Radio Tales - History

History

Waldron and Phillips’ first venture into the field of radio drama came in 1992, when they collaborated on a limited-run anthology series of original dramas entitled Tales from the Other Side. The series consisted of 10 half-hour programs. Programs from the series were chosen by Noah Andre Trudeau, then cultural program director for National Public Radio, to be featured as a part of NPR Playhouse in the summer of 1992. The entire series was subsequently broadcast on WBAI-FM in NYC in 1994, where it earned comparisons to the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits.

In 1996, Waldron and Phillips produced the pilot program for a new series of dramatic radio adaptations of classic stories and novels from around the world. The series was first presented on National Public Radio Playhouse under the title Generations Radio Theater Presents, and then later as Generations Radio Theater Presents: Radio Tales. The pilot program was an adaptation of the classic Edgar Allan Poe horror story "Masque of the Red Death", and was described by NPR as "elegantly macabre". National Public Radio Playhouse aired the pilot program on October 29, 1996.

The Generations Radio Theater Presents: Radio Tales series aired on National Public Radio affiliate stations from 1996 until 2002. During its broadcast run on National Public Radio, the Radio Tales series was underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2002, the series moved to XM Satellite Radio’s Sonic Theater channel. Retitled Radio Tales, the series made its XM Satellite Radio premiere on Thanksgiving Day with the holiday program "O. Henry's Thanksgiving". The Radio Tales series aired on XM Satellite Radio's Sonic Theater channel from 2002 until 2008. In 2008, the Radio Tales series moved to Sirius XM Satellite Radio. The series airs regularly on the Sirius XM Book Radio channel of Sirius XM Satellite Radio.