The Big Story|Old Time Radio Mysteries artwork

Performing Arts · Adam Graham

The Big Story|Old Time Radio Mysteries

by Adam Graham

The first half of the twentieth century was a golden age of American journalism. Major cities supported multiple competing newspapers, many issuing several editions a day. Print magazines flourished. In that competitive landscape, reporters often pursued stories with fearless determination—uncovering corruption, confronting criminal enterprises, and helping to solve real cases that shaped public life. The Big Story (1947–1955) brought these accounts to radio, dramatizing true reporting drawn from newspapers across the country. Performed by New York’s finest radio talent, the series honored the craft of investigative journalism and the people who practiced it. The program inspired a television adaptation, which ran from 1949–1957. In this podcast feed, host Adam Graham presents all known circulating episodes of The Big Story, offering listeners a vivid window into the era when journalism was both a calling and a public trust.

Chart trend

Position in the Performing Arts chart (US), last 90 days.

#144
all-time peak
4
days in the top 200 since Jul 2026

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

The Big Story: The Biggest Catch

Today's Mystery: Young journalism student Don Morrissey is determined to prove he has what it takes to become a full-time reporter for his hometown newspaper in quiet Elk

Sep 8
34 min

The Big Story: Hot Lead Catches a Cold Blooded Killer

Today's Mystery: Miami Herald reporter William Adams joins the investigation after a well-dressed stranger is found shot to death beneath a bridge in the Everglades. With

Sep 1
33 min

The Big Story: Reporter Risks Life to Avenge a Friend's Murder

Today's Mystery: When a Butte service-station attendant disappears under mysterious circumstances, his lifelong friend, Helena Independent Record reporter Alan Copperthwa

Aug 25
44 min

The Big Story: Cord Around Her Neck

Today's Mystery:West Seattle Herald reporter Stuart Whitehouse gets an unexpected opportunity to scoop the city's larger newspapers when a woman is found murdered in her

Aug 18
32 min

The Big Story: The Man Who Wanted What He Couldn't Have

Today's Mystery: Salt Lake City Tribune reporter Cluster M. Nielsen investigates the murder of a young traveler whose final journey ends on a lonely Utah highway. As the

Aug 11
37 min

The Big Story: Forty Minutes to Meet a Deadline

Today's Story: Cleveland Press reporter Bus Bergen believes he has an open-and-shut murder case wrapped up in just forty minutes. But as the trial unfolds, a nagging doub

Aug 4
31 min

The Big Story: More Tragic than Murder

Today's Mystery: When rumors spread through rural Kansas that a woman has concealed her mother's death for years, Hiawatha Daily World reporter Virgil Hill uncovers a hea

Jul 28
33 min

The Big Story: Poker Game Ends in Death

Today’s Mystery: When a suburban poker game ends in a deadly holdup, veteran Chicago reporter Bill Doherty becomes intrigued by the teenage brother of one of the dead gun

Jul 21
29 min

The Big Story: The Case of the Cautious Killer

Today’s Mystery: Freshly hired cub reporter Ed Neumeier expects to spend his first day covering routine local stories while the veteran reporters chase a sensational dou

Jul 7
38 min

The Big Story: Dictionary and a Telephone Line Lead to a Killer

Today’s Mystery:When a young wife disappears from a Colorado mountain town, reporter Bernard Beckwith notices inconsistencies in her husband’s story that no one else seem

Jul 7
34 min

The Big Story: The Killer with the Mind of a Child

Today's Mystery:When three people are murdered in a quiet Utah community, reporter T.R. Johnson finds himself drawn into the hunt for a killer who seems to vanish into th

Jun 23
41 min

The Big Story: A Dead Certainty

Today's Mystery: When a 69-year-old factory worker is found beaten to death in his ransacked bungalow, police quickly focus on a suspicious stranger seen in the neighborh

Jun 16
34 min

The Big Story: Bobby Sox Hustling

Today's Mystery:City editor Paul Schoenstein becomes determined to uncover the forces behind a wave of juvenile crime, gambling, vice, and exploitation spreading through

Jun 9
36 min

The Big Story: Puritan Morality and Violent Death

Today's Mystery: Reporter Albert Prince investigates the strange death of a respected Hartford meteorologist whose apparent chloroform overdose hides a deeply troubled pr

Jun 2
35 min

The Big Story: Cornered Rats Always Squeal

Today's Mystery:A reporter believes that a police informer is hiding something and sets out to fo find the truth. Original Radio Broadcast:August 16, 1950 Originating i

May 26
32 min

The Big Story: Death in the Family

Today’s Mystery:Two children are murdered, apparently killed by their father in a murder-suicide, but a reporter senses that something is wrong. Original Radio Broadcast

May 19
32 min

The Big Story: Shotgun and Fatal Accident

Today's Mystery: A wealthy man claims that his wife was accidentally killed by a shotgun. A reporter searches for evidence that the wife was murdered. Original Radio Bro

May 12
30 min

The Big Story: New Facts About a 26-Year Frame-Up

Today's Mystery: Reporter Ralph Goll becomes suspicious of the results of a murder case when he learns that the detective involved had later been convicted of graft and t

May 5
32 min

The Big Story: Gambling and Divorce Can Lead to Murder

Today’s Mystery:A reporter investigates the murder of a real estate developer who was killed after taking a prospective client to a property. Original Radio Broadcast: J

Apr 28
31 min

The Big Story: Murder and the Frustrated Father

Today's Mystery: A jealous father's response to his daughter's surprise engagement leads to tragedy. Original Radio Broadcast: January 4, 1950 Originating from New York

Apr 21
33 min

Chart positions

Where The Big Story|Old Time Radio Mysteries ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 10, 2026).

#144 ▲ 17 Performing Arts US

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About The Big Story|Old Time Radio Mysteries on Reason.fm

Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of The Big Story|Old Time Radio Mysteries, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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