The Golden Age of Radio - Suspense

I've been a fan of classic radio shows for a while, and fascinated by the era in this country when radio was the only in-home entertainment available.  At one point over 82% of all households had a radio. There were radio shows of every genre: suspense, comedy, mystery, adventure, sci-fi, drama.  Unfortunately, unlike old movies which get to live again on TV (e.g. Turner Classic Movies) most old radio shows are only available at online databases and only listened to by die-hard (and aging) radio fans.  So, occasionally I'll try and find some of the best of those old classics and present them here.  It's like listening to an audio book, but one that was recorded live with some of the best actors of all time, having fun with some of the best stories out there.

My favorite show by far is Suspense, which presented a weekly 1/2 hour long thriller that ran from 1942 to 1962, and logged more than 900 episodes. You can listen to nearly every Suspense show here, and hundreds of other classic shows too.  Suspense, along with all classic radio shows are best listened to in the dark, where your imagination can run free.

Sorry, Wrong Number -08/21/1943 
This is probably the most famous Suspense episode, which stars Agnes Moorehead as an old, invalid woman who overhears a phone conversation of a murder being planned.  Putting a crippled, defenseless woman at the middle of a murder plot gives a gruesome reality to this radio play that really got under the skin of 1940's radio listeners.  If you've never heard this one, you are in for a good thrill. Download here or you can listen below or at this site.




The Hitchhiker -09/02/1942
This one stars Orson Welles and his god-given radio voice.  It's a great, creepy mystery that keeps you questioning 'til the end. Plus, there's a great bonus after the play where Welles is warning the public that without their financial support we may end up in Nazi rule.  He asks the public to enroll in a payroll savings plan where 10 cents of every earned dollar will be loaned to Uncle Sam for the war effort, which he says will result at war-end with "war bonds in your pockets, instead of Axis bonds on your wrists."  Download here or you can listen below or at this site.

Episode 425: Slow To React - This American Life

A recent episode of This American Life entitled Slow To React was really fascinating to me.  This episode was about stories where people were slow to react to a life event for various reasons.  The act one story is the one that really got to me.  It was originally published here in the Denver Westword entitled "Stalking The Boogeyman."  It's a story about a man who hid a dark secret about his childhood his entire life, and how he finally confronted the "boogeyman" at the center of it all.  Listen Here

This American Life

This American Life is a weekly hour-long radio show that has been produced by Chicago Public Radio since 1995, and is broadcast across the country on NPR stations.  Each show centers on a theme, and then presents 2  to 5 stories on that theme produced by different journalists.  Man, that sounds kinda boring, right?  For reasons hard to explain, boring is probably the last descriptor anyone would have for this show.  Maybe that's because of the always-unique weekly themes, or the great introductions provided by host Ira Glass, or the usually perfect music accompaniment provided as the backdrop for each story.  In the end, what really sets this show apart from anything out there on TV or radio, is great storytelling.  The unique and fresh views of daily life that these journalists provide help to keep this show relevant, must-hear radio.

Their latest show entitled "Kid Politics" has stories of instances when kids were asked to govern, and how they did compared to their adult counterparts.  Listen Here