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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!

Jan 29, 2023

Not all radio detectives were cops or private eyes. There were several reporters who cracked cases while they filed stories and met deadlines, and today we'll hear some of their adventures. First, Casey, Crime Photographer comes to the aid of a man framed for murder in "The Laughing Killer" (originally aired on CBS on...


Jan 27, 2023

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my five favorite detective stories from Suspense. Over its twenty year run, "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" presented many great mysteries, including these five tales adapted from stories by some of crime fiction's best writers and starring some of the genre's most interesting...


Jan 22, 2023

We're catching a cable car in San Francisco with three old time radio gumshoes who live and work in the city by the bay. First, Candy Matson solves a pair of murders on an army base in "The Fort Ord Story" (originally aired on NBC on September 23, 1949). Next, Sam Spade is hired to protect a man from a vengeful ex-con...


Jan 15, 2023

It's a mix of winter sports and whodunnit in the Alps with Bob Bailey in a five-part adventure of Johnny Dollar. "The man with the action-packed expense account" heads to Switzerland in pursuit of $100,000 of stolen diamonds, where he hits the slopes and dodges shots, in "The Picture Postcard Matter" (originally aired...


Jan 8, 2023

Winter is upon us, and this week I've picked three old time radio mysteries set during snowstorms. First up, there's a suspicious suicide at a lodge for Barton Drake to solve in Mystery is My Hobby. Then, Mr. and Mrs. North check in for murder at a hotel during a storm. Barbara Britton and Richard Denning star as Pam...