Over the past couple of years, I've been listening to lots old time radio shows (and also finding lots of inexpensive box sets as well!)For those who haven't listened to radio comedies, dramas, sci-fi, etc., there's nothing quite like it. You lose yourself in an audio theatre of imagination. Because it's radio, everthing has to be put across through words, music or sounf effects. A show like "Suspense" or "Escape" really engosses you as get caught up in a web of intrigue.I recently read Leonard Maltin's The Gream American Broadcast (which I highly recommend). It details various aspects about radio's golden age (the 30s, 40s, and 50s), including chapters on writers, directors, sound effects people, etc. It talks about how radio had unique demands unlike movies or the stage (or latter, television). Most radio shows were done live (including the sound effects!). Well, some of the sound effects were pre recorded and run on turntables live on the air by the sound efffects engineers. Sometimes they'd have several turntables going at once! And then they would do another show the next week (or many folks in radio did several shows in A WEEK! Sometimes more than one a day!)What's really fascinating to me is that many versatile radio actors could read a script cold (that is once), and have the characters down pat! Folks like William Conrad did this all the time, and were much in demand. All they needed to know was who the character was, his/her motivations, etc. Amazing!Radio Spirits has lots of great 10 and 20 cds sets, including samplers like "Greatest Shows of the 20th Century." If you haven't heard legendary broadcasts like "War of the Worlds" and "Sorry Wrong Number," then you're in a great aural exploration.