The Bum Steer Matter: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (October 6, 1957)

“The Bum Steer Matter” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 6, 1957. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Johnny Dollar, an insurance investigator, travels to the Lazy JD ranch near Craig, Colorado, after rancher Jake Denham phones him asking for help. When Dollar arrives he learns Denham has died of what was called anthrax, and his daughter Virginia believes her father was murdered. Dollar questions the family, the local doctor and a veterinarian, and begins to doubt the official cause of death. The episode is part of the long-running Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar radio series, first broadcast on CBS Radio on October 6, 1957, with Bob Bailey starring as Johnny Dollar.

Craig, Colorado, and the Lazy JD ranch, 1950s

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Jake Denham, Virginia Denham, Pete Kermag, Dr. Ross, Dr. Cummings, Hal Versky

Listen for: Virginia's suspicion of Mike Craven and the veterinarian's unusual findings on the buried steer

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.