Orson Welles stars as Harry Lime in Re-Imagined Radio episode

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Re-Imagined Radio will open 2025 by sampling from the Old Time Radio classic series, “The Lives of Harry Lime.” Orson Welles stars as both Harry Lime and the narrator.

To begin its 13th season, Re-Imagined Radio will draw on the first tale in the classic series, “Too Many Crooks” (August 1951) and the last, “Greek Meets Greek” (July 1952). The episode premieres at 1 p.m. Jan. 20 over KXRW-FM (99.9), Vancouver, and KXRY-FM (91.1 and 107.1), Portland. Subsequent broadcasts and streams will be provided by local, regional and international broadcast partners.

In all, the radio series featured 52 tales of Lime’s misadventures and provided a prequel to Welles’ role as con artist Harry Lime in the 1949 British noir film “The Third Man.” Welles helped conceptualize the series and contributed to the writing. The series was produced in London.

“Listening to Welles narrate and voice Harry Lime, we hear an artist working his craft to perfection. Welles' voice is famous, and he uses it for maximum effect,” said John Barber, producer and host of Re-Imagined Radio and faculty member of the Creative Media and Digital Arts program at WSU Vancouver.

Re-Imagined Radio premieres episodes on the third Monday of the month on community radio stations KXRW-FM and KXRY-FM. Each episode is streamed globally and is then available as a podcast. Information and listening opportunities are available at reimaginedradio.fm.

Community Partners

Re-Imagined Radio draws on community voice actors, Foley artists, musicians, sound artists and engineers. Partners include KXRW-FM, KXRY-FM, Fuse Audio Design, the Electronic Literature Lab at WSU Vancouver, Marc Rose and Holly Slocum Design, with Sidney Nguyen.

About Re-Imagined Radio

Re-Imagined Radio was begun by Barber in 2013 to celebrate radio storytelling. ”We select, produce and perform classic and contemporary stories across a spectrum of radio genres, from dramas to comedies, from oral to aural histories, from documentaries to fictions, from soundscapes to sonic journeys, from radio to sound art,” Barber said. 

About WSU Vancouver

As one of six campuses of the WSU system, WSU Vancouver offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. The university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, WSU Vancouver helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations. 

WSU Vancouver is located on the homelands of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Peoples of the Lower Columbia Valley. We acknowledge their presence here. WSU Vancouver expresses its respect towards these original and current caretakers of the region. We pledge that these relationships will be built on mutual trust and respect.

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MEDIA CONTACT(S)

Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communication, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@wsu.edu