Santo to Appear on 'With Good Reason' July 28
At the height of its popularity, an estimated 12 million listeners were tuning into each episode of "The Lone Ranger" radio series. In his forthcoming book "Selling the Silver Bullet," Avi Santo, assistant professor of communication and theatre arts at Old Dominion University, explores how one man's vision became a widely recognized trademark.
The popularity of the show, according to Santo's research, had to do with the universal themes in challenges taken on by the hero and his sidekick Tonto, but also was the result of clever marketing and licensing by the show's creator, George Trendle.
Santo will speak about the book during an episode of the radio program "With Good Reason," which airs weekly on public radio stations, reaching a diverse audience in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and portions of Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, California and Alaska. Locally, the show will be broadcast at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 28, on 89.5 WHRV FM.
Along with Santo, Chemistry Professor Leanna C. Giancarlo (University of Mary Washington) will also appear on the program to discuss the ways in which western culture reveres science but scientists have long been portrayed in film and fiction as sinister, ruthless, dangerous, or mad - think: Dr. Jekyll. By looking at the role of language and myth-making, Giancarlo explains why negative stereotypes of scientists persist.
The show is produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and funded by public universities from around the state, in an effort to spotlight innovative research being done at Virginia's public universities. Broadcast times around the state are posted at: http://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/
Audio files of the full program and its companion news feature will be posted the week of the show to our website. A permanent link can be found here: http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2011/07/selling-the-silver-bullet/.
Interested listeners can also join the "With Good Reason" Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/With-Good-Reason-radio/203141233005, or subscribe to the show's podcast: www.tinyurl.com/wgrpodcast