North of Thirty Eight: The Man Called X (February 17, 1951)

The Man Called X, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“North of Thirty Eight” is an episode of The Man Called X, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 17, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Ken Thurston and Pagan lead a rescue mission into North Korea to extract Roland Patterson, a Far Eastern expert hiding in the village of Chinchung with the former Harvard professor Lee Chan. After parachuting in, they reach Chan's house and find Patterson gravely ill in a loft. Lieutenant Mau, the local People's Army officer, presses Chan for information about the men he has been sheltering, and Chan's granddaughter Lee Song is at the center of the danger. The episode is part of the series The Man Called X, first broadcast on February 17, 1951 on NBC, with Herbert Marshall in the title role.

North Korea, the village of Chinchung and the surrounding countryside, and Tokyo, 1951

Characters: Ken Thurston, Pagan, Roland Patterson, Lee Chan, Lee Song, Lieutenant Mau, Commander Bond, Chief

Listen for: Lieutenant Mau's threats against Lee Chan and his granddaughter, and Ken Thurston's plan to move Patterson out of the village

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.