Race Against Death: The Man Called X (April 21, 1951)

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

“Race Against Death” is an episode of The Man Called X, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 21, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Ken Thurston, the man called X, travels to Puerto Rico to investigate the murder of newspaperman Luis Rubira, a crusader against the Nationalista Party. Working with Rubira's widow Maria and editor Steve Bennett, Ken pursues a lead that points to Pedro Jimenez, a wealthy plantation owner and respected citizen. A meeting with the informant Nina Rodriguez is interrupted when police captain Carlos Mendoza arrests Ken for Rubira's murder, and Ken must escape the officer's custody. The series is Herbert Marshall's dramatic anthology from NBC, and this episode aired on April 21, 1951.

Puerto Rico, including San Juan, a dark-side cafe, and the inland plantation country

Characters: Ken Thurston, Maria Rubira, Steve Bennett, Nina Rodriguez, Carlos Mendoza, Pedro Jimenez, Luis Rubira, Peggy

Listen for: The tense conversation in the plantation library, where Jimenez and his associates plan a coup and Ken's hidden microphones are at risk

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.