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It Can't Happen Here


Drama on 4






 


In a series of interviews recorded in 1939 Doremus Jessup, ex-editor of The New England Informer, recalls the rise and fall of America's crazy populist president Buzz Windrip.

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Sinclair Lewis's prescient 1936 satirical novel It Can't Happen Here, adapted for radio by Mike Walker. 
Following her recent discovery of a series of interviews recorded in 1939 with Doremus Jessup, the exiled editor of The New England Informer, Jane Fernandez takes us on a very personal journey into history in this one-off documentary charting the rise and fall of America's most unlikely president - Berzelius 'Buzz' Windrip.
CAST 
Doremus Jessup - Ben MilesLorinda Bryant - Debora WestonThe Presenter - Ashleigh HaddadPresident Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip - Nathan OsgoodBishop Prang - Stuart MilliganShad Ladue - Nathan Nolan
Production Co-ordinator - Eleri McAuliffeSound Design - Catherine Robinson and Nigel LewisProducer - John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales Production
The programme image uses a photograph from a "Pro-American Rally" held at Madison Square Garden in 1939.

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57 minutes
            







 
Last on 

Sat 5 Oct 2024
15:00

BBC Radio 4



 
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15:00

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"It Can't Happen Here" feels so relevant today; it's wild how Lewis saw the dangers of populism back in 1936, and Jessup's interviews really bring that history to life!