TRAILER: Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier

TRAILER: Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier

February 9, 2026 · 5 min

About this episode

The episode introduces a new series about the attack on Isaac Woodard and its implications for desegregation in the military.

On February 12, 1946, an African American soldier heading home from WWII was attacked by a white police officer somewhere in South Carolina. The soldier's name was Isaac Woodard. No one knew the identity of the officer who attacked Woodard. No one even knew which town it had happened in. So when the famous radio host Orson Welles heard about the case, he vowed to solve it on the air. Radio Diaries and Radiotopia bring you a new series about a crime in a small southern town that led to the desegregation of the United States military. The first episode drops February 12th on the Radio Diaries Podcast. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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