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Welcome to Down These Mean Streets, a weekly trip back to the Golden Age of Radio where we rub elbows with the era's greatest private eyes, cops, and crime-fighters. Since 2013, I've been podcasting everything from cozy mysteries to police procedurals, spotlighting characters ranging from hard boiled gumshoes to amateur sleuths. 

Be sure to tune in each Sunday for adventures of a radio detective and the behind-the-scenes stories of their shows. Join me as we spend time with Sam Spade, Johnny Dollar, Sgt. Joe Friday, and more!

Nov 24, 2013

It's a full serving of Dashiell Hammett's legendary private eye Sam Spade on this week's hour-long episode.  First, Howard Duff is Spade in "The Lazarus Caper," originally aired on CBS on September 12, 1948.  Then (just in time for Thanksgiving), Steven Dunne is Sam in "The Terrified Turkey Caper," originally aired on...


Nov 17, 2013

Saddle up and head west with Joel McCrea as Ranger Jayce Pearson in Tales of the Texas Rangers.  This mix of Western adventure and police procedural presented dramatized versions of actual cases taken from the Rangers' files.  The result was a frontier-style Dragnet that combined two of radio's most popular genres. ...


Nov 10, 2013

We're saluting Dick Powell for his birthday with an hour of radio mystery starring this crooner turned hardboiled star.  First, Powell stars as "the man with the action packed expense account" in the 1948 audition show for Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.  Then, we'll hear him as Richard Diamond, Private Detective in...


Nov 3, 2013

Jack Webb dons his hardboiled hat again as Jeff Regan, Investigator.  In this short-lived series, Webb stars as Regan, private eye and operative for the penny-pinching Anthony J. Lyon.  We'll hear Webb, with Wilms Herbert as Lyon, in "The Lonesome Lady," originally aired on CBS on July 24, 1948.