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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!

Feb 23, 2025

All the world’s a stage, but as our radio detectives discover this week the theatre offers no respite from mysteries to solve. Each of our stories involves the theatre, with crimes taking place onstage, backstage, and sometimes in the aisles. First, as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce...


Feb 19, 2025

We're kicking off a new bonus series and a deep dive into arguably the best radio detective series of all time: the serialized run of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar starring Bob Bailey as "the man with the action-packed expense account." This beloved incarnation of the adventures of America's fabulous freelance insurance...


Feb 16, 2025

With winter weather keeping things chilly, here's a collection of old time radio mysteries set against a backdrop of snow. First, Dick Powell survives a killer's bullet but gets trapped by a blizzard in "Snowbound" from Rogue's Gallery (originally aired on Mutual on May 9, 1946). Jane Wyman is snowed in at a mountain...


Feb 9, 2025

Back to new episodes next week, but for now let's celebrate the anniversary of the debut of Night Beat with my five favorite episodes. The nocturnal adventures of Chicago reporter Randy Stone premiered on February 6, 1950, and here are my picks for his best stories. We'll hear the show's first episode ("Zero,"...