Uniquely Heroic Americans - Episode 121

What are the mysterious objects seen flying over Santopolis? Can Falk stop them with the help of a new paramilitary force made up of old familiar faces? How do you feel about cilantro? Listen to find out!

Uniquely Heroic Americans, episode 121 of This Gun in My Hand, was seasoned and lorded over by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. What makes my chili taste uniquely American? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Is this the first episode to quote Dead Kennedys lyrics? Maybe.
2. Darn, I should have started the ad with “speaking of motherships…”
3. Robert Thomas Northrup’s mother did not rewrite the ad text in this episode. Some unnamed fictional character who wrote the ad might have solicited notes and rewrites from their mother, or might have been lying. Many statements made by characters in This Gun in My Hand are lies or mistakes. That’s for you to determine because your interpretation is more important than the actual author’s intent. See “The Death of the Author,” an essay by Roland Barthes.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200419132326/http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen5and6/threeEssays.html#barthes
4. “In the Western world, Persia (or its cognates) was historically the common name for Iran. In 1935, Reza Shah asked foreign delegates and League of Nations to use the term Iran (‘Land of the Aryans’), the endonym of the country, used by its native people, in formal correspondence.” - “Reza Shah,” Wikipedia, 2 January 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Shah#Replacement_of_Persia_with_Iran

Credits:
The opening music was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Transitional music around the commercial was from the June 9, 1946 episode of the public domain radio show US Steel Hour of Mystery. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: tug boat horn - sound effect.wav
By komal22moiz
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/people/komal22moiz/sounds/380825/

Sound Effect Title: R11-19-Army Marching Steadily.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/480434/ 

(another marching sound to layer with above)
Sound Effect Title: Chân Lính
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/546791/ 

Sound Effect Title: Stomach Rumble
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/yrdn/sounds/473989/

Sound Effect Title: groaning1.flac
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/borygmi/sounds/414975/

Sound Effect Title: 38 Caliber Gun Shot 5x
Recorded by Mike Koenig
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/375-38-Caliber-Gun-Shot-5x.html

Sound Effect Title: Kimmokkeita / Ricochets
By YleArkisto
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/people/YleArkisto/sounds/401921/

Sound Effect Title: A slap or smack in the face
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/522596/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the cover of the public domain comic book Fightin’ Marines Number 14 (May 1955), artist unknown.
https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=21270

Journey Into Fiasco - Episode 120

Can David Graham, a torpedo engineer vital to the war effort, escape from German spies? Can Falk protect him? Is that supposed to be a Greek accent? Listen to find out!

Journey Into Fiasco, episode 120 of This Gun in My Hand, was driven and engineered by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. What makes torpedoes move faster? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. This episode was inspired by “Journey Into Fear,” an episode of The US Steel Hour of Mystery starring Lawrence Olivier and broadcast on June 9, 1946, which was adapted from the 1940 novel by Eric Ambler.
https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/thriller/the-hour-of-mystery/journey-into-fear-1946-06-09

2. No, it's not my impression of a Greek accent. The lines from Mithrodopolis in this episode are my impression of the guy from that 1946 broadcast of Journey Into Fear, doing an unidentifiable accent that's all over the place. I actually tried to sound like David Lander's character from On the Air, a 1992 David Lynch tv comedy that only aired 3 episodes in the US.

3. “Mon petit chou” was an expression I heard not in high school French class, but from my mother. She had learned it from her father who landed at Normandy three to six days after D-Day. He drove a refrigerated supply truck. I wonder in what context he learned “mon petit chou” from the locals?

Credits:
The opening and middle transitional music clips were from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Other music comes from “Journey Into Fear,” the June 9, 1946 episode of the public domain radio show Hour of Mystery. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: chugging diesel (bus) and rev.MP3
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/CraftyIndividual/sounds/418436/

Sound Effect Title: bus coach ext pull up brake air release idle.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/kyles/sounds/454420/

Sound Effect Title: Bus Closing Door
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/am7/sounds/520753/

Sound Effect Title: bustle in the pub
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/organicmanpl/sounds/403285/

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps Dress Shoes Wood Floor.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/allrealsound/sounds/161756/

Sound Effect Title: Slam door.MP3
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/SoundsForHim/sounds/395653/

Sound Effect Title: S16-06 Light wooden door open & close.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/675878/

Sound Effect Title: Shotgun Reload Pump
Recorded by RA The Sun God
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/1959-Shotgun-Reload-Pump.html

Sound Effect Title: 1911 Pistol Cocking
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/J.Anthracite/sounds/465488/

Sound Effect Title: Glock 19 Handgun Pistol Slide Cocking Sounds
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/jackmurrayofficial/sounds/393734/

Sound Effect Title: AR15 M4 Gun Hardware Magazine Movement Sounds
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/jackmurrayofficial/sounds/393732/

Sound Effect Title: Gun Cocking Sound.mp3
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/545958/ 

Sound Effect Title: Pump Action Shotgun Cycle
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/370344/

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of a panel from the public domain Greyhound promotional comic book Driving Like a Pro (1958), artist unknown.
https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php?did=31501

The Hapless Hack of Gazpacho Gulch - Episode 119

Is it wrong to make up stories about silly gunfights fifty years ago while authoritarian figures are taking power and civilians are getting massacred as we speak? That’s the dilemma Falk has to solve, in the middle of a gunfight!

The Hapless Hack of Gazpacho Gulch, episode 119 of This Gun in My Hand, was rustled up and branded with innuendo by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. (But wait until the strike's over to order it.) What helps me escape from my neighbor’s basement? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:

1. Getting a story accepted by an editor who was then fired, and getting it rejected by his replacement, was based on something that happened to my favorite creative writing professor, the late Dr. Gilbert Cross. The editor who liked his stuff published three of his spy novels under the name “Jon Winters” in the late 70s and early 80s, before getting replaced by an editor who didn’t like them.

Credits:

The opening music was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: 38 Caliber Gun Shot 5x

Recorded by Mike Koenig

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

http://soundbible.com/375-38-Caliber-Gun-Shot-5x.html

Sound Effect Title: Real Colt 45 M1911 (shot)

By Carmelomike

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

https://freesound.org/people/Carmelomike/sounds/255216/

Sound Effect Title: Gun Fire

By GoodSoundForYou

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.html

Sound Effect Title: footsteps cellar.wav

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/545030/

Sound Effect Title: Kicking/Forcing/Breaking Wooden Door

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/160213/

Sound Effect Title: Plywood_Prying_01.wav 

By dheming

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

https://freesound.org/s/128408/ 

Sound Effect Title: door wood hit +window rattle slam bang various.wav 

License: Public Domain 

https://freesound.org/s/452595/ 

Sound Effect Title: Crash 

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/512246/ 

Sound Effect Title: S10-19 Falling wooden beam; big interior crash; house collapses; long.wav

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/675967/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of an interior illustration from Street & Smith’s Western Story Magazine, Vol. CLXXIV No. 2 (June 3, 1939), public domain, artist unknown.

Scrapping at the Escarpment - Episode 118

How will Falk escape this scrape with The Scrapper? Will he have to climb over or down the escarpment? Will she throw the book at him? Where did I put those stickers with the flowers? Listen to find out!

Scrapping at the Escarpment, episode 118 of This Gun in My Hand, was scraped together and later scuppered by Rob Northrup, with special guest Melinda Flicka as the hamster-monger. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out. That’s right, my new novella Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out is now available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. I’ll post readings of the first two chapters soon. Buy it today! If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read the ebook for free and I still get two bits kickback for it, possibly more. And you can still buy Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. In fact that’s only been in ebook format so far, now available for the first time in paperback. How did I get through the locked door of your apartment? With This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Santa Rosita is where the treasure was buried in [spoilers] It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).

Credits:
Transitional music clips were taken from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph, 1948) and Killer Bait (1949), films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: Traffic mel 1.wav
By malupeeters
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/people/malupeeters/sounds/191350/

Sound Effect Title: S16-06 Light wooden door open & close.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/675878/

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps Dress Shoes Wood Floor.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/allrealsound/sounds/161756/

Sound Effect Title: Cutlery drawer
License: Public Domain
http://soundbible.com/591-Cutlery-Drawer.html

Sound Effect Title: Glass Bottle Breaking
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/IENBA/sounds/607910/

Sound Effect Title: Mount Moganshan Insect Chorus
By: RTB45
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/people/RTB45/sounds/325321/
Insect chorus recorded one summer evening, Mount Moganshan, Zhejiang Provence, People's Republic of China

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the public domain comic book cover from Monte Hale Western Number 50 (July 1950), pencils and inks by Edmond Good.

The Chilling Horror That Grinds and Wiggles - Episode 117

Will Falk survive the wriggling horror that descends from the heavens? Why did he murder his wife? When did he get married? How do you make a piano out of squids? Listen to find out!

The Chilling Horror That Grinds and Wiggles, episode 117 of This Gun in My Hand, was molded, frozen and dropped on you by Rob Northrup. 

This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. 

Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. What’s the scariest part of the episode? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:

1. The “slush pile” is publishing industry jargon for unsolicited manuscripts mostly from amateurs. I know the term because outside of self-publishing, that’s as far as my stories have gotten.

Credits:

The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Music Title: Pictures at an Exhibition - I. Gnomus Vivo

Composed by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Performed by Skidmore College Orchestra

License: Public Domain

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skidmore_College_Orchestra_-_02_-_I_Gnomus_Vivo.ogg 

Music Title: Pictures at an Exhibition - VIII. Catacombae. Sepulcrum romanum Largo

Composed by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Performed by Skidmore College Orchestra

License: Public Domain

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skidmore_College_Orchestra_-_12_-_VIII_Catacombae_Sepulcrum_romanum_Largo.ogg 

Music Title: Pictures at an Exhibition - Cum mortuis in lingua mortua Andante non troppo con lamento

Composed by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Performed by Skidmore College Orchestra

License: Public Domain

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skidmore_College_Orchestra_-_13_-_Cum_mortuis_in_lingua_mortua_Andante_non_troppo_con_lamento.ogg

Sound Effect Title: forest boreal light wind breeze through leaves +close loud birds.flac 

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/637563/ 

Sound Effect Title: Silbido bomba cayendo.wav 

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/393006/ 

Sound Effect Title: Broken Egg Squelch 

By d.n.audio.uk

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

https://freesound.org/s/461049/

Sound Effect Title: Pouring Soup in a Metal Pan - Quick,Short,Gross 

by Hitrison

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

https://freesound.org/s/251410/

Sound Effect Title: Messy Splat 3a 

by FoolBoyMedia

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

https://freesound.org/s/237928/ 

Sound Effect Title: Blood Gush and Squelch 

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/635042/ 

Sound Effect Title: GateShutThumps.wav

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/401041/  

Sound Effect Title: lion.wav 

License: Public Domain 

https://freesound.org/s/684527/ 

Sound Effect Title: Gore Cabbage by IENBA

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/607909/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the public domain drawing “squid holding sailor” by Alphonse de Neuville, featured in the Hetzel edition of 20000 Lieues Sous Les Mers.

Debut Taunts - Episode 116

Will you enjoy the new crop of audio dramas debuting this fall on the Magnum Radio Network? The Gun Doctor! Chap Zero’s House of Traps! Chick Quasar, Space Stevedore! Listen to find out!

Debut Taunts, episode 116 of This Gun in My Hand, was doctored by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. What’s coming your way next fall? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:

1. Listen to the Mystery Frequency podcast for a wide variety of old time radio dramas, like Dr. Sixgun and Captain Starr of Space.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mystery-frequency-audio-drama-radio/id1694041695

2. I want to say that toys advertising actual gold seems like something unique to our modern hellscape, but they’ve probably done it before, or equally ridiculous and borderline scammy promotions. For example, in 1955, Quaker Oats bought 19 acres of land in the Yukon Territory of Canada and printed 21 millions deeds, each deed for square inch of land, as a promotion for the Sergeant Preston of the Yukon TV show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Big_Inch_Land_Promotion

Credits:

The opening and middle transitional music clips were from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

“Gun Doctor” music and hoofbeats taken from the September 2, 1954 episode of the radio show Dr. Sixgun. 

License: Public Domain

https://archive.org/details/otr_drsixgun

Organ music in “Chick Quasar” taken from the July 14, 1953 episode of the radio show Captain Starr of Space.

License: Public Domain

https://archive.org/details/CaptainStarrOfSpace1953/

I hope the tiny excerpt of “Need to Know” by Incognito (Democracy Now theme song) counts as fair use after it was chopped, screwed and filtered.

Music Title: Flight of the Carpenter Bee

By Steven Arntson 

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

https://archive.org/details/Bildungsroman-7512

Sound Effect Title: Mount Moganshan Insect Chorus

By: RTB45 

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

https://freesound.org/people/RTB45/sounds/325321/

Insect chorus recorded one summer evening, Mount Moganshan, Zhejiang Provence, People's Republic of China

Sound Effect Title: Car_motor_Sound.m4a 

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/people/Blizzard123/sounds/504633/#

Sound Effect Title: barking dog 2

License: public domain

https://freesound.org/people/roman_cgr/sounds/415023/

Sound Effect Title: Angry big dog barking - Close [d15].wav

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/people/v23/sounds/440866/

Sound Effect Title: Dog Barking and Whining.wav

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/people/DaniloSFX/sounds/672733/

Sound Effect Title: Doggo_Panting_1_Para.mp3 

by Paradoxxxical 

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

https://freesound.org/s/679219/ 

Sound Effect Title: R15-82-Men Laughing Heartily.wav 

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/480806/ 

Sound Effect Title: Real Colt 45 M1911 (shot)

By Carmelomike

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

https://freesound.org/people/Carmelomike/sounds/255216/

Sound Effect Title: Kimmokkeita / Ricochets

By YleArkisto

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

https://freesound.org/people/YleArkisto/sounds/401921/

Sound Effect Title: bustle in the pub

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/people/organicmanpl/sounds/403285/

Music Title: spoons.wav (used in “Fight the Rascals”)

by angienm

License: Public Domain

https://freesound.org/s/249709/ 

Music Title: Munniharppua.ogg (jaw harp used in “Fight the Rascals”)

By ElectricToothpaste

License: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 

via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Munniharppua.ogg

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the public domain comic book cover from Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Number 10, May-July 1954. Painting by Al McWilliams.

The Assassination of Yip Harburg by the Coward Fan Mail - Episode 115

Can Falk prevent the murder of beloved songwriter E. Y. “Yip” Harburg? Why would a fan want to kill him? Will everyone come out of it with their childhood memories intact? Listen to find out!

The Assassination of Yip Harburg by the Coward Fan Mail, episode 115 of This Gun in My Hand, was written, edited and a sung-a on the tongue-a by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. What physical object represents my heart and brain and courage and love of home? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Watch excerpts from the 1936 Merrie Melodies cartoon “I Love to Singa” starring Owl Jolson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y6CNuffBi0

2. Orson Welles produced a successful version of Macbeth with an all-Black cast in 1936.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Macbeth

3. Judy Garland led a revised cast in Lux Radio Theater’s one-hour radio adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, broadcast December 25, 1950.
https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/drama/lux/lux-radio-theater-50-12-25-726-the-wizard-of-oz

4. Wikipedia has an entry on Political interpretations of The Wizard of Oz. Wild stuff. I cribbed some of their ideas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz

Credits:
The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Music Title: Theme to Kolchak: Night Stalker
Composed by Gil Mellé
Whistled by Rob
Fair use excerpt, I hope.

Sound Effect Title: S15-03 Good general walla with some dishes; cheer.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/675070/

Sound Effect Title: G28-27-Crowd Fast Walla Applause.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/438387/

Sound Effect Title: R02-06-Medium Crowd Applause.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/480682/ 

Sound Effect Title: Gun Fire
By GoodSoundForYou
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.html

Sound Effect Title: Real Colt 45 M1911 (shot)
By Carmelomike
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/people/Carmelomike/sounds/255216/

Sound Effect Title: House Front Door Inside 3.wav
License: Public domain
https://freesound.org/people/saturdaysoundguy/sounds/388027/# 

Sound Effect Title: R28-44-Women Screaming and Rapid Talking.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/479894/

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps Dress Shoes Wood Floor.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/allrealsound/sounds/161756/

Sound Effect Title: S41-25 Car backfires; reverberant.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/675723/

Sound Effect Title: footsteps cellar.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/545030/

Sound Effect Title: Taurus G2c Dry Trigger Pull
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/NoonerBear/sounds/589848/

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the back cover of the public domain comic book Dell Junior Treasury, Number 5 (July 1956), painted by Mel Crawford.