Martian channels: Imagining interplanetary communication at the dawn of the radio age

Abstract

In 1899 radio pioneer Nikola Tesla claimed to have received a wireless transmission from the planet Mars, which not only confirmed the existence of intelligent life but also invited a response. The public was immediately captivated by the idea that Mars was attempting to communicate with the Earth, and this widespread fascination reflected not only a belief in the existence of extraterrestrial life but also a notion of radio as a transnational medium that could potentially unite the world by making terrestrial borders obsolete. It may seem strange, therefore, that this fascination culminated in Orson Welles’ famous radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds, in which radio was represented not as a medium of interplanetary communication but rather as an emergency broadcast system that warned Americans of an extraterrestrial invasion. Through a closer examination of the history of the idea of interplanetary communication, this article explores how radio was initially conceived as a medium that transgressed social, political and linguistic boundaries and how this utopian promise was later displaced by the idea of radio as a medium that served to construct and reinforce national borders and identities.