The Mutual Audio Network

Old-Time Radio Essentials' fourth season continues with our annual Thanksgiving Special, which is Patte's pick, an episode of "Fountain of Fun", a weekly comedy-variety series that ran on Cincinnati station W-L-W from 1942 to 1944. Will co-hosts Paul and Pete survive the onslaught of corny jokes? Will they swear off Milky Way bars forever? TUNE IN AND FIND OUT!

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It is our immense pleasure and with infinite gratitude to Cindy McGean and Marc Rose, and in praise of the immortal Sam Mowry, we're proud to present for Monday Matinee "The Willamette Radio Workshop" beginning with "A Minotaur in the Whitehouse" by Jodi Lorimer. Tonight's opener is a short monologue, that speaks of “an agent of chaos, the bull in the China shop of democracy, on a smash-and-grab mission of destruction and self-enrichment”. And asks the question “Where are the deities to punish this monster?”

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This week the masters of audio re-imaginings, John Barber and Marc Rose and The Voices perform Archibald MacLeish's "The Fall of the City" with some samples from Jack J. Ward's "Great Day for a War" to provide present day context. "The Fall of the City" follows the collapse of a city under an unnamed dictator and the ambiguous relationship humans have with freedom. We want freedom but we also like order and structure. How much freedom and liberty are we willing to give up to enjoy order and structure? Because of this ambiguity, we both fear and welcome the conqueror. So in with the old and mixed with the new!

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It's middle of September! Federal Stonecipher opens the Matinee this week for Sonic Society #733, A Minotaur in the White House and OTR Essentials Ep 45!

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We're back to Sunday Showcase's Mutual Presents as we introduce another favourite from the Mutual Broadcasting System, our spiritual forefather to the Mutual Audio Network- Welcome to "The Crime Club"! The Crime Club aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System as a half-hour weekly radio series, beginning on December 2, 1946 and continuing until October 16, 1947, a run of 47 episodes. It aired on Mondays at 8 p.m. through December and then on Thursdays at 10 p.m. It was also heard on Wednesdays and Sundays on some stations.

Each installment was introduced by the series host, The Librarian, portrayed by Barry Thomson and Raymond Edward Johnson (who was perhaps better known as the host of Inner Sanctum Mysteries). The series featured murder and mystery dramas, some of which had already been published by the Doubleday Crime Club. A new Crime Club book was made available to the public each week and distributed though local newsstands and bookstores.

Each show in the series began the same way. The telephone rings and the Librarian answers "Hello, I hope I haven't kept you waiting. Yes, this is the Crime Club. I'm the Librarian. (name of the program)? Yes, we have that Crime Club story for you. Come right over. (The organist plays a creepy tune). The doorbell chimes. "Ah you're here. Good. Take the easy chair by the window. Comfortable? The book is on this shelf." (The organist plays a scary chord). Here it is - (name of the program, the author and a very brief summary). "Let's look at it under the reading lamp." The Librarian begins reading the prologue for the tale, and another Crime Club offering begins.

This week we start things off with "Death Blew Out the Match" and "Mr. Smith's Hat"!

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A terrific premiere is here! A lost episode from one of the greatest audio dramas to come from Radio's Golden Age -- "Gunsmoke."  Gunsmoke is the show that single-handedly created the "adult western" series drama genre...the show that moved the genre from the kid-centered "Lone Ranger" into darker, more mature themes... the show that ran for 10 years and nearly 500 radio episodes, and 20 years and 600 more chapters on television. 

A handful of Gunsmoke audio recordings have been lost for seven decades, and Project Audion is recreating one of those missing episodes - in fact, Gunsmoke's second-ever show from May 3, 1952. Only the first seven minutes of the show survive as a recording, so this will be the first opportunity to hear this great early episode in 73 years! Tune in when our cross-country cast brings Marshall Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, Chester and others back to life in our live Zoom recording of Gunsmoke, a dark drama entitled "Ben Thompson."

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Finding a clue from their last episode, David seeks out the connective thread of "Alice Isn't Dead" from Welcome to Nightvale Presents and Joseph Fink. A truck driver searches across America for the wife she had long assumed was dead. In the course of her search, she will encounter not-quite-human serial murderers, towns literally lost in time, and a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman. The Episode: "Part 1, Chapter 1: Omelet" leads Jack and David deeper into the mystery! They take a moment to release the new Mutual Audio Network website!

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Welcome to Sunday Showcase! As MONA provides the rundown of this week, Jack is busily working on the soft Beta release of the new Mutual website. Our trilogy is Sonic Society #869, Project Audion #74: Gunsmoke, and Mutual Presents- Crime Club #6.18!

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Tom Swift is continuing his adventure among the Diamond Makers with Chapter 22: Prisoners!

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After cleverly escaping Herbert Calkins’ test, Superman thinks he’s in the clear. But Calkins isn’t giving up yet. In fact, he’s enlisted a more than willing assistant to help him prove his assertion that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same! Plus, in today’s Important Message, Billy and all his friends are excited about the Bat-Supers Club, and we’ve got more details on what you’ll get with your membership!

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