February 18, 2008

Good Morning Listeners!

I enjoy listening to podcasts and audiobooks. In my search to find more material to look for I decided I should document where material can be found on the internet, especially free stuff.

Audiobooks are a great invention since they allow one to utilize normally unproductive time. If your commute to work is more than 10 minutes in length you have plenty of time to knock out a couple of books a month.

I hope also to have the readers of this blog help by sharing sites they have found and give recommendations of books to listen to.

February 19, 2008

Podcast: Great Books Audio ~ Chapter a Day

--Photo: Great Books--

Great Books Audio ~ Chapter a Day publishes a ‘chapter’ at a time from classic literature, both fiction and poetry, as a podcast. This is a great way to not only expand your horizons but to “read” some of the books you should have read in high school.

Although the title includes “Chapter a Day”, it appears that anywhere from 5 to 20 ‘chapters’ are published each month, averaging about 3 per week. You can listen directly on the site, download the mp3, or subscribe to the podcast. So far I have only heard one voice narrating the stories, so I assume it is done by the site’s owner, Walter Burek, though the site does not give any details about the podcast’s origins or motivations.

Along with the first chapter of each work, the host includes some information about the book or poem and it’s author. Subsequent chapters each have a picture of some kind that relate to the story in some way, usually quite interesting.

--Photo: War of the Worlds--

I am currently listening to “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells and the reader’s voice fits in well with the single person narration format of the story. Will be interesting to see how he does on more complex stories. It would be nice if there was an index page linking to the start of each story and poem read.

Here is a list of the books that have been read so far and a link to the first chapter:

Details

February 20, 2008

Audio Pick: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

--Photo: Patrick Henry by Rothermel.jpg--

Patrick Henry’s speech, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, was given in March 1775 at the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond Virginia. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were among the delegates present to debate the issue of organizing a militia to resist Great Britain’s oppressive rule. I do not ever remember ever having heard or read the actual text of this speech before.
I can see how this speech might have been a deciding factor in committing Virginia troops to join Massachusetts troops to fight the British.

The speech can be downloaded for free from Learn-out-Loud at the link above. I found this audio file while searching for free audio books and discovered Learn-Out-Loud’s Founding Document’s Podcast. This looks to have been a great podcast but Learn-out-Loud has not added anything new to the schedule since April 2007, but I still look forward to listening to the half-dozen things they did post.

All Brave Sailors - WPR’s Chapter A Day

--Photo: Wisconsin Public Radio--

Tomorrow Chapter A Day on Wisconsin Public Radio will begin it’s broadcast of All Brave Sailors by J. Revell Carr. The book is read by Norman Gilliland and will run from Thursday, February 21, through Friday, March 7, 2008. This book was originally published in January 2004 and the paperback version was published in July 2007.

--Photo: All Brave Sailors--

Summary

In the early years of WWII, a German raider, the Widder, would disguise itself as a neutral Swedish freighter and attack unsuspecting enemy ships, usually sinking the ships and killing all on board. In August 1940 the unarmed British freighter, Anglo-Saxon, was sunk by the Widder but 7 merchant marines were able to escape undetected on a small ‘jolly boat’.

The story chronicles the fate of these seven men over the next 70 days as they drift across the Atlantic Ocean and struggle with hunger, exposure, thirst, and madness. Along with this amazing story, the author adds the story of the notorious captain, Hellmuth von Ruckteschell who was eventually tried as a war criminal.

Listening

Chapter A Day broadcasts online at 12:30pm CST each weekday but they also make available the last 5 days readings online so you can listen at a time more convenient for you.

February 21, 2008

Podcast: Astronomy Cast - The Universe Explained

--Photo: Astronomy Cast--

Astronomy Cast humbly claims to take its listeners on a fact based journey through the cosmos. Astronomy is no longer just pointing a telescope at the sky and making observations. All of our ‘earthly’ sciences have a sister science in space The weekly podcast covers a wide range of astronomy topics using a format where an avid astronomy lover is able to explore the universe and our knowledge of it by asking questions and interacting directly with an astronomer.

The show is co-hosted by Fraser Cain, who publishes the site Universe Today, and Dr. Pamela L. Gay, a professor (SIUE) and blogger. The interaction between the enthusiast and scientist can not only hold the listeners attention but will entertain and educate the listener as the hosts share their passion for all things astronomical.

The show began in September 2006, and appears to not have missed a single weekly issue. It is worth going back and listening to back issues on the archives page if you get a chance.

Details

February 22, 2008

LoudLit.org - Free MP3 Audiobooks

LoudLit.org one of a handful of sites dedicated to making good literature available for free online. LoudLit’s distinction is that besides being able to download the audio version, you can read the text online in-sync with the text. The site says: “Putting the text and audio together, readers can learn spelling, punctuation and paragraph structure by listening and reading masterpieces of the written word.” I would think this would be a great feature for those learning English as a second language.

Below are the titles that are currently available on LoudLit.org

Novels

Short Stories

Poetry

Children’s

Historical

February 23, 2008

FreeAudio.org - Writings in Personal Liberty and Freedom

FreeAudio.org deigns to be a non-partisan voice of freedom, challenging us to listen/read works regarding aspects of personal freedom. And not just the freedoms that are important to us personally but to stand up for the liberties of all, even those with whom we may disagree.

Our goal is to spread the word of liberty, freedom and democracy to people, communities and countries where they may not be readily available. Personal freedom is sought by everyone young or old, male or female, no matter what race, ethnicity or culture. It is unfortunate that a small but powerful few have taken it upon themselves to deny others freedom for their own gain. Liberty and freedom is not a partisan issue but a human condition that we all seek.

The site was started in July 2003 with the publication of Frederic Bastiat’s highly influential work, “The Law: The Classic Blueprint for a Just Society.”

If you ever wondered why people involved in politics often fight so vehemently for their cause, this book goes a long way towards not only describing why this is but also what must be done in order to avoid it and how to create a just and equitable society. This book will most likely change the way you think about politics forever.

A few more titles were added in 2005 and then the final update to the site was made in December 2006. I hope that they are able to add more titles in the future. Below is a list of what is on the site at present.

Law and Economics

American Independence

Anti-Slavery / Civil Rights

Thanksgiving

February 26, 2008

Classic Tales Podcast - Unabridged Classics for a New Generation

--Photo: Classic Tales Podcast--

Each week the Classic Tales Podcast delivers an unabridged classic short story professionally performed by the host, B.J. Harrison. With the podcast, B.J. attempts to make unabridged classics available and approachable to a media savvy generation and provide a healthy dose of enchantment and adventure from such timeless authors as Dickens, Hardy, Hawthorne, Poe, Stevenson. His choice of stories, he says, are those will uplift and inspire and never to degrade which is his definition of what it means to be a “classic”.

According to the website, B.J. first fell in love with the classics when ran across a comic book version of Hamlet at age 12. As a teenager, he loved to listen to the old radio dramatizations including Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. For the last 11 years, he has been able to listen to audiobooks while he works and became acquainted with many colorful characters like David Copperfield, Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe, and many others. The allure of these tales was enhanced for him by the performance of the reader in the presentation of the story. He uses what he learned to bring to life the stories presented in his podcast.

I appreciated B.J.’s pledge that he will not publish explicit material of any kind in The Classic Tales. It is nice to know that this will always be a family friendly podcast. I can listen to these stories to my kids and not need to awkwardly fast forward through portions.

He also sells some longer stories as audiobooks. He currently has 3 for sale, The Invisible Man & The Time Machine, the Edgar Allan Poe Collection, and Treasure Island. Each of these is available for instant download at $9.99 each. I will probably be adding these to my collection shortly.

Details

LiteralSystems Audiobooks - Free Professionally Recorded Classics

--Photo: Sister Station By Sarah Atlee--

LiteralSystems publishes classic literary works as free mp3 audio books under the Creative Commons License. What sets there recordings apart from others is that they utilize paid performers to create the recordings. Due to the cost of using paid help the selection is limited but the recordings are all of the highest quality.

I like what the site admin says about why he uses paid performers:

On average an hour long audio book requires about four or five hours of work on the part of the actor to make it good. Consider, during the recording stage, the actors also have to deal with the director (yours truly) calling “…one more time.” from the next room; this process tends to be more work than most volunteers want to put in. But, because the director (yours truly) likes the results better, in the last two years, in this fashion, we have moved largely away from working with volunteer performers to a paid performers situation.

Below is a list of the titles that are currently available:

February 27, 2008

Space Casey - Sci-Fi Comedy Audiodrama

--Photo: Space Casey--

Some heroines will steal your heart…
This one will steal your wallet

What happens when a con-artist gets herself stranded in a distant galaxy after hijacking a space ship from an alien doing a human survey mission? Christiana Ellis just finished putting the 10th and last episode of this hilarious and very original sci-fi comedy audiodrama, Space Casey, online. The production quality is superb with great sound effects, music, and an all-star cast of voice talents.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy this great story.

Title: Space Casey
Author: Christiana Ellis
Published: November 2007 - February 2008
Length: 10 episodes, Approximately 4 hours
License: Non-Commercial, Share and Share Alike, Creative Commons license
Website: http://www.SpaceCasey.com
Podcasts: http://www.spacecasey.com/?feed=podcast


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