 "Star Wars" was credited with generating a 40% rise in NPR's ratings and quadrupling the network's youth audience overnight.Radio adaptations of the sequels followed with "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1983 and "Return of the Jedi" in 1996.Thanks in large part to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, public radio continued to air a smattering of audio drama until the mid-1980s.