What happens
Martin Arrowsmith, a young medical student, becomes fascinated with bacteriology after meeting the demanding Dr. Gottlieb, who sees promise in him. Martin's path takes him from medical school to a hospital where he meets Leora Tozer, a probationary nurse who becomes his wife. Their early life together is shaped by the tension between Martin's dedication to real science and the practical demands of earning a living. This Campbell Playhouse presentation of Arrowsmith, from the Mercury Theatre on the Air series, first aired on February 3, 1939, with Helen Hayes and Orson Welles in the lead roles, adapting Sinclair Lewis's novel about a doctor's search for scientific integrity.
Winnemac medical school, Zenith Hospital, and later a small town in Pennsylvania, in the early twentieth century
Characters: Martin Arrowsmith, Dr. Gottlieb, Leora Tozer, Dr. Swenson
Listen for: Dr. Gottlieb's advice to Martin on the value of precise notes and disciplined experimentation, and Martin's first patient emergency at night.
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.