Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

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!

Dec 21, 2014

It’s time to deck the halls with three radio detectives in the “Down These Mean Streets” holiday special. First, Frank Sinatra is Rocky Fortune in “The Plot to Murder Santa Claus” (first aired on NBC on December 22, 1953). Then, Ranger Jayce Pearson (Joel McCrea) finds a “Christmas Present” on Tales of the...


Dec 14, 2014

For nearly two decades and in almost 1,700 episodes on radio, kindly old Mr. Keen searched for the missing and pursued the guilty. The grandfatherly gumshoe (played by Bennett Kilpack) and his assistant Mike Clancy (Jim Kelly) are on another adventure of mystery and murder in “The Case of the Absent Minded...


Dec 7, 2014

Sydney Greenstreet settles into the armchair of Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout's gargantuan gourmet and irascible (but brilliant) detective. Wolfe will tackle a case only when his bank account demands it, and even then he farms out the fact-finding to his leg man, Archie Goodwin. Greenstreet stars in two radio mysteries: "The...


Nov 30, 2014

Howard Duff was one of radio's brightest stars until the blacklist and "Red scare" paranoia derailed his career. Today, he's fondly remembered as the definitive voice of Sam Spade with the perfect blend of tough guy delivery and wry humor. We'll hear Duff as Spade in "The Death Bed Caper," originally aired on CBS on...


Nov 26, 2014

Just in time for the turkey, we've got Thanksgiving-themed adventures of two old time radio detectives. First, Jack Webb stars as Jeff Regan, Investigator in "The Pilgrim's Progress," first aired on CBS on November 20, 1948. Then, Bob Bailey headlines "Cause for Thanksgiving" from Let George Do It, originally aired...