The New Paul Harvey

One of the most distinct memories that I have of growing up is my father getting ready for work in the afternoon (he worked nights as a driver for UPS) and listening to the radio. He would go about shaving and getting dressed all while the radio played, but it wasn't music. No, the show that I remember hearing as a little kid was that of Paul Harvey as he told us "The Rest of the Story." These stories fascinated me, as much for the way that Harvey told the story as for the content, which always kept you guessing as to what was really going on.

Now I have discovered a new show, a podcast really, that does the exact same thing. Mike Rowe, host of "Dirty Jobs" and "Somebody's Gotta Do It", as well as the voice of numerous other shows, such as "Deadliest Catch", has a podcast. The show, called "The Way I Heard It", gives you stories for "the curious mind with a short attention span" and is really quite good.

The episodes are short, all under 10 minutes, and give you stories about people that you already know, but you don't know who they are until the end. It's really enjoyable and gives me the same sense of fascination that I had all those years ago listening to Paul Harvey. Try it out and see what you think.

Good Day.

BTW, this is my 200th post. Not bad for something I started on a lark.

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Old Timey Goodness

People that know me are aware that I love old time radio programs. Programs like Jack Benny, The Shadow, Superman, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, Philip Marlowe, etc are all right in my wheelhouse. In fact, my default satellite radio station is Radio Classics, which we listen to while eating dinner every night.

Readers of this blog will know that I also love podcasts, most of which are more like talk radio than radio drama. However, my good friend, and fraternity brother, Bill Kokal, knowing my tastes, pointed me towards Decoder Ring Theatre. Unfortunately, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of episodes on their feed and put off listening for almost a year.

That was probably one of the worst decisions of my podcast listening habit, as all of their shows (yes, I said ALL) are right up my alley. From the hard boiled detective series "Black Jack Justice" to the pulp super-heroics of "The Red Panda Adventures", and even the side shows that go into science fictions or horror, everything is super high quality. The shows are so good that I'm not allowed to listen to "The Red Panda" without my wife and daughter!

If you're anything like me, and the fact that you're reading this means that you tend that way, I'd highly recommend checking out all of the DRT offerings. You can go through their website or check some out on their YouTube Channel.

Something else I would recommend would be The Red Panda Comics, of which there are currently 10. I'm reading those and the writing is still top notch (as Gregg Taylor writes these as well as the show) and the artwork fits it very well. I haven't had a chance to read the novels, but they're on my list. All of these are available on Amazon, but you might want to just go to the DRT website to check them out.