The Good Old Days of Radio Show

If you like your comedy quiet and odd, we’re lining up two back-to-back broadcasts of the offbeat 1944 sitcom Vic and Sade, a show famous for its understated, throwaway humor. The first episode centers on Vic trying (and not exactly succeeding) to collect a $2 debt from a local merchant. In the second, the family is getting ready for an evening out, all heading in different directions, with the usual small talk turning strangely funny.

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This week, we’re back with another dark story from Crime Classics. We are once again joined by researcher Karl Schadow and Bernard Herrmann biographer Steven C Smith, to take us into one of the most chilling true crime stories the series tackled; the infamous tale of Burke and Hare, two men who turned murder into a business, supplying bodies to medical schools in 19th-century Scotland. Along the way, we discuss the cast, the production, and the eerie, minimalist score by Bernard Herrmann, which does a lot with very little to create a sense of unease. 

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It's the first Tuesday of the month, and that means host John Tefteller and radio historian Dr. Joe Webb dig into another rediscovered show from the golden age of crime drama: a 1945 episode of Mr. District Attorney. Originally aired on August 29, 1945, this wartime mystery centers on a black-market racket dealing in stolen red ration points. John and Dr. Webb set the stage with background on wartime rationing, railroad travel limits, and how shows like Mr. District Attorney captured the patriotic mood of the times. They also chat about the episode’s cast, its classic sponsors (Vitalis and Ipana), and share a few great collector stories about how these long-lost programs survived decades of neglect. 

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This week, we’re back with another fascinating entry from Crime Classics. Host John Tefteller is joined by Karl Schadow and Steven C. Smith to take a closer look at the dry narration of Lou Merrill as Thomas Hyland, one of radio’s most unique storytellers. The featured story dives into a real case from 1778, the shocking murder of Joshua Spooner, planned by his wife, Bathsheba Spooner, who would go down in history as the first woman executed for murder in the United States. It’s a dark tale, but like all Crime Classics episodes, it’s told with a surprising mix of sharp humor and historical detail.

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Want to hear what 1950 thought “the future” would sound like? We have an unusual program for you today, an NBC pilot from 1950 called Report from the Future, dramatized news broadcasts delivered as if they’re being reported from years yet to come. It’s part radio drama and part faux newscast. The program jumps through imagined headlines: a manned rocket launching into space, the (fictional) discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb, and a baseball slugger breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record. To make it all seem more believable, the show even folds in “expert” interviews from the era, including a rocket engineer and Major League star Ralph Kiner. More than anything, it plays like a time capsule of mid-century optimism, capturing what Americans in 1950 expected science, exploration, and pop culture to achieve in the decades ahead.

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This week, we’re back in the world of Crime Classics with another offbeat entry, “The Triangle on the Round Table.” Host John Tefteller is joined by Karl Schadow and Steven C. Smith to dig into this 1953 episode, which takes the familiar legend of King Arthur and turns it on its head. Forget shining armor and noble quests, this version leans into dark humor and sharp writing, with knights who feel a lot more like modern, flawed humans than storybook heroes. William Conrad stars as a weary, battle-worn King Arthur, caught in a story full of tension, betrayal, and cynicism.

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Today, John Tefteller sits down with Jerry Haendiges, one of the true pioneers of vintage radio collecting and preservation. Jerry takes you back to the very beginning, when he was literally rescuing transcription discs from radio stations in 1965, back when a lot of places were just tossing them out. He talks about the formation of SPERDVAC (one of the major groups dedicated to saving radio drama), and why digitizing rare recordings matters, especially if we want younger listeners to ever discover this stuff. Jerry also breaks down how he went from collector to key player in syndicating classic radio to stations all over the U.S. We also play full broadcasts of The Shadow and Blondie, two of Jerry’s favorite shows.

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This week, we continue our look at the brilliant and often overlooked series Crime Classics. Host John Tefteller is joined again by experts Karl Schadow and Steven C. Smith to spotlight the August 1953 episode "Your Loving Son, Nero." They dig into the “quadruple threat” talent of Elliott Lewis and the unforgettable music of Bernard Herrmann, who made a small ensemble sound like a full orchestra. Then we hear the episode itself, a darkly fascinating (and sometimes surprisingly funny) take on Emperor Nero and his relentless attempts to get rid of his mother, Agrippina.

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Ready for a little St. Patrick’s Day time travel? Today we are bringing you a 1949 broadcast made for St. Patrick’s Day, hosted by Ray Milland and starring Edmund Gwenn as the storyteller. The story is a whimsical fable called “The Leprechaun Who Didn’t Listen,” and it follows Johnny, a young leprechaun (played by Alan Young) who just will not take advice from his elders or teachers… and keeps paying the price for it.

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We’re kicking off a brand-new ten-week series, this time diving into the 1953 program Crime Classics. Host John Tefteller is joined by two guests, researcher Karl Schadow and biographer Steven C. Smith, to explore how producer Elliott Lewis created one of radio's most unique historical crime dramas, and how composer Bernard Herrmann managed to make it sound epic using only a handful of musicians. This week’s featured episode takes us back to Ancient Rome, 44 B.C., for a stylized retelling of the assassination of Julius Caesar. The story blends real history with just a hint of satire.

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