I suppose you could look at this as a stinging indictment of a system gone broken for too long – or just another adventure in Urban America – or a semi-humorous look at “yets” for many of us.
This episode of the CBS Radio series The CBS Radio Workshop from August 3, 1956 takes a somewhat humorous/laced-with-irony look at a dilemma becoming all too common in America, even in 1956; the issue of Homelessness; being broke, not having a job, not being able to afford rent (and in the America of 2026 that’s almost everybody) faced with virtually no choices.
So looking at the possibilities of our nations subway system as a potential safe-haven in 1956 seemed plausible. This episode, rather than take a dim view looks at it with a certain “urban ruggedness”, a tongue-in-cheek take on an otherwise serious situation.
Of course, seventy years later, it’s a different world – not a treatise on “bucking the system” but rather just trying to stay alive within its confines and struggling day-to-day.
The attitudes towards homelessness run the gamut, with most people adopting the “your problem, not mine” take on things. Since this weekend in Los Angeles is celebrating the addition of a new extension to its subway system by declaring it “Free Ride Weekend”, running this particular episode of The CBS Radio Workshop seems apropos, even though it’s a dramatic interpretation of an article appearing in Harper’s Magazine earlier that year, it was based on fact, but rather looking at at it as a rebellion of mid-20th Century American values, rather than 21st century survival.
Either way, its an interesting listen – if for nothing else than to get an idea that the 1950s were a lot about painting rosy pictures of things, until they got out of hand. It’s a half-hour and makes for a weekend listening adventure rather than watching the news.
