Sam and the Psyche: The Adventures of Sam Spade (August 2, 1946)

“Sam and the Psyche” is an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 2, 1946. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Sam Spade is hired by Dr. Gregory Dennov, a psychoanalyst, to protect him from being blackmailed by a man named Nikolai over a $10,000 payment. When Sam arrives at the doctor's penthouse apartment for a meeting that afternoon, he finds Dr. Dennov dead, apparently having fallen from a window. The police rule it suicide, but Sam's client's widow insists it was murder and points suspicion at Constance Brent, an actress and the doctor's patient who had threatened him before and was heard arguing with him just before his death.

San Francisco, including Sam Spade's office, Dr. Dennov's penthouse apartment, and the Majestic Theatre.

Characters: Sam Spade, Effie Perine, Dr. Gregory Dennov, Nikolai, Mrs. Gregory Dennov, Lieutenant Dundee, Sergeant Levene, Dr. Sawyer

Listen for: Sam's trademark wisecracks and the details of the blackmail scheme involving Nikolai and the mysterious $10,000 that may hold the key to the doctor's death.

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.