Let's All Go to the Drive-In: An Audio History of the Drive-In Movie Theatre

Abstract

This project is a series of podcasts that look at the history of the drive-in movie theatre from its inception, through its heyday and decline, up to its recent and unexpected resurgence. It examines the drive-in’s shifting role in community life and the ways in which outdoor movie screenings have remained a unique and relevant community experience, serving the public in different ways, at different times. The drive-in the brought moviegoing to new audiences in the 1930s, became an all-in-one family night out after the war, provided a place of privacy and independence for midcentury teens and became entrenched in their culture. Drive-ins managed to survive decades of decline and took on a new role during the COVID-19 pandemic. This podcast covers all these topics, the reasons behind them, all while drawing in fun and, hopefully, entertaining stories from the drive-in’s history.