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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!

Jul 25, 2021

Dragnet was an immensely popular radio, and later TV, series that entertained millions of Americans each week for over a decade. It was also strictly overseen by LAPD Chief William H. Parker, who made sure the show painted his department in the best light and glossed over its abuses of power. In the wake of calls for...


Jul 18, 2021

William Gargan couldn't cut it as a private detective in real life, but he was terrific at playing a gumshoe on screen and on radio. We'll hear him in three old time radio mysteries. First, he's ex-sailor turned private eye Ross Dolan in I Deal in Crime in "The William A. Davis Case" (originally aired on ABC on April 5,...


"The greatest private detective of them all..."

Jul 12, 2021

“I don’t mind a reasonable amount of trouble.” (Sam Spade, The Maltese Falcon)

Dashiell Hammett wasn’t just a writer of detective fiction; he was a real-life detective who also happened to pen some of the greatest mystery novels of the 20th century. His mind and pen brought readers the rough and...


Jul 11, 2021

Make some popcorn for a double feature with two classic film noir dramas recreated for radio. First, Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Young reprise their roles from Crossfire - a murder mystery that shines a spotlight on the horror of anti-Semitism recreated for Suspense (originally aired on CBS on April...


Jul 4, 2021

We're saluting the old time radio heroes of the fourth estate - reporters, editors, and photographers who solved the crimes they covered. We'll hear Staats Cotsworth as Casey, Crime Photographer in "Death in Lover's Lane" (originally aired on CBS on August 7, 1947). Then, the staff of the Illustrated Press hunts for a...