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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!

Mar 23, 2025

The action is on and off the basketball court this week as Superman battles a hate group that targets a high school team just because of the ethnicities of its players. Clayton "Bud" Collyer stars as Clark Kent and the Man of Steel in "The Knights of the White Carnation," a serialized adventure that aired on Mutual from...


Mar 16, 2025

Sound the alarm! We've got fugitives on the lam in these radio mysteries - each with an escape from jail at the center of the story. A convict Boston Blackie put behind bars is out and making his way to Blackie's door in a syndicated mystery, and Richard Diamond, Private Detective suspects an escaped gangster is back in...


Mar 12, 2025

Our bonus series spotlighting the serialized adventures of Johnny Dollar continues with "The Molly K Matter," a mystery that brings Dollar to San Francisco to investigate what caused the titular freighter to sink to her untimely end. Bob Bailey stars as "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" in this...


Mar 9, 2025

Place your bets with these old time radio mysteries involving gamblers and the (sometimes) crooked games they play. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson find murder among the roulette tables of a French casino in "The Case of the Double Zero," starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (originally aired on Mutual on November 19,...


Mar 2, 2025

It's a wonderful night for Oscar! The Academy Awards will be handed out this evening, so in celebration of Hollywood's biggest night, here are four old time radio mysteries - each starring an actor who took home a golden statuette. Edmond O'Brien (Best Supporting Actor for The Barefoot Contessa) is Johnny Dollar in "The...