Livvie's Loss: Gunsmoke (April 13, 1958)

“Livvie's Loss” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 13, 1958. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When young Ben Redgate defies his mother Livvie and follows his drunken father into town, tensions explode in the family. Later that night, a saloon burns down, and all evidence points to Livvie, who earlier declared she wanted to see every saloon in Kansas burn. Marshal Dillon must determine the truth behind the fire and its tragic consequences.

Dodge City, Kansas, in and around the Long Branch Saloon and Marshal Dillon's office

Characters: Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, Ben Redgate, Livvie Redgate, Horatio Redgate, Chester, Doc, Kitty

Listen for: The clash between a mother trying to protect her son from his father's influence and the boy's desire to prove himself a man; the mounting tension as the story moves toward a shocking discovery about who was actually in the burning saloon.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.