Radio Recap: The Grantland Rice Story

The Grantland Rice Story was a 15-minute syndicated program released from September 17, 1955 to September 8, 1956. It was based on the writings of Grantland Rice, a famous sports reporter who had died just before the series was made. In the show, Jimmy Powers would read from Rice's autobiography The Tumult and the Shouting (1945), giving the series a feel similar to that of a book-on-tape. Some episodes feature interviews between Powers and other sports writers who knew Rice, and with some of the sports figures whom Rice wrote about.

I found this a surprisingly interesting program; Rice met a lot of famous athletes in his time and there are lively anecdotes about some; it's also a look into a bygone age, something Powers remarked at the opening of the series as sports journalism in newspapers had already been greatly transformed due to television broadcasting. It also looks at sports which were not widely-known at the time, such as Rice's writing on the golf craze (I noted this phenomenon when I reviewed Judge magazine).

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of The Grantland Rice Story through the playlist below:

2026 Hugo Awards

I've never previously voted in the Hugo Awards, but at the urging from my friend Olav at An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, I decided to try this year.

Now, I read a lot of contemporary comic books and non-fiction, but not much contemporary fiction -- and I've never been an authority on science fiction. I like what I like, but I don't have an expert's view on the genre.

In preparing to vote, I read a lot of material I would have never otherwise sampled. My first surprise was to find a lot of what's nominated in the Hugo Awards isn't for science fiction works - there's an awful lot of fantasy literature - stories of elves, magic schools and what have you. I'm even less qualified to judge the fantasy genre.

The second surprise was how much of the material that is science fiction isn't concerned so much with plot as it is character - not, "here's a science fiction concept," as it is, "here's how the protagonist feels about living amidst science fiction."

I won't discuss all my picks, but for Best Novel I chose Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian science fiction author. The book's about a Nigerian science fiction author (write what you know) whose life changes when new technology helps her get out of her wheelchair.

For Best Novella, I chose Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, a story about robots who exploit bureaucratic loopholes so they can run their own noodle shop. It was charming.

For Best Novelette, I chose The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For by Cameron Reed, which covers transgenderism, cloning and wallcrawling in a very tight package.

For Best Short Story, I chose Laser Eyes Ain't Everything by Effie Seiberg, about a super-hero union and a villain who has a legitimate complaint about accessibility.

For Best Series, I broke my rule on picking science fiction titles and chose The Chronicles of Osreth by Katherine Addison. I read her book The Goblin Emperor years ago and didn't realize she'd added several more books to the series - I like the series a lot, so I was very happy to discover there was more.

For Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, I chose Andor, which was a very hard call - I'd really enjoyed Sinners (if it were horror awards, I'd have picked it) and Superman; I watched Mickey 17 before sending my vote and found it very strong too. Andor, though, had a 2nd season that excelled beyond what I already had considered to be a very strong first season; it's the best Star Wars of this century.

And, of course, I chose An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog for Best Fanzine.

This was fun - I don't know whether I'll vote in the Hugos again, but I've added a number of books to my reading list, so it was worth doing at least once.

Radio Recap: Can You Imagine That?

Can You Imagine That? was a 15-minute syndicated program heard from March 11 to June 5, 1940. It was hosted, written and directed by Lindsay MacHarrie.

Can You Imagine That? featured stories about little-known facts, rather like Ripley's Believe It or Not. What makes it interesting to listen to is that the anecdotes are mostly dramatized; as the show is very short and contains multiple anecdites per episode, the dramas are very quick but well done. Each episode concluded with a story about a famous song, often examining how the song was based on an older tune but with different lyrics. Can You Imagine That? is fine for the type of program it is.

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of Can You Imagine That through the playlist below:

The Lubango vlog is back!

I'm heading back to Lubango with my wife on a new mission trip; here's my new vlog with details!

Radio Recap: Unsolved Mysteries

Unsolved Mysteries was a 15-minute syndicated program from 1936. It featured a variety of "unsolved" mysteries - some of them with supernatural overtones. Many of these will be familiar to fans of true crimes and the supernatural, such as the Lizzie Borden affair, the "mystery" of the Marie Celeste. There's also stories of zombies in Haiti and a pretty good story of seemingly-magical foreknowledge dubbed, "The Toll-Bridge Mystery."

As the episode would near its conclusion, the narrator would announce:

"Out of deference to people who are still alive, character names in these Unsolved Mysteries have been changed. In as much as any solution must of necessity be supposition, liberties of time, place and character exist in the solution that will be presented after you have heard from your sponsor."

The solutions offered by Unsolved Mysteries tend to reject the supernatural where it's present, instead offering reasonable explanations for how events might have transpired. It's a pretty good, rather unsung series, one of the better 1930s syndicated shows I've heard.

There are 27 episodes of Unsolved Mysteries in the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.

Radio Recap: Famous Jury Trials

Famous Jury Trials was an early crime program, heard from January 5, 1936 to June 25, 1949; it started on Mutual, then went to NBC Blue and remained there when the network became ABC. The series drew from real-life criminal cases and dramatized the trials. For example, one episode concerns the trial of Aaron Burr.

The cast included actors like Maurice Franklin, Roger DeKoven, DeWitt McBride, Raymond Edward Johnson, Frank Readick and Mandel Kramer. I'm sure I heard Bill Johnstone as well. It was produced and written by Don Becker.

The series would relate events from within the courtroom; rather than re-enacting the crimes, the crimes would instead be described for the jury, which did, of course, make events appear more subjective.

In the 1950s there was another version of this series produced for Australian radio. Most of what still exists is from the Australian run and collectors haven't done a great job of setting them apart; they tend to be filed together in collections.

There are 6 episodes of Famous Jury Trials in the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library; there are more episodes out there, although most of the surviving programs appear to be from the Australian run.

Radio Recap: Europe Confidential

Europe Confidential was another program from producer Harry Alan Towers, the man behind The Black Musem, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Lives of Harry Lime and Theatre Royal.

As in Towers' other programs, Europe Confidential boasted a big name to draw in listeners - in this case, Basil Rathbone - but Basil was only there to host the episodes (he introdced it under a different title: "The World's Greatest Mysteries."). He would instead introduce the adventures of protagonist Mike Kinoy; it sounds like Towers used the same recording of Rathbone's introduction in every episode:

"In drama and fiction, newspapermen are invariably tough hard-boiled characters. In real life this is, well, it's not necessarily true, although several newspaper men I've known were as colourful as anything fiction has ever had to offer. Mike, whom you'll meet in a moment, is based on a real person who actually works for the European edition of a famous American newspaper. Not only is the character real, but, well, many of the stories which Mike tells are also based on fact. The tale you're going to hear today, for instance, you may even recognize from the headlines in your newspaper of, well, not so long ago. In a moment, Mike will introduce you to another mystery solved and signed with his own unmistakable trademark: Europe Confidential."

I've tried to be nice to Towers' works in my previous recaps but I have nothing kind to say about Europe Confidential; it uses the same musical bridges in his other works but he seemed inept in employing them, striking a suspenseful chord when nothing suspenseful had happened; exciting music when nothing exciting is happening. It's simply a dull program, I cannot recommend it, not even if you want to hear Rathbone slumming.

There are 22 episodes of Europe Confidential in the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.