The Porcupine Presents ...

A classic pulp horror thriller from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. The Shadow – “The Man Who Dreamed Too Much” (1944) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Shadow , the legendary crime-fantasy series where Lamont Cranston wages war against the forces of evil from the darkness itself. In this 1944 episode, “The Man Who Dreamed Too Much,” a wealt...

A nostalgic American road trip audio memoir — where getting lost reveals far more than the map ever could. Help, I've Been Kidnapped by Three Batshit Crazy Women in a Crappy Ford Contour – Episode 5: "Chaos & Control" As the family leaves St. Louis behind and begins following the fractured remnants of historic Route 66 through Missouri, what should have been a straightforward dri...

A classic psychological horror tale from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. Escape – “Evening Primrose” (1947) Step back into the golden age of radio with Escape , the legendary anthology series devoted to danger, paranoia, adventure, and the strange corners of the human imagination. In this 1947 episode, “Evening Primrose,” a struggling poet abandons ordina...

A classic domestic sitcom from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. My Favorite Husband – “Liz and George Are Handcuffed” (1949) Step back into the golden age of radio with My Favorite Husband , the beloved Lucille Ball comedy series that helped lay the groundwork for I Love Lucy. In this 1949 episode, “Liz and George Are Handcuffed,” an innocent game of cops-...

A classic noir detective mystery from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. Richard Diamond, Private Detective – “The Leland Gibson Murder” (1949) Step back into the golden age of radio with Richard Diamond, Private Detective , the witty postwar detective series starring Dick Powell as wisecracking ex-cop Richard Diamond. In this 1949 episode, “The Leland Gibso...

A classic gothic horror tale from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. The Hall of Fantasy – “The Cask of Amontillado” (1953) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Hall of Fantasy , the atmospheric supernatural anthology series dedicated to tales of the strange, the macabre, and the unknown. In this 1953 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of A...

A nostalgic American road trip audio memoir — where family chaos meets Route 66 Americana. Help, I’ve Been Kidnapped by Three Batshit Crazy Women in a Crappy Ford Contour – Episode 4: “The Long Way” After surviving the drive to St. Louis, Corie, Jackie, Jamie, and Bobbie find themselves standing at the threshold of a different kind of journey. In Episode Four — “The Long Way” — our travelers explo...

A classic noir adventure from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. The Saint – “Cupid and the Corpse” (1950) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Saint , the stylish crime-adventure series starring Vincent Price as Simon Templar — the suave gentleman rogue who somehow manages to treat murder investigations like social occasions. In this 1950 episode...

A classic psychological horror thriller from Canada— plus bonus commentary after the show. Nightfall – “How Did You Get My Name?” (1980) Step back into the darker side of radio drama with Nightfall , the acclaimed Canadian horror anthology that brought psychological paranoia, urban dread, and modern existential horror to late twentieth-century radio. In this 1980 episode, “How Did You Get My Name?...

A classic historical courtroom drama from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary after the show. You Are There – “Witchcraft Trials at Salem” (1947) Step back into the golden age of radio with You Are There , the groundbreaking documentary drama series that placed CBS reporters directly inside history’s most dramatic and unsettling moments. In this 1947 classic, “Witchcraft Trials at Sale...

A classic swamp horror thriller from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary after the show. The Mysterious Traveler – “The Man the Insects Hated” (1947) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Mysterious Traveler , the eerie anthology series that invited listeners each week into worlds of terror, irony, madness, and the uncanny. In this 1947 classic, “The Man the Insects Hated,” a...

A nostalgic American road trip audio memoir — where family chaos meets Route 66 Americana. Help, I’ve Been Kidnapped by Three Batshit Crazy Women in a Crappy Ford Contour – Episode 3: “Snapshots” Welcome back to the original Porcupine Presents series inspired by a real 2003 cross-country family road trip. The road west is finally underway. The routines are forming. The personalities are emerging....

A classic literary detective mystery from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary after the show. The Adventures of Nero Wolfe – “The Final Page” (1951) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Adventures of Nero Wolfe , the sophisticated mystery series starring Sydney Greenstreet as the brilliant, orchid-loving detective Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin as his wisecracking assistant a...

What happens when technology stops trying to change the world — and starts trying to change us? “The Hammer and the Silo” | Apple TV and the Trifecta of Dystopian Visions (Severance, Silo, Pluribus) This audio essay examines Severance , Silo , and Pluribus — three very different Apple TV science-fiction series that arrive at remarkably similar questions about technology, utopia, and the dangerous...

A classic sci-fi drama from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia. Dimension X – “Martian Death March” (1951) Step back into the golden age of radio with Dimension X , the groundbreaking science fiction anthology that used alien worlds and futuristic adventures to explore humanity’s deepest fears and failures. In this 1951 classic, “Martian Death March,” a young boy witnesses...

A classic pulp sci-fi adventure from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary after the show. The Shadow – “The Man Who Murdered Time” (1939) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Shadow , the legendary pulp adventure series starring the mysterious Lamont Cranston and his companion Margo Lane in battles against criminal masterminds, strange scientific terrors, and the forces of da...

A classic psychological noir drama from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary after the show. Night Beat – “The Night Is a Weapon” (1950) Step back into the golden age of radio with Night Beat , the atmospheric late-night series starring Frank Lovejoy as Chicago reporter Randy Stone, a newspaperman who prowls the city after midnight searching less for headlines than for wounded souls and...

A nostalgic American road trip audio memoir — where family chaos meets Route 66 Americana. Help, I’ve Been Kidnapped by Three Batshit Crazy Women in a Crappy Ford Contour – Episode 2: “Beginnings” Before the Ford Contour ever leaves Pennsylvania, we need to understand the people inside it. In Episode Two — “Beginnings” — Corie takes a detour into the history of Reading, Pennsylvania, the peculiar...

A classic radio comedy from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. The Halls of Ivy – “Poetry Reading” (1950) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Halls of Ivy , the warm and witty campus comedy starring Ronald Colman and Benita Hume as William and Victoria Hall. In this 1950 classic, “Poetry Reading,” a seemingly harmless comment passed along by the...

A classic noir detective drama from the golden age of radio — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. Broadway Is My Beat – “Spring Death Is Round the Corner” (1953) Step back into the golden age of radio with Broadway Is My Beat , the rain-soaked noir drama where jazz, loneliness, and murder drift together beneath the neon lights of postwar New York. In this 1953 classic, “Spring Death I...

A classic cosmic horror thriller — plus bonus commentary and trivia after the show. Quiet, Please – “Nothing Behind the Door” (1947) Step back into the golden age of radio with Quiet, Please , the eerie and philosophically unsettling suspense series created by Wyllis Cooper. In this 1947 classic, “Nothing Behind the Door,” three criminals carrying out a seemingly straightforward scheme travel high...

A classic radio mystery with Vincent Price — plus bonus commentary after the show. The Saint – “The Carnival Murder” (1951) Step back into the golden age of radio with The Saint , the stylish adventure series starring the suave and ever-unflappable Simon Templar. In this 1951 classic, “The Carnival Murder,” Vincent Price finds himself drawn into a shadowy world of carnival performers, deception, a...

A nostalgic American road trip audio memoir — where family chaos meets Route 66 Americana. Help I’ve Been Kidnapped by Three Bat-Shit Crazy Women in a Crappy Ford Contour | 1 : “The Kidnappers” Welcome to Season 2 of The Porcupine Presents and the premiere of an all-new original series inspired by a real 2003 cross-country family road trip. When Corie’s grandmother Jackie suddenly announces that t...

A classic literary adaptation from the twilight years of radio drama — plus bonus commentary after the show. The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater - “The Adventures of Oliver” (1977) Step back into a curious moment in broadcast history with The Adventures of Oliver , produced as part of The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater . In this 1977 adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist , a st...

A classic literary suspense from radio’s golden age — plus bonus commentary and trivia. Suspense – “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (1953) Step back into the golden age of radio with Suspense , the definitive anthology of psychological and literary drama. In this 1953 adaptation of Charles Dickens’s final, unfinished novel, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” obsession, secrecy, and moral ambiguity take cen...