Radio Days

Theater of the Mind

All shows

Information Please

217 episodes · 1938–1945 · NBC, Blue Network · Variety & Music

Illustration: a transcription disc label made for Radio Days, not an original disc
Illustration: a transcription disc label made for Radio Days, not an original disc

Play Information Please on Radio Days

Listeners sent in questions to stump the experts, and won money when they did. Clifton Fadiman hosted from May 17, 1938, to April 22, 1951, with Franklin P. Adams, John Kieran and Oscar Levant on the panel and a famous guest each week. Dan Golenpaul created it. It's thought to be the first panel game show.

Sources: Information Please, Wikipedia

Episodes

Tap a year to see its episodes, then a title to play it on Radio Days.

193823 episodes
  • Harry Overstreet- Marcus Dufield May 17, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • John Erskine Bernard Jaffe Marcus Duffield June 7, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Marc Connolly June 14, 1938 · 31 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Oscar Levant (June 1938) June 21, 1938 · 25 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Carmen Show June 28, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Oscar Levant (July 1938) July 5, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Quincy Howe- George S Kaufman July 12, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Thomas Craven- Ben Hect July 19, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Oscar Levant- John Gunther July 26, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Moss Hart Quincy Howe George Kaufman August 2, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Alton Cook- Alice Dever Miller August 9, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Percy Waxman (August 1938) August 23, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Ben Hect August 30, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Ben Bernie- Bernard Jaffe September 6, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Percy Waxman (September 1938) September 13, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Basil Rathbone- Sigmund Spaeth September 27, 1938 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Dorothy Thompson- William Bonnell October 4, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Lillian Gish October 11, 1938 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Gene Tunney (1938) October 18, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Oswald Jacoby November 1, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • John Gunther (1938) November 15, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Kathleen Norris November 29, 1938 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • William Lyon Phelps- Yale Professor December 27, 1938 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
193941 episodes
  • Cornelia Otis Skinner- Erwin Edgar January 3, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Alxender Wolcott January 10, 1939 · 31 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • General Hugh Johnson January 24, 1939 · 31 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Gilbert Seldes- Elizabeth Hoare January 31, 1939 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • University of Michigan Student - Myron Wallace February 7, 1939 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Russel Crause- Frank Sullivan February 14, 1939 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Moe Berg (February 1939) February 21, 1939 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • John Gunther (1939) March 21, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Rex Stout- Moss Hart March 28, 1939 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Deems Taylor- Marc Duffield April 11, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • HV Kaltenborn April 18, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Arthur Crock- Alice Roosevelt Longworth April 25, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • John P Marquand (1939) May 16, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Bernard Jaffe- Clarence Buddington Kellen May 23, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Stanley Walker May 30, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Helen Wills Moody June 13, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Gracie Allen- John Gunther June 20, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Wilber Cross June 27, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Lillian Gish- Marc Duffield July 4, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Elliot Roosevelt July 11, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Clarence B Kellen- William Peavey July 18, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Maury Maverick July 25, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Russel Krause- James Kiernan August 1, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • H Napier Moore August 22, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Rex Stout- Wilford Funk August 29, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Raymond Graham Swing September 5, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Alice Marble- Bernard Jaffe September 12, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • P Cal Simms September 19, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Rex Stout- Carl Van Doren September 26, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Dean C Mildred Thompson of Vasser College October 3, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Christopher Morley- John T Flynn October 10, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Moe Berg (October 1939) October 17, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Deems Taylor- Louis Untermeyer October 24, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Carl Sandberg October 31, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Christopher Morley- Marcus Jacques November 7, 1939 · 30 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • James Farley November 14, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Moe Berg- JP Mac Elvoy November 21, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Deems Taylor- Henry Pringle December 5, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Walter B Pitkin December 12, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Christopher Morley- Albert Spaulding December 19, 1939 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Sir Cedric Hardwick December 26, 1939 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
194020 episodes
  • Carl Van Doren- Gloria Stewart January 2, 1940 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Walter Wanger August 20, 1940 · Blue Network · 28 min
    Guest Walter Wanger. First question: "Complete the lines from poetry or songs that began as follows: Hickity Pickety..."
  • Christopher Morley, James Roosevelt August 27, 1940 · Blue Network · 27 min
    Guests Christopher Morley and James Roosevelt. First question: "Name a child of each of these pairs of parents."
  • Henry Beetle Hough September 3, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guest Henry Beetle Hough. First question: "What is the significance of the following combinations of letters?"
  • John Gunther, Jan Struther September 10, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guests John Gunther and Jan Struther. First question: "What recent news events are suggested by the following words?"
  • Otto Tolischus September 17, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guest Otto Tolischus. First question: "What is at the beginning and the end of the following?"
  • Alva Johnston, Marc Connelly September 24, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guests Alva Johnston and Marc Connelly. First question: "What toys wrote poetry? What toy was the hero of a movie?" Franklin P. Adams moderates while Clifton Fadiman is out sick.
  • Clare Boothe Luce October 1, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guest Clare Boothe Luce. First question: "Name the contemporary government head that's associated with the following."
  • Jan Struther, Louis Bromfield October 8, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guests Jan Struther and Louis Bromfield. First question: "What Mother Goose character jumped over a candlestick?"
  • Louis M. Hacker October 15, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guest Louis M. Hacker. First question: "In what states did these three ladies achieve fame?"
  • Herbert Bayard Swope October 22, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guest Herbert Bayard Swope. First question: "What common action was taken by these literary characters?" From the Waldorf-Astoria.
  • John Mason Brown October 29, 1940 · Blue Network · 29 min
    Guest John Mason Brown. First question: "Each of these phrases is the answer to a question asked in literature or in life. Quote the questions that precede them."
  • Christopher Morley November 5, 1940 · Blue Network · 28 min
    Guest Christopher Morley. First question: "Who proposed to whom in the following words?" The last show sponsored by Canada Dry.
  • Fred Allen (1940) November 15, 1940 · Blue Network · 30 min
    Guest Fred Allen. First question: "How would the following poems be changed by today's songwriters?"
  • Deems Taylor, Lewis Lawes November 22, 1940 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Lewis Lawes. First question: "What is sold at these prices in literature?"
  • Leon Henderson (1940) November 29, 1940 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Leon Henderson. First question: "Finish these sports cliches..."
  • Jan Struther, Elmer Rice December 6, 1940 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Jan Struther and Elmer Rice. First question: "In Mother Goose, who broke an all time field and track record?"
  • Earnest Hooton December 13, 1940 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Earnest Hooton. First question: "What is the specific verb used to describe the birth of the following domestic animals..."
  • Louis Bromfield, Herbert Marshall December 20, 1940 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Louis Bromfield and Herbert Marshall. First question: "Name a prominent world statesman well-known for the following costumes..."
  • Walter D. Edmonds December 27, 1940 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Walter D. Edmonds. First question: "Quote two songs or nursery rhymes that enumerate the days of the week."
194146 episodes
  • Vincent Sheean January 3, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guest Vincent Sheean. First question: "Name the characters of literature whose costumes are described in these words..."
  • Kenneth Simpson, James Wallace January 10, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guests Kenneth Simpson and James Wallace. First question: "What event made the headlines on each of the following days."
  • Owen Davis January 17, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Owen Davis. First question: "Name a famous actress known for her beautiful or expressive back."
  • Lewis E. Lawes, Boris Karloff January 24, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Lewis E. Lawes and Boris Karloff. First question: "What would you be likely to eat at dinner with the following Mother Goose characters?"
  • Alexander Woollcott, S. J. Perelman January 31, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Alexander Woollcott and S. J. Perelman. First question: "Here are some characteristic excerpts from the works of well-known writers...name the writers."
  • Jan Struther, Sir Willmott Lewis February 7, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Jan Struther and Sir Willmott Lewis. First question: "Which Jack in Mother Goose might be called a athlete?"
  • Deems Taylor, Henry Noble MacCracken February 14, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Henry Noble MacCracken, president of Vassar. First question: name four college presidents or deans who made good outside academia.
  • Jo Davidson February 21, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guest Jo Davidson. First question: "Can you give four popular bits of advice in which the use of some part of the body is mentioned?"
  • John O'Hara February 28, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guest John O'Hara. First question: "What is the name of the column written by H. I. Phillips?" Deems Taylor fills in for Clifton Fadiman.
  • Christopher Morley, Elmer F. Layden March 7, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Christopher Morley and Elmer F. Layden. First question: "Identify a sports figure and an historical figure, each of which was known as the following."
  • Claude Wickard March 14, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guest Claude Wickard. First question: "Can you give any reason why Cuba would be an ideal place for starting a silk growing industry."
  • Deems Taylor, Roland Young March 21, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Roland Young. First question: "Complete these bits of nonsense verses."
  • Elsa Lanchester March 28, 1941 · NBC · 31 min
    Guest Elsa Lanchester. First question: "In what connection have you seen these words in print."
  • John Gunther, Lyman Bryson April 4, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guests John Gunther and Lyman Bryson. First question: identify these "give me" lines from songs and poems.
  • Philip Merivale April 11, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Philip Merivale. First question: "I'll name one of a pair of rivals, you name the other one."
  • Rex Stout, Henry Curran April 18, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Rex Stout and Henry Curran. First question: "In what game would you call out the following phrases...."
  • Paul Lukas April 25, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guest Paul Lukas. First question: "Which of these cities is not in the Western Hemisphere?"
  • Deems Taylor, Donald Ogden Stewart May 2, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Donald Ogden Stewart. First question: "What have these numbers in common: 60, 24, 7, 12?"
  • Gene Tunney (1941) May 9, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guest Gene Tunney. First question: "How are these feminine names associated with sports?"
  • Frank Sullivan, Richard Maney May 16, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Frank Sullivan and Richard Maney. First question: "Who is or was the oil man who backed a baseball league?"
  • Third Anniversary Show May 23, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    The third-anniversary show. Deems Taylor hosts and Clifton Fadiman joins the panel. First question: "Name three critics, three champions and three cabinet members who have appeared on,"
  • Jan Struther, Cornelia Otis Skinner May 30, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Jan Struther and Cornelia Otis Skinner. First question: "Answer each questions from famous poems by quoting the answers that are given in the following lines?"
  • Sally Benson June 6, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Sally Benson. First question: which characters or authors go with these phrases using the word "tell"?
  • Bill Tilden June 13, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Bill Tilden. First question: "Where in fact or fiction does a man kill a lion with his bear hands?"
  • James Wallace, Alfred E. Smith June 20, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests James Wallace and Alfred E. Smith. First question: "Complete these three lines and name the author."
  • Alfred Hitchcock (1941) June 27, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guest Alfred Hitchcock. First question: "Differentiate: gourmet, glutton and gourmond."
  • John Gunther, Walter Duranty July 4, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests John Gunther and Walter Duranty. First question: "What is the term of surrender of each of these contests?"
  • John Gunther, Mary Boland July 11, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests John Gunther and Mary Boland. First question: "How did each of these numbers figure in the recent news?"
  • Lyman Bryson, Henry Noble MacCracken August 1, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guests Lyman Bryson and Henry Noble MacCracken. First question: "Who is or was the son of the following..."
  • Larry MacPhail August 8, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guest Larry MacPhail.
  • Deems Taylor, Russell Crouse August 15, 1941 · NBC · 29 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Russell Crouse. First question: "Name a famous pair, consisting of a tall one and a short one."
  • Deems Taylor September 5, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guest Deems Taylor. First question: "Identify these three piano pieces..."
  • Louis Bromfield, Margaret Leach September 12, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guests Louis Bromfield and Margaret Leach. First question: "Make up a menu of nursery rhymes which happen to mention food."
  • Stephen Vincent Benet September 19, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guest Stephen Vincent Benet. First question: "Which poets furnished the inspiration for the following three compositions..."
  • Jan Struther, Thomas Beecham September 26, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guests Jan Struther and Thomas Beecham. First question: "Name the ruler who gained political power by crossing a river."
  • Lefty Gomez- Mayor Fiorellio Laguardia October 3, 1941 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Fred Allen (1941) October 17, 1941 · NBC · 26 min
    Guest Fred Allen. First question: "What is the source of the following book or play titles?"
  • Deems Taylor, C. S. Forester October 24, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and C. S. Forester. First question: "Who might crack a case."
  • Deems Taylor, Groucho Marx October 31, 1941 · NBC · 30 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Groucho Marx. First question: "Name three people whose nicknames describe a mood."
  • Douglas Miller November 7, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guest Douglas Miller, author of You Can't Do Business with Hitler. First question: which famous collaborators weren't speaking to each other?
  • Cornelia Otis Skinner November 21, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guest Cornelia Otis Skinner. First question: "What person was or is still known by the following..."
  • Drew Pearson, Robert Allen November 28, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guests Drew Pearson and Robert Allen. First question: "Quote a line from a once popular song that rhymes with the given line and you'll name the song."
  • Deems Taylor, Edna Ferber December 5, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guests Deems Taylor and Edna Ferber. First question: "Name the lady mentioned in each of these familiar songs."
  • George N. Shuster December 12, 1941 · NBC · 27 min
    Guest George Shuster, president of Hunter College, the week after Pearl Harbor.
  • Jan Struther and Joseph E. Davies December 19, 1941 · NBC · 28 min
    Guests Jan Struther, author of Mrs. Miniver, and former ambassador to Moscow Joseph Davies. Identify these Toms in fiction.
  • John Gunther (1941) December 26, 1941 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
194233 episodes
194340 episodes
194410 episodes
19454 episodes