know what that means? This is crazy. These are crazy people. So don't touch them. Put on a mask. [00:46:27] Speaker B: I suppose the contemporary. I know it's not contemporary because it's a. Because we're very old. But, like, if we said, hey, this guy's Napoleon. [00:46:36] Speaker C: Yes, we would all know. [00:46:38] Speaker B: Oh, this guy, he's gonna try to. [00:46:41] Speaker A: Conquer Russia, is trying to make a living as an actor. [00:46:49] Speaker C: Hide the valuables I do like the ticking clock. It adds a nice structure of. It's a calm ticking clock, but of the communication not being open till 03:00 p.m. so they're trying to get back there. And then it gives, from an audio point of view, this nice final cue of that. [00:47:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:11] Speaker C: Call coming through to just Deadman. [00:47:13] Speaker B: And like you say, it's, it's the nice that it's not like the end of the world happens, but it's when they would finally get their. Atta boy about that. They think they are so owed. [00:47:25] Speaker A: I like the sound the gun makes on Mars. It went. [00:47:31] Speaker B: Oh, that was the other thing that I took away from this. Clearly, I take valuable things away as a new name for my cat of doctor Bull. From now on, you are Doctor Pohl. [00:47:44] Speaker A: He'll never come to that. [00:47:46] Speaker C: While I do think the end is obviously tragic, because these guys are essentially likable. Again, it seems like had they just taken a moment to understand the Martians, right, none of this maybe would have happened. Or do you guys think it was inevitable? Because as soon as they identify themselves. [00:48:10] Speaker A: They went in with an extremely poor plan. They were not trained at all. At all. There was no thought or what are we going to do when we get there? What happens if it's, if there's inhabitants or life? It was like taking random guys out of a bar and shooting them to Mars. And because evidence by him doing his report is. What's a good word for we can die. We can, we can breathe this good. We can breathe good. Like, right. That's a good one. Yeah. [00:48:44] Speaker C: The captain. [00:48:45] Speaker A: Right. So you get this feeling like nobody got any training or had any kind of plan at all, because then they discover, what should we do? I don't go knock on the door. [00:48:56] Speaker B: This is what the kiss of death was for them. The fact that life on Mars is so almost identical to earth. [00:49:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:49:03] Speaker B: They felt like they just like. I don't know how this works. I don't know what to do. [00:49:06] Speaker C: That is a change that the escape version made, I think, to smooth exactly what you're talking about. In the novel or in the short story, Bradbury establishes that these Martians are dark skinned and have gold eyes, and they have different cultural touches. They carry around and occasionally put on masks that have different expressions. And while he never connects it to telepathy, it seems like it might be this sort of like, barrier, like, don't read my mind, I'm happy. Okay. [00:49:39] Speaker A: Or it's a depression medication commercial. [00:49:41] Speaker C: It could be everything is now potentially. So anyway, my point being, I think it was a conscious choice on the part of the escape adapter to make this seem far less dangerous to interact so immediately and so openly with this culture because they've lost contact in the original story, too. They've lost contact with the last expedition when it's added to the martian chronicles. I think this is the second expedition. Mars is heaven is the third disastrous expedition to Mars. [00:50:20] Speaker A: 58 years old, and you finally hit on what I want to be, escape adapter. I don't know what that is, but that's a great title. [00:50:30] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. You never have the right escape. Adapt it to. I have like 16 in this box, but none of them offer me escape. [00:50:44] Speaker A: Final thoughts, gentlemen. [00:50:46] Speaker C: I'm ready to vote. [00:50:48] Speaker A: Tim. [00:50:49] Speaker B: I think we should listen to this every three years and then pretend we don't remember. [00:50:54] Speaker A: We'll never remember that we said that. [00:50:56] Speaker B: True. This is a very fun episode. It's, I think, a really good adaptation. I don't know the source material, but it tells a good story. Well, I like the cast. It's a story that, I mean, it's a very kind of morality tale ish of, you know, these are likable characters. They largely serve a sort of serve the purpose of describing the state, being descriptive. As we were saying in the le Guin quote of we are simple people who just want to be told we're doing well. [00:51:35] Speaker A: Right. [00:51:36] Speaker B: We have a hard time actually seeing ourselves, I think is what I take away from it. So sticks to this time. I think it's still good. Not a classic. [00:51:45] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think I would pretty much agree with Tim. I'm probably lean closer to classic. I think the power of this piece is that it lulls you into this false sense of satire and then gets a little more serious, then gives you a pretty good twist in that, oh, they're insane and it's contagious. And then you think, okay, I get this. I know what this story is now. That's the clever twist. They're going to somehow escape or maybe something dark will happen. Maybe they will have to shoot their way out and inadvertently kill these Martians and start world War three. There could be a dark ending, but I did not expect them to be executed screaming one by one right at the end. And I think that, to me, and it sounds dark, elevates it, as in, it is a bit of a fable, it's instructional. But the harshness of the moral surprised me in a way that softened, uh, what could potentially be preachy. [00:52:51] Speaker A: I agree with both of you, uh, in different parts. I agree that it extends this time. It's not a classic. I think it's pretty good, well acted. I like that it veers away from being preachy and becomes what I, you said, suspense. I think it's horror. I think it becomes horror at the end. And one of my issues with a lot of the 1950s Sci-Fi Bradbury kind of stuff of the commentary on this is us and aren't we stupid? That's not what he was saying. But, you know, that commentary on ourselves, I, you know, as I always say, could we get in the rocket ship and have, you know, have more space fights? But this gave us a little bit of that, but also gave us a story that was, even though horrific and terrible and difficult, was more story than preachy. And I like that a lot. So that's where I stand. I like it. [00:53:45] Speaker C: And I think some of the preachiness is also curved by the fact that these don't seem like bad guys. [00:53:51] Speaker A: Right. [00:53:51] Speaker C: I think if they came up there, you know, and were incredibly arrogant and were being rude to all the Martians, Americans, then you would feel, yes. And I mean, Bradbury does some of that type of satire, too. And so his. If you read all the martian chronicles, it's fairly balanced. There's all there all kinds of approaches that different earthmen take to coming to Mars, and this is a very different one. There is one where they're just like, we're going to go in and kill them, maybe. But by the third or fourth expedition that doesn't come back, they're like, yeah, let's take them out. [00:54:21] Speaker A: It occurs to me that Bradbury's entire purpose might have been how to be a good tourist. [00:54:29] Speaker B: That's a compelling takeaway. [00:54:30] Speaker C: You're not off on the Martian Chronicle review there. You could post that on Goodreads. [00:54:36] Speaker A: I'm going to as soon as I learn how to post something. [00:54:39] Speaker B: So like, to Mel. That's my theory of much. Much of horror is just about bad roommates, a lot of Sci-Fi just a bad tourists, right? [00:54:46] Speaker A: It really is Tim Tom stuff. [00:54:49] Speaker B: Please go visit ghoulish delights.com, home of this podcast. We have a lot of other episodes there. You can, you can check them out. You can leave comments. You can vote in polls. Let us know what you think about these episodes. You'll also find links to other, other sorts of things we offer, including our store. You can buy some t shirts or coffee mug or a hat. You can also find a link to our Patreon page yes. [00:55:13] Speaker C: Go to patreon.com themorals and support this podcast. We offer all kinds of perks. For example, we just played one for you. Our Patreon supporters at the upper tier get exclusive rights to recommendations these days on the podcast. Become a Patreon at that level, and we will listen to great radio that you recommend. 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[00:56:36] Speaker B: What's coming up next is from screen directors Playhouse, an adaptation of the Dark Mirror. [00:56:43] Speaker A: Until then, that's terrifying. Not one moment in this thing did I go, oh, this. Not even one of those, what are they? What they call deja vu. Not even a deja vu moment. The fact that I couldn't remember the word deja vu, this is all a terrible moment for me.