After a nuclear war, the inhabitants of Earth move underground and continue the fighting in Paul A. Carter’s “The Last Objective,” to be heard Tuesday night on 97.9 WHAV FM.
The post-nuclear holocaust story, a common Cold War genre, was first published in “Astounding Science Fiction” in 1946. It was adapted in 1951 for NBC radio’s “Dimension X.” Isaac Asimov offered this review of “The Last Objective:”
“Nevertheless, the coming of the nuclear bomb at the very end made it quite plain that World War III, if it ever comes, would finally achieve the crowning stupidity of war, the destruction of so much that no conceivable justification could exist for fighting. Here is a story that makes this quite plain in the military language that writers had learned from the war just concluded and yet a generation later, the world still prepares feverishly for a war only the insane would fight.”
Carter died in 2016 at age 90 after spending most of his career teaching rather than writing. Dr. Carter served as professor of history at Arizona State University, but also wrote non-fiction including “The Creation of Tomorrow: Fifty Years of Magazine Science Fiction” (1977) and “Another Part of the Fifties” (1983).
Dimension X is heard Tuesday nights at 10 p.m., with an encore performance at 1 a.m., over WHAV.
Tonight, Saturday, March 23
Gunsmoke: “There Never Was A Horse,” 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Sunday
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: “Paradise Lost Matter,” 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Monday
Suspense (classic): “One Chef Well Done,” 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Tuesday
Dimension X: “The Last Objective,” 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Wednesday
Great Gildersleeve: Boys Club Dislocates the Jolly Boys, 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Thursday
Our Miss Brooks: Orphan Twins, 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Friday
Couple Next Door: Brownie is Maladjusted, 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Saturday, March 30
Gunsmoke: “Fawn,” Saturday, 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Sunday
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: “Twisted Twin Matter,” 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.