Two Mothers: Gunsmoke (September 18, 1960)

“Two Mothers” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 18, 1960. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Dillon arrests Jake Meissner for killing a man in a drunken brawl. Jake's mother, Ms. Meissner, comes to see Dillon and insists her boy was a good, God-fearing man led astray by drink. When Dillon explains the law must take its course and Jake will hang on Thursday, Ms. Meissner makes a chilling threat: she will kill the marshal if her son is executed.

Dodge City, Kansas - the marshal's office and surrounding town

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Ms. Henshaw, Jake Meissner, Ms. Meissner, The Calhoun brothers

Listen for: A tense confrontation between Marshal Dillon and a grieving mother who crosses the line from pleading for mercy to making a death threat against the law itself.

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.