Travesty: Tales of the Texas Rangers (June 15, 1952)

“Travesty” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 15, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Phil Clampett reports to Captain Stinson that a tire was stolen from his car near Corona while he stopped at a roadside diner. When Clampett contacts the sheriff about his earlier report to a deputy, he receives a letter denying any such report was ever filed. Ranger Pearson is assigned to investigate this suspicious discrepancy between Clampett's account and the sheriff's denial.

Texas Rangers headquarters and the Corona County area of Texas, February 1951

Characters: Captain Stinson, Phil Clampett, Sheriff Halstead, Jerry Matthews, Ranger Chase Pearson

Listen for: The investigation into whether a deputy sheriff deliberately failed to file a theft report, and tensions that arise when the accused deputy learns he is under suspicion.

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.