
We Love And Learn- Jim Plans To Ask Thelma To Return
Loading summary
A
Hey, it's Howie Mandel. And I am inviting you to witness history as me and my Howie do it Gaming team take on Gilly the King and Wallow $267 million gaming in an epic Global Gaming League video game showdown. Four rounds, multiple games, one winner, plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match against Neo right now@globalgamingleague.com that's globalgamingleague.com everybody games.
B
The makers of Sweetheart Soap present the comedy drama we love and learn. The girls most admired in America for their exquisite complexions now tell their beauty secret. For we asked all the gorgeous girls on the covers of America's leading magazines this year, what beauty soap do you use? 9 out of 10 replied Sweetheart Soap. At your newsstand today, notice these glamorous girls who make beauty their business. Wouldn't you like to have a complexion like theirs, so radiantly fresh and young to see? Of course you would. So enjoy the daily benefit of gentle sweetheart beauty care for the floating lift of sweetheart. Soft, rich lather is a remarkable beauty action. You'll quickly see results. Just one week after you change from improper care, your skin looks softer, smoother, younger. We love and learn. Jim Carlton has read the cable from Prentice Talbot. The cable that reveals the plot to destroy Jim's marriage. Now red with rage, Jim prepares to accuse his mother of instigating the plot, a charge of which she is entirely innocent.
C
Oh, yes, Jim, that'll make a real great headline. Jealous Mother's plot destroys son's marriage.
D
And underneath, in capital letters, son accuses mother, then walks out for good.
C
Well, whether you walk out for good or for bad, I think it's high time you stood on your own two feet.
D
Oh, how could I ever have believed that Thelma was untrue to me?
C
How do you ever believe anything? It's because your mama says so.
D
Well, this is the last time she's ever gonna try to run my life. I've been a good and obedient son. I've always done everything she ever told me to. Because through the years, she taught me that right or wrong, Mother was always right. It's taken a long time for the worm to turn. But I'm turning now. And when I get through telling her.
C
For a worm, you're beginning to look like a man.
D
Yeah, for the first time in my life, I made up my mind all by myself. And I'm gonna be a man. I'm gonna get my wife and bring her home where she belongs. We're gonna go out to nightclubs all by ourselves. Yeah, and if I feel like it, I'm gonna take a drink too.
C
Sounds wonderful. What are you gonna do all this, Jim?
D
Just as soon as I've told my mother what's what.
C
Suppose Thelma doesn't wanna come back?
D
Well, I'm gonna ask her to.
C
And apologize.
D
Yes, and apologize.
C
And be humble.
D
Yes, I'll even be humble.
C
And get down on your knees and tell her you love her and beg her forgiveness.
D
Yes, yes, I'll do anything. Oh, Dixie, I can hardly live without her. And as soon as my mother gets here, I'm gonna tell her. I'm gonna tell her.
C
Tell me what's, son?
D
Plenty, Mother. Step inside.
C
Oh, dear, it's such a long climb. I. I wish we'd move to an elevator apartment. You may get your wish, Mrs. Carlton. As for me, I know enough to blow when it starts to breathe. Courage, sonny boy. Really. That girl becomes more irresponsible every day. What in the world did she mean? Jim?
D
Come into the front room. Mother.
C
Jim, you look so serious. Have you a surprise for me?
D
I don't think what I have to tell you, Mother, will come as much of a surprise.
C
Now, Jim, you stop teasing. You look so serious.
D
Mother, did we ever have any actors in our family?
C
Oh, my goodness, no. The Carltons would never associate with that kind of people.
D
Did we ever have any liars or thieves in our family?
C
Why, Jim, you're serious. What's the matter with you?
D
Did we ever have any vicious, hateful neurotics who nurtured their viciousness on hypocrisy?
C
Jim, I can't stand this another minute. You. You know my heart isn't strong. I can't stand to have you raise your voice to me. Whatever's wrong. Heart.
D
I sometimes wonder if you have a heart.
C
Have you seen Thelma?
D
No, but you can bet your life I will. And you and no one else on earth can stop me.
B
Now.
D
I know how it's possible for a man to lose his self control and want to tear down all the sham on which his life is built.
C
Now, Jim, whatever is wrong, if you'll just tell Mother what it's all about calmly and deliberately as I've taught you to do. We'll find a way out.
D
Oh, yeah? Well, look at this cablegram. Try and find your way out of this watch.
C
From Brother Prentice.
D
Yes. From Prentiss Talbot. PT Remember.
C
Stop shouting, Jim.
D
Read it.
C
Read it Well, I will, I will. Dear Ada, how Did my plan work? Did the ice melt that problem, love? Prentiss Talbot. Oh, now, isn't that just like your Uncle Prentice. Always having his little joke.
D
What's the joke, Mother?
C
Well, I didn't tell you, but when I had lunch with him that day, we had champagne, and it was in a bucket full of crushed ice. Of course, he didn't want to embarrass me by mentioning champagne. So he says. Did the ice, ice being his coat for champagne, melt my little problem?
D
And what was your problem, Mother?
C
Oh, it was just a little financial difficulty I mentioned to him. Nothing important.
D
Nothing important? It wasn't important that you two deliberately plotted to break Thelma's heart? It wasn't important that you made a deliberate weakling out of your own son?
C
Why, Jim.
D
Don't interrupt me. I know everything that happened now. And weakling that I may be, I sometimes wonder if it's possible that I'm really your own son.
C
Jim, you're out of your mind. Oh, my heart.
D
You could forget your phony dramatics about your heart, Mother. You're gonna listen to me. You went to Prentiss Talbot and deliberately told him that you'd do anything to break up my marriage to Thelma, didn't you?
C
No. No, Jim.
D
Then you made him write that disgusting love letter and go out and buy a diamond bracelet and send it to Thelma in the hopes that it could do exactly what it did. Break up our marriage.
C
Jim, it's not true. I. It wasn't like that at all.
D
You kept sneaking around, spying on Thelma until you caught her with a bracelet. And when Dixie stupidly suggested it as a birthday present, you grabbed it, knowing it was worth thousands of dollars. Gosh knows how you got hold of the love letter and planted it in the record album, knowing my fondness for music. But you did it.
C
You did it. No, no, no, I didn't.
D
You did. You did. You did. And if you think your crocodile tears will stop me now, you're crazy.
C
My son. Oh, Jim, please. Please listen to me.
D
I'll never listen to you again. Then after I found the letter, you stood right in this very room and helped me crucify a girl whose only fault was that she was trying to make her husband out of a weakness. Stupid mama's boy.
C
Oh, Jim. Oh, Jim. I'll. I'll get down on my knees if you'll just listen.
D
Maybe this is a shock to you, Mother, but as far as I'm concerned, you can cut out the dramatics if you've got anything to Say, try the up and above board method you've been talking about.
C
I'll try. I'll try. Just give me a chance.
D
I'll give you a chance to tell the truth. And if you try any tricks, I'm gonna walk right out of here.
C
Oh, Jim. Only part of what you said is true. Only part of it. I did tell Brother Prentice that you and Thelma weren't getting along. That you and I would be better off if we lived alone. That you didn't really love Thelma. That I thought it would be best if she were to go.
D
Now we're getting at the truth.
C
Yes, Jim, yes. Every word is true.
D
How could my own mother. My own mother do such a thing?
C
And then. And then Brother Prenders told.
D
Oh, yes, go on. Told you what?
C
Well, he told me that he'd take care of everything. But he didn't tell me how he was going to take care of it. He didn't tell me he was going to send the diamond bracelet. He didn't tell me he was going to write that letter. It was all as much of a surprise to me as it was to you. Oh, Jim, you've got to believe me.
D
Mother, do you mean to stand there and tell me that with all your natural curiosity about everything that has ever happened at any time in all my life that you didn't know how he was gonna break up Thelma and me?
C
No, I didn't know what method he was going to use.
D
But you did know he was gonna break us up.
C
Not break you up. Just separate you for a while till you could both come to your senses.
D
Well, Mother, I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. I've come to my senses. Your little plan worked beautifully, Mother. But instead of driving me out of Thelma's arms, it's driven me back into them.
C
Oh, Jim. Jim, don't leave me.
D
Now that you mention it, I think that's just what I will do.
C
You don't know what you're saying. What'll become of me?
D
Don't worry. I'll see that you're cared for. Mother, whether I go or stay is gonna depend on Thelma. And just so there's no doubt in your mind, I'm going to her now and humbly beg her forgiveness with all the sincerity I can find in my heart.
C
Jim. Jim, don't. Don't go. Oh, my boy. Forgive me.
D
It's too late, Mother.
C
Oh, Jim, what have I done? He's right. My boy is so right. I deserve all this. I didn't know what I was doing. But who will ever believe that I honestly didn't know what Prentice Talbot was going to do. Oh, Prentice. You fool. You unmitigated, idiotic, interfering fool. Not even to consult me. Oh, Jim, what can I do to bring you back? If you leave me, I know I'll die. I just can't. Oh, it's my heart. I'm all alone. Oh, help. Help, somebody. It really is my heart. I was dead. Get medicine. I must. Oh, I don't want to die. Medicine. I'll never get to it in time. Oh, the table. If I can just brace myself on the table. Oh, God, the pain. I. Jim. Yeah.
B
You ladies who want softer, prettier skin can learn a lesson in loveliness at your newsstand today. Notice the beautiful girls on magazine covers and what radiantly lovely complexions they have. So just listen to their beauty secret. We asked all the girls on the covers of America's leading magazines this year, what beauty soap do you use? 9 out of 10 replied Sweetheart Soap. As Vicki Lyons, glamorous cover girl, says, my complexion shows the beauty benefits of sweetheart care. It keeps my skin looking wonderfully soft and smooth, radiantly young and fresh as dewy rosebuds. That's why I'm in demand for highly paid posing jobs. So, like, nine out of ten cover girls make Sweetheart your beauty soap. Enjoy the floating lift of sweetheart's billowing lather. It's a heavenly, gentle beauty action. That's why sweetheart care quickly makes a wonderful difference. Yes, one week after you change from improper care, your skin looks softer, smoother, younger. Today, get pure, mild sweetheart, the soap that agrees with your skin. All you ladies who want summer white clothes, dazzling white, sparkling bright, want the whitest, brightest washes you've ever had. Listen.
C
The makers of blue white flakes promise you, no matter what you wash or how you wash, blue white must give you the whitest, brightest wash of all, or we pay you.
B
Yes. No matter what you wash. From hankies to big family washes, no matter how you wash, with any soap or detergent, any flakes or liquid bluing, blue white must wash whiter and brighter or you get double your money back.
C
For blue white acts two ways at once. To make summer white things. Dazzling white washable colors sparkle it blues
B
evenly without streaks or spots and never over blues.
C
It washes works with your regular soap or detergent to make clothes cleaner whiter. There's no extra bluing rinse.
B
Remember, your blue whitewash must be the whitest, brightest ever or. Or just return the unused portion and get double your money back today. Get blue white that blues and washes at the same time. At this same time Monday, we love and learn. Mrs. Carlton is played by Charmaine Allen, Jim Carlton by Cliff Carpenter. This is Dick Dunham speaking for the makers of Sweetheart soap and Blue White Flakes. Stay tuned for the songs of Jack Birch which follows immediately over most of these NBC stations. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.
D
Has the news been getting you down? I'm Megan McCardell and I'm here to help. I'm the host of a new show from Washington Post opinion called Reasonably Optimistic. And it's an antidote to the pessimism that's riddling America right now. Every Wednesday I'm going to talk to people who see a path forward.
B
It does seem to me that there is some awakening of a desire to act together to solve problems where they are.
A
You know, I am a believer in America and it's worth fighting for.
D
Join me Wednesdays on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
A
Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my how we do it gaming team take on Gilly the King and Wallow267's million dollars gaming in an epic global gaming league video game showdown. Four rounds more multiple games, one winner plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match against Neo right now@globalgamingleague.com that's globalgamingleague.com everybody games.
Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Date: March 19, 2026
Episode Title: We Love And Learn – Jim Plans To Ask Thelma To Return
This episode of "We Love and Learn," a classic radio drama presented by Harold's Old Time Radio, centers on the emotional fallout of a plot to break up Jim Carlton's marriage to Thelma. Jim, having discovered the scheme thanks to a revealing cable from Prentiss Talbot, confronts his domineering mother, Ada Carlton, about her role in the deception. The episode explores themes of family manipulation, personal independence, remorse, and a man's resolve to repair his marriage by seeking forgiveness.
Memorable Quote:
"For the first time in my life, I made up my mind all by myself. And I'm gonna be a man. I'm gonna get my wife and bring her home where she belongs."
— Jim (D), [02:56]
Key Segment:
Key Exchange:
Memorable Quote:
"You could forget your phony dramatics about your heart, Mother. You're gonna listen to me."
— Jim (D), [06:58]
Key Segment:
Notable Quote:
"But instead of driving me out of Thelma's arms, it's driven me back into them."
— Jim (D), [09:51]
Dramatic Monologue:
Memorable Line:
"Oh, Jim, what have I done? He's right. My boy is so right. I deserve all this... If you leave me, I know I'll die. I just can't. Oh, it's my heart. I'm all alone. Oh, help. Help, somebody. It really is my heart."
— Ada (C), [10:41]–[12:20]
"We Love and Learn – Jim Plans To Ask Thelma To Return" is a poignant episode about betrayal, realization, and the struggle for independence. Jim's journey from subservience to self-determination is at the heart of the episode, culminating in a confrontation that leaves his mother grieving her mistakes. For listeners, it offers a compelling portrait of how families can both harm and heal—and the importance of choosing honesty and integrity even in the face of manipulation.