The Good Old Days of Radio Show

Today, host John Tefteller and radio historian Dr. Joe Webb uncover another rare find; a long-lost episode of the hit 1940s crime drama “Mr. District Attorney.” This one’s been missing for decades until recently discovered in a private collector’s stash. John and Dr. Webb go into the history behind the series and how it became one of the most popular crime shows of its time. They also talk about why so many East Coast programs from...

We're nearing the end of our 10-part adventure Carlton E. Morse 1944 serial in the jungles of Cambodia today. In this chapter, Captain Friday and the crew make a desperate break for it, trying to escape an ancient temple that’s been taken over by a twisted priesthood of men who’ve become something far more savage than human. Their guide, Taquan, a man caught between Western learning and his own fading traditions, leads them through...

It’s time to hang out with one of radio’s original troublemakers. In this episode, we’re spinning The Henry Morgan Show from May 16, 1950, hosted by the “bad boy of radio” himself, Henry Morgan. He’s sharp, irreverent, and famous for taking shots at pretty much everything… including his own sponsors (when he actually had them). Morgan’s joined by Art Carney and Arnold Stang, and the show's packed with sk...

We've made it to chapter 8 of Carlton E. Morse's Adventures By Morse serial. Things get a lot darker as Captain Friday and the rest of the expedition are holed up inside a remote Cambodian temple, cut off from the outside world. As night falls, the conversation turns to local legends—stories of werewolves, human beasts, and ancient curses—made all the more unsettling by strange howls echoing through the jungle. Another pure pulp cl...

It’s Tuesday, so it's back to zany comedy 1940s radio style. This time it's an October 1944 episode of It Pays to Be Ignorant, the “quiz show” where a panel of so-called experts take moronic questions and proudly give the most ridiculous answers possible. And this week’s twist? They’ve got composer Deems Taylor in the mix, acting as the classy, unbothered foil. Expect goofy musical bits, comedians heckli...

The pulp radio adventures of Captain Friday and Skip Turner continue today. The crew finally learn the truth behind their so-called kidnapping, and Patricia and Celia swear they were confronted by a savage, beast-like man in their room. The Cobra King Strikes Back was the second 10-part Carlton E. Morse syndicated series that followed briefly after the first run of Morse's better known serial, I Love A Mystery.

Visit our website: h...

Happy Valentine's! It's been awhile, but today we're back... marching through another great 1947 episode of The Jack Benny Program. But of course because it's Valentine's Day, and Valentine's Day is Jack Benny's birthday, we picked it up. In this episode the gang does a hilarious parody of the movie The Egg and I. And because it’s 1947, Lucky Strike cigarette ads worked right into the comedy.

Visit our w...

The wild goings-on continue in today's chapter of Carlton E. Morse's Adventures By Morse radio serial. Captain Friday and the rest of the expedition are still prisoners, driven deeper into the Cambodian jungle. Wild ponies, narrow jungle trails, and a secret passage hidden behind a waterfall all stand between them and whatever fate awaits. The journey ends inside Hollow Mountain itself, where the prisoners are forced up swaying lad...

John Tefteller and radio historian Dr. Joe Webb are back with another “lost and found” classic: a 1948 episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade. This one was missing for decades until it turned up on an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription disc, and it’s based on Dashiell Hammett’s short story The House in Turk Street. John and Dr. Webb dig into the behind-the-scenes history, from the show’s production quirks and cast lineup to H...

Our pulp escapade into the imagination of Carlton E. Morse continues today with chapter five of Adventures by Morse. Captain Friday and the rest of the expedition wake up as prisoners inside a forgotten Cambodian temple, hauled there by a roaming bandit caravan and at the mercy of the jungle. What follows is a run of vanishing companions, hidden trap doors, and underground passages crawling with things you definitely don’t want to ...

Today we're following up on our commitment to finish the 15-episode run of The Stan Freberg Show. This episode is basically roasting its own cancellation. In the process, Freberg gives an early demonstration of what a brilliant mind he had for creative advertising with wonderfully ridiculous fake ads for “Instant Freberg.” They also do a hardboiled detective spoof called “Sam Spelade.” John wraps things ...

On this episode of The Good Old Days of Radio Show, we plunge deeper into The Cobra King Strikes Back as our jungle adventure continues. After being ambushed at the ruins of Angkor Thom, the ancient walled city in Cambodia that once served as the heart of the Khmer Empire, the team finds itself swept away by a massive caravan into the remote wilderness. Held in stone chambers deep in the jungle, the group must battle fear, fatigue ...

We’re back with part two of John Tefteller’s conversation with Bob Lynes and Barbara Sunday, the dynamic duo behind the long-running Los Angeles radio show Don’t Touch That Dial. This time, they touch on the golden age of radio’s big revival during the ’70s through ’90s. Bobb and Barbara share stories from those early preservation days, the tricky business of royalties and archives, and what it was like to meet the original writers...

It's part 3 of our 10-part adventure expedition today. Last time, the jungle made it clear that nowhere was safe, not even a locked hotel room. A deadly warning sends the group deeper into French Indochina, toward the towering ruins of Angkor Wat. An archaeologist vanishes, strange allies appear, and rumors of an emerald idol hint at forces powerful enough to ignite a rebellion.

Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/

Su...

Today John Tefteller sits down with Bobb Lynes and Barbara Sunday, the hosts of the classic Los Angeles radio show Don’t Touch That Dial. They share stories from their decades in broadcasting and their work with SPERDVAC. Bob talks about growing up glued to the radio and how that passion led him to collect and share vintage programs, while Barbara recalls how she went from listener to co-host. You’ll also hear a clip from one of th...

Our 10-part Carlton E. Morse adventure radio serial continues. Last time, we left our heroes with an escaped prisoner, a vanished girl, and a death chant echoing through the ship. This week, The Cobra King Strikes Back dives even deeper into danger as Dr. Howard Carter and Captain Friday push into the jungles of Cambodia in search of a lost city. Hang on, these radio serials are a bit like salty potato chips: once you start, it's h...

Today’s episode digs into one of the most exciting parts of vintage radio: finding lost recordings. Host John Tefteller is joined by Dr. Joe Webb to talk about how shockingly few recordings from radio’s golden age still exist. But every once in a while, a rare survivor turns up, like today’s episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade from 1947, “The Yule Log Caper,” found on an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription disc. They talk a...

Happy 2026 from The Good Old Days of Radio Show! Today we are launching a 10-week 1944 pure pulp adventure serial The Cobra King Strikes Back, created by master of the cliffhanger, Carlton E. Morse. Set against the exotic backdrop of a voyage to Cambodia, the story brings together two very different missions aboard the same steamship. An archaeological expedition led by Dr. Carter is hunting for a legendary lost city, while Captain...

This week we bring in the New Year, and appropriate with the theme we have a New Year's fantasy from The Columbia Workshop originally broadcast back in 1941. A group of unborn children peer down at the world through a hole in the sky and decide they want no part of it. War, injustice, and cruelty have convinced them to go on strike, refusing to be born at all. Their solution: one baby, Johnny, enters the world with the ability to n...