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Monsters of the Silver Screen

Bagogames via CC/Flickr, http://bit.ly/1ov3rg6
A promotional image from Godzilla (2014)

Thursday, we’re talking about the monsters of the silver screen. They’ve been an integral part of films since their earliest days, but as our anxieties have changed throughout the decades, so have our monsters. Historian W. Scott Poole observes that we were once satisfied to watch a group of co-eds try to escape a slathering, predatory beast or slasher fiend. But in the post-9/11 world, “monsters have to burn the world to the ground.” Poole will join us to dissect our fascination with cinema’s monstrosities.

W. Scott Poole is an associate professor of history at the College of Charleston. He's the author of six books, most recently Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting [Amazon|Indiebound]For more information about the book, visit MonstersInAmerica.com. He has a new book coming out in September, Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror.

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.