Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode: Ripley's Believe It Or Not – 1 Minute Episodes (293) "Death News Item"
Date: September 11, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Overview
This succinct “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” segment treats listeners to a quirky exploration of the adage “bad news travels fast,” followed by a delightfully macabre news anecdote. Drawing on classic Ripley’s flavor, the episode offers a blend of improbable statistics and dark humor, immersing the audience in the oddities that made radio’s golden age unique.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
"Bad News Travels Fast" – The Power of Rumor
- Ripley opens with the claim that “truth is stranger than fiction,” setting the tone for the peculiar fact that follows.
- He hypothesizes how quickly tragedy spreads via word of mouth:
- If a murder occurred at midnight,
- And each person told two others every 12 minutes,
- Then by morning, the entire world would have heard the news.
- Quote (A, 00:13): “If there was a murder at midnight, and everyone who was told about it told two other persons within 12 minutes, everyone on earth would know about it by morning, believe it or not.”
A Morbidly Humorous News Item
- Ripley presents an actual news blurb from the Barstow, California Times, highlighted for its parade of morbid place names:
- Bill Jarrett returns from the “Death Valley country” after working the “graveyard shift” at the “Corpse Mining Company” in the “Coffin Mine.”
- All these locations: “Dead Man’s Canyon,” “Funeral Range,” and “Death Valley,” lead up to Bill leaving for a trip to “the Devil’s playground in hell’s half acre.”
- The language is both literal and playfully ominous, stacking one morbid place name atop another for full comic effect.
- Quote (A, 00:36): “Bill worked for six weeks on the graveyard shift for the Corpse Mining Company in the Coffin Mine, located in Dead Man's Canyon in Funeral Range at the end of Death Valley.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On the speed of gossip:
“If there was a murder at midnight, and everyone who was told about it told two other persons within 12 minutes, everyone on earth would know about it by morning, believe it or not.”
— Ripley (00:13)
- From the Barstow News Item:
“Bill worked for six weeks on the graveyard shift for the Corpse Mining Company in the Coffin Mine, located in Dead Man's Canyon in Funeral Range at the end of Death Valley. Bill is leaving next week for a prospecting trip to the Devil's playground in hell's half acre, unquote. Believe it or not.”
— Ripley, reading (00:36)
Important Segment Timestamp Guide
- 00:00 — Introduction: "Truth is stranger than fiction"
- 00:13 — Theoretical murder-news scenario (“bad news travels fast”)
- 00:28 — Transition to news item: “If you think your life a bit dead…”
- 00:36 — Barstow, California Times article read-aloud (humorous morbid locations)
Tone & Style
- The segment features Ripley's classic flair for the bizarre, utilizing dark humor and wordplay.
- Language and delivery evoke the oddball, slightly irreverent spirit of old-time radio oddities.
Summary
This short but classic episode offers two gems: a mathematically whimsical take on the speed of bad news, and a wryly assembled “death" news item crammed with graveyard references and dark comedy. True to Ripley’s tradition, the facts are both astounding and entertaining — making this one-minute slice of old-time radio a perfect example of why audiences tuned in to believe it… or not.
