SiriusXM Celebrates Lorre Favorite Author Birthday

Peter Lorre much admired Edgar Allan Poe, the American writer of mystery and suspense, born January 19, 1809. In addition to appearing in Poe films in the early 1960s, Peter also performed dramatic readings of “The Tell-Tale Heart” in cinema stage shows in the 1940s.

And during the summer of 1947, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” were adapted for episodes of the Lorre radio series Mystery in the Air.

To celebrate the 217th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, Radio Classics channel host Greg Bell presents a pair of two-hour blocks of Poe-inspired radio shows, “Poe Man 1” and “Poe Man 2”, during the week of Monday, January 19, to Sunday, January 25, 2026.

Included in the “Poe Man 1” block is the Peter Lorre episode “The Black Cat” from his radio series Mystery in the Air, originally broadcast over NBC on September 18, 1947.

The “Poe Man 1” block includes these programs – Inner Sanctum, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (August 3, 1934); Mystery in the Air, “The Black Cat” (September 18, 1947); The Weird Circle, “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (January 2, 1944); and Suspense, “The Pit and the Pendulum” (January 12, 1943).

The “Poe Man 1” block will air these dates and times ~

Monday, January 19 –
5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern

Wednesday, January 21 –
7 am Pacific, 10 am Eastern

Saturday, January 24 –
1 am Pacific, 4 am Eastern

The full schedule of the week’s programming is available on Greg Bell’s website.

Satellite radio provider SiriusXM airs Radio Classics over channel 148. Subscribers may also listen to the programs over the internet or through the SiriusXM app on a Smart Phone or Smart Speaker. Not a subscriber? SiriusXM offers special trial deals through their website.

Happy listening!