All the cool kids are doing it.

Proving once and for all that I have my finger on the pulse of what youth today really want, I’m continuing my list of favorites from the so-called Golden Age of Radio. You older, out-of-touch squares can stop reading now and go listen to punk rock or trip-hop or whatever it is seniors are into these days.

Now that the fogeys are out of the (metaphorical) room, read and listen on...

Let’s consider a comedy, namely, Our Miss Brooks.

Premiering in 1948, Our Miss Brooks was an immediate success, garnering awards and a loyal fan base for its lead actress, Eve Arden.

People don’t speak of Eve Arden as much as her talent warrants. She had fantastic comic timing, capable of evoking laugh-out-loud moments with a single, monosyllabic word.

Our Miss Brooks has flimsy, unimaginative plot-lines, and you’ll never listen to it because you “can’t wait to find out what happens next.” The show is great because the cast is great, and Eve Arden delivers punch-lines with such wry deftness, it’s as if Touchstone from As You Like It has been reincarnated as a public high school teacher.

Our Miss Brooks was such a success that it was turned into a TV show, starring most of the original cast. I myself have never seen it, not because I don’t want to, but because I promised my grandfather on his deathbed that I would never watch any televised sitcoms that featured a character with the first name “Osgood.”

(My grandfather was a complicated man and uniquely high-maintenance. Still, a promise is a promise.)

Please enjoy this episode of Our Miss Brooks, then go find more in the Spoken Word section of your nearest Amoeba Music. ...I SAID PLEASE!