The Night 60 Million Americans Listened Together
One week after Pearl Harbor, at a moment when the country was uncertain, shaken, and searching for meaning, something extraordinary happened.
Over 60 million Americans—nearly half the nation—paused to listen to a single radio broadcast.
This was We Hold These Truths.
Written by Norman Corwin and performed by an all-star cast including Orson Welles and James Stewart, it wasn’t just a program—it was a national moment. A meditation on the Bill of Rights. A declaration of identity. A work of art at industrial scale.
In this Chesterton Radio deep dive, broadcasting from Atchison, Kansas, we…
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