Devoted to the scripted long-form productions that aired on MIT Radio Station WTBS (FM) — now WMBR — in 1971. The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told, So Far. X Rates The Spot. WTBS Presents and Sam Patch.

All 10 of these programs are available as a 10-episode podcast, WTBS LONG FORM PROGRAMS. It may be available wherever you find fine podcasts; if not, click on the link.

Klein-Rubin-Baumgardner: The Best
The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far
X Rates The Spot


Paul Schindler: Also Appearing
The New Eugene Oregon Show (Technically 1972. Think of it as Fantasia to X Rates The Spot)
Sam Patch, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far
Wild Duck
Jekyll and Hyde

A bunch of other 60s and 70s WTBS ephemera collected by Dan “Madman” Murphy

The Last Year Of The Golden Age Of Radio: 1971
By Paul Schindler

MIT Radio Station WTBS (FM) — now WMBR  —  signed on for the first time on April 10, 1961. Exactly 10 years later, I adapted my friend Michael Wildermuth’s short story into a 90-minute “musical tragedy” (60 minutes too long) called Sam Patch, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far, affectionately known as SPTGSETSF. It was broadcast in place of the Dan Murphy Show that Saturday Night.

SPTGSETSF, along with several other WTBS Presents programs (Wild Duck and Jekyll and Hyde), inspired what were probably the last two full-lenth scripted radio comedies in America.

The Klein-Rubin-Baumgardner  team (K-R-B, as no one called them),  produced The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far (TBTGSETSF), remembered by many listeners a half century later. The title of that ground-breaking work paid homage to the Sam Patch tag, “The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far,” which was far more apt for an adaptation of The Bible than for a musical about a young man who jumped from great heights into small vats of water in the American Midwest during the 1850s.

K-R-B’s equally hysterical follow-up was X Rates The Spot (XRTS). Both programs featured large casts of good actors, appropriate sound effects, and well-selected musical cues… unlike their progenitor.
 

So here, for the first time since 1971, creatures of their time,with all their obscure references to long-gone products and pop music of the 60s intact, are The Bible and X Rates The Spot.


Why the sudden interest?
08/24/2025
By Paul Schindler

The New Eugene Oregon Show has been on the Internet for a while. So has Sam Patch, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far.

I never posted Duck or Hyde from WTBS presents, an error I have remedied. They are funny, but not intentionally. 

The only problem with this is that the Schindler productions are not–how to put this nicely–the best examples of the works produced in that amazing year of 1971; the equivalent of the year 1939 in the movie business. We came to this juncture because:

I had long ago lost my copy of The Bible

My friend Clark loved it (could still recite lines after a half century) and asked for it, and Harrison Klein sent it along.

Listening again after a long time, added to refinding X Rates The Spot, awakened an interest in me.

In these difficult times, the world needs humor more than ever. In my mind, these two Klein-Rubin-Baumgardner  productions are in a class with Zucker-Abrams-Zucker’s Airplane and Naked Gun.  Like GalaxyQuest and Spaceballs, but with The Viper instead of Dark Helmet.

Mortality proceeds apace. When we are gone, we will exist in the hearts of those we loved and those who loved us. But when all of them are gone as well, or legacy w/ill be our works. Mine will be sitting down; yours will still stand.

The Internet is ephemeral, but that’s why God invented the Internet Archive. Which cannot archive things that were never posted.

Credits: The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far
Announcer: Your announcer
Adapted for radio by
Harrison Klein
Jeff Rubin
Alan Baumgardner
Additional Dialog
Dave Allen
Frank Cunningham
Larry Kilgallen
John Kosian
Cast:
Dave Allen
Alan Baumgardner
Bill Drake
John Foran
Jody Gebhardt
Brian Harvey
Chris Hill
Harrison Klein (God, dog spelled backwards)
Dan Murphy
Cheryl Reilly
Chris Stawitcke
Sassyjohn Tenthumbs (John Sasse)
Brough Turner
Inspiration:
Gene S. Paul Jr.
[ed. note: actually inspired by  PTGSETSF. Gene S. Paul was one of my radio names.]
“The preceding was pre-recorded by a non-prophet organization.”

Credits: X Rates The Spot
Barbara Altenburg
Amy Cohen
The Doors
Graham Doppelganger
George Grieg
Brian Harvey
C.T. Hill
Jerry Keene
Larry Kilgallen
Fred Maroth
Kevin Mostyn
Steve Robinson
Neil Rossi
Hal and Edie Slifer
Alfred Spector
Dave Tucker
Al Valerioti
Fran Williams
Introducing David Fischer as The Viper
Musical Direction by Jerry Freiberg
Written and produced by 
Harrison Klein
Jeff Rubin
Alan Baumgardner
Your announcer The Creature Of The Pipe Room

Credits: The Wild Duck

Adapted for Radio by Robert Boniwell
Cast
Kenneth Pogran
Harrison Klein
Kevin Sullivan
Paul Schindler
Jody Gebhart
Fran Williams
Technical Direction and Sound Effects Jeff Rubin
Musical Direction George Mitchell
Produced and Directed Paul Schindler
Transcribed in the studios of WTBS, Cambridge
Announcer: Seymour Broowhat

Credits: Jekyll and Hyde

Adapted for Radio by Robert Boniwell
Cast
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Harrison Klein
Mr. Utterson: Kevin Sullivan
Also featuring
Alan Baumgardner
Kenneth Pogran
Fran Williams
Jody Gebhart
Paul Schindler
Michael Foty
Nigel Gussdorf
Robert Weistein
Technical Director and Sound Effects: Jeff Rubin
Musical Director: George Mitchell
Producer and Director Paul Schindler

How AI Tried And Failed To Help Find TBTGSETSF

It turns out the correct method ‘of finding a recording was to ask God (Harrison Klein) if he had a copy, which he did.

Paul’s Query: Is there a recording of a 1971 radio play on WTBS, “The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told so far” btgsetsf

[Suspicious; I left the first “T” off TBTGESTF and so did the LLM]

Duck.AI response to that query:

AI: “The Bible: The Greatest Story Ever Told, So Far,” often abbreviated as BTGSETSF, is a notable radio play that aired in 1971 on WTBS, the 10-watt radio station at MIT. This production is recognized for its unique approach to storytelling, blending elements of humor and drama to present biblical narratives in a fresh and engaging way.

Overview of the Radio Play/Concept and Themes

The play takes a creative look at biblical stories, presenting them in a way that resonates with contemporary audiences. It explores themes of faith, morality, and the human experience, all while maintaining a light-hearted tone.

Production Details

Broadcast Year: 1971

Station: WTBS (MIT’s 10-watt radio station)

Format: Radio play, which typically involves voice acting, sound effects, and music to create an immersive experience for listeners.

Reception

The radio play was well-received for its innovative storytelling and has since become a part of the history of radio drama, particularly in educational contexts.

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My comment: Innovative? Notable?  I guess it is true that LLM tells you want you want to hear.

Harrison Klein, who had the copy of the program I am now making available, also asked AI:

Harrison’s query: Can you find an online copy of “TBTGSETSF: The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far”, a satirical radio production of the MIT radio station WTBS (now WMBR)?

AI: I wasn’t able to locate any available online copy of TBTGSETSF: The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far, the satirical radio production by MIT’s WTBS (now WMBR). Neither general web searches nor MIT-related archives seem to contain this title.

What is Known

WTBS (Technology Broadcasting System), later renamed WMBR in 1979, hosted a range of quirky, humorous programming in the 1960s–70s, such as “Apple Gunkies,” “Master Control Chorus & Orchestra,” and “Nite Owl.”(Boston Radio, Opost)
These programs formed part of the station’s rich broadcasting culture and are sometimes preserved in separate archives, such as those maintained by independent enthusiasts.(Opost)
However, no reference or listing for TBTGSETSF: The Bible, The Greatest Story Ever Told So Far appears in available public records or station histories.

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How did “AI” do it?

Editor’s Note: Paul Stephen’s explanation sounds like mentalism to me. 

According to Wikipedia: “Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities.” I already knew that it is often performed with a “stooge” or “plant” in the audience, using hand signals (now radios) to give information to the mentalist he can use to make amazing statements about audience members. Apparently, I was AI’s plant, giving it enough information to make up something plausible. 

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Explanation of the way LLM arrived at this conclusion

By my nephew Paul Stephen Schindler
My questions are numbered

I get around hallucinations by feeding the source data directly into the prompt when possible or available. If I am not feeding it directly to the prompt as context, I treat all its output as possible hallucinations.

Do LLMs have a “fenced off secret place” they can search?

No.

LLMs don’t have access to hidden databases, private archives, or special corners of the internet that aren’t available to you. They don’t run live web searches unless explicitly connected to a browsing tool (and you can see when that happens). By default, answers are generated from a mixture of:

Patterns in training data (publicly available text, licensed text, and human training data).

Learned associations (statistical relationships between words and concepts).

So if something isn’t widely published online or in archives, the model isn’t secretly pulling it in.

Why does it seem to “know” about something you can’t find in normal search?

Because LLMs don’t look up—they make up.

When a query is obscure and under-documented, the model doesn’t find a hidden citation; instead, it predicts what “would” be written about such a production if it were documented. That’s why you saw language like “notable,” “innovative,” “part of history”—stock phrases that models fall back on.

4 What about the second answer (“I wasn’t able to locate…”)?

That’s an alternate strategy the model sometimes takes: when it can’t find strong patterns, it defaults to hedged uncertainty and mentions related, real things (WTBS → WMBR, quirky MIT radio shows, etc.). That one is closer to “honest uncertainty.”

Where did the information about WTBS/WMBR, “Apple Gunkies,” etc. come from?

Those details are based on real references:

WTBS/WMBR history is documented in MIT archives and in Boston radio histories.

“Apple Gunkies” and “Nite Owl” appear in MIT/WMBR ephemera and fan pages.

So the model had enough real cultural scraps to pad the answer, even though “TBTGSETSF” itself doesn’t appear in any known catalog.

About Those Call Letters

From the WMBR web site:

Ted Turner, who intended to distribute his TV station in Atlanta (then called WTCG) over satellite to cable operators across the US, wanted to use the call letters WTBS for his station, and contacted the MIT radio station with an offer to buy them.

Since the purchase of call letters was not yet allowed by the FCC, Turner and the lawyers for both stations found a legal loophole made possible by the MIT station’s recently-obtained non-profit organization status: $25,000 would be donated to the station by Turner under the condition that WTBS (FM) would apply for and receive new call letters. Turner would then apply for WTBS, and would donate an additional $25,000 if the FCC granted him the call sign. The deal became reality: WTBS (FM) became WMBR (“Walker Memorial Basement Radio”) on May 24, 1979, Ted Turner got the WTBS calls, WMBR received $50,000 from Turner.

X Rates The Spot on WTBS(FM)

Why is this item here? Well, I am no SEO expert, but I know headlines push a phrase higher in the rankings. As does a mention of the title X Rates The Spot in the text of this item. Which should, in short lead searchers to TBTGSETSF.

After all, An SEO expert walks into a bar, bars, pub, tavern, public house, Irish pub, drinks, beer, alcohol place, drinking spot, place for beer, beer now.