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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!

Sep 30, 2018

William Gargan is on the case as Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator - the sardonic gumshoe with a healthy sense of humor to go along with his powers of deduction. We'll hear "Murder Masquerade" (originally aired on NBC on August 9, 1953) and "Hay is for Homicide" (originally aired on NBC on August 31, 1954).


Sep 23, 2018

In celebration of what would have been his 98th birthday, we're tipping our hat to William Conrad. Before he was the narrator of The Fugitive and Rocky and Bullwinkle and before he solved TV crimes as Cannon, Conrad was one of the biggest talents of the golden age of radio. He had thousands of credits to his name but he...


Sep 16, 2018

With his polished radio presence and his mellifluous British accent, Tom Conway was a natural as a radio detective, and he put his voice to great use as both Sherlock Holmes and Simon Templar. We'll hear him as Holmes - with Nigel Bruce as Watson - in "The Adventure of the Original Hamlet" (originally aired on ABC on...


Sep 9, 2018

In the film noir classic D.O.A., the detective is also the victim of the crime. Edmond O'Brien, one of radio's Johnny Dollars, recreates his big screen role as Frank Bigelow, a man with only days left to live who is frantically searching for the man who murdered him, in this adaptation from the Screen Directors...


Sep 2, 2018

Alan Ladd didn't just star in mysteries and thrillers on the big screen - audiences could also hear Ladd on their radios in tales of daring detectives and heroes. We'll hear him in "Double Right Cross," an episode of his syndicated series Box 13 where he starred as reporter turned mystery writer and amateur sleuth Dan...