A golden-age Christmas classic — with bonus commentary and festive trivia after the show.

The Campbell Playhouse – “A Christmas Carol” (1939)

Step back into the golden age of radio with The Campbell Playhouse, hosted by Orson Welles. In this 1939 holiday broadcast, Lionel Barrymore delivers his definitive performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol — a timeless story of redemption, compassion, and the ghosts that haunt us toward grace.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for Porcupine’s bonus commentary — including:• The history behind Barrymore’s legendary annual Scrooge performance• How Orson Welles turned Dickens into pure radio cinema• And why this 1939 version remains the crown jewel of classic Christmas radio

Originally aired: December 24, 1939

Approx. runtime: 62 minutes

Music Credit:

"We Wish you a Merry Christmas" - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A classic crime drama from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show.

Broadway Is My Beat – “Nick Norman and Santa Claus” (1950)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Broadway Is My Beat, the lyrical noir series where Detective Danny Clover patrols “the gaudy, the bright, the tawdry Broadway.” In this 1950 Christmas story, “Nick Norman and Santa Claus,” Clover’s holiday beat takes a bittersweet turn — revealing that even amid tinsel and neon, there are small mercies waiting to be found.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including how the writers used Christmas to explore human fragility, why Broadway Is My Beat stood apart from other radio noir dramas, and what makes Danny Clover one of the most poetic detectives in audio history.

Originally aired: December 1949

Approx. runtime: 32 minutes

A classic psychological thriller from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show.

Suspense – “A Murderous Revision” (1951)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Suspense, the show that promised “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” In this 1951 classic, “A Murderous Revision,” Richard Widmark stars as a screenwriter desperate to rewrite his latest script — and perhaps, his own fate. But when fiction begins to blur with reality, even a typewriter can become a weapon.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including the evolution of Suspense in its postwar years, the rise of self-referential storytelling in 1950s radio, and how Richard Widmark’s trademark intensity elevated every script he touched.

Originally aired: September 27, 1951

Approx. runtime: 30 minutes

A chilling 1946 tale of mirrors, madness, and the terror of seeing too much.

Suspense – “The Thing in the Window” (1946)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Suspense — the legendary “theater of thrills.” In this haunting classic, “The Thing in the Window,” a man begins to lose his grip on reality when no one believes what he says he sees.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including how the story prefigures Rear Window, the sound design tricks that made it unforgettable, and what “mirror horror” revealed about postwar anxieties.

Originally aired: 1946

Approx. runtime: 29 minutes

A prophetic radio thriller where technology turns on its masters.

Dimension X: “The Roads Must Roll” (1950)

⚙️ A classic science-fiction thriller from the golden age of radio.

In Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Roads Must Roll,” America’s highways have evolved into vast moving belts carrying millions of travelers. But when the engineers who keep those roads rolling revolt, progress itself comes to a standstill.

First aired in 1950 on Dimension X, this prophetic story explores technology, power, and the delicate machinery of civilization.

After the broadcast: stay tuned for commentary on Heinlein’s vision of automation, early sci-fi sound design, and the echoes of this story in modern life.

📅 Originally aired: June 17, 1950
⏱ Length: Approx. 34 minutes

Two timelines. One unraveling mind. Sherlock Holmes faces the crime within himself.

WARNING: MATURE LANGUAGE AND SITUATIONS

Sherlock Holmes: The Last Analysis – Episode 3: “Impulse”

A modern audio drama inspired by the BBC Sherlock universe — where the world’s greatest detective faces his most personal case: the dissection of his own mind.

In Episode 3, featuring Chapters 5 & 6, Sherlock Holmes’s therapy sessions with Dr. Arthur Doyle deepen, even as a violent night from his past resurfaces. Two timelines intertwine — the detective and the patient — as intellect collides with impulse, and guilt becomes its own crime.

Originally aired: December 2025
Approx. runtime: 27 minutes

A classic horror mystery from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show.

Inner Sanctum – “The Voice on the Wire” (1945)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Inner Sanctum , the legendary series where gallows humor and ghost stories shared the same creaking door. In this 1945 classic, “The Voice on the Wire,” a woman trapped on an island estate begins receiving eerie phone calls — from someone who sounds exactly like herself.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including how this episode became one of the series’ most haunting sound designs, why creator Himan Brown believed humor made horror scarier, and how “The Voice on the Wire” still unnerves listeners eighty years later.

Originally aired: November 29, 1945

Approx. runtime: 32 minutes

A classic thriller from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show.

Suspense – “Drive-In” (1946)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Suspense, the long-running CBS series that made “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills” a household phrase. In this 1946 classic, “Drive-In,” Hollywood legend Judy Garland stars as a young car-hop who offers a customer a lift home — only to discover she’s not alone in the dark.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including why this was Garland’s only appearance on Suspense, how the series used movie-star casting to boost ratings, and why this episode’s quiet menace still works nearly eighty years later.

Originally aired: November 21, 1946

Approx. runtime: 32 minutes

A classic survival horror from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show.

Escape – “Three Skeleton Key” (1950)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Escape, the series that dared listeners to imagine the limits of fear and endurance. In this 1950 classic, “Three Skeleton Key,” three lighthouse keepers find themselves besieged by thousands of ravenous rats after a derelict ship crashes on the rocks below. Isolation, hunger, and madness close in as the men realize escape may be impossible.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including how this story originated in a French adventure magazine, why Vincent Price’s performance made it legendary, and how radio engineers created the unforgettable sound of the swarming rats.

Originally aired: March 17, 1950

Approx. runtime: 32 minutes

A classic comedy from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show.

Fibber McGee & Molly – “Cleaning Out Closet for Scrap Drive” (1942)

Step back into the golden age of radio with Fibber McGee & Molly, the hilarious husband-and-wife duo whose everyday antics made them America’s favorite neighbors. In this 1942 classic, “Cleaning Out Closet for Scrap Drive,” Fibber takes on a patriotic project — clearing out his overstuffed hall closet for the wartime scrap drive — but chaos erupts the moment the door creaks open.

After the broadcast, stay tuned for bonus commentary and behind-the-scenes trivia — including how the “hall closet” gag became one of radio’s most famous running jokes, how wartime patriotism found its way into small-town comedy, and why this episode still makes historians and collectors smile today.

Originally aired: April 7, 1942

Approx. runtime: 28 minutes