Audio Podcast Directory - Podcasts with only audio episodes
Librivox: Favourite Chapters Collection 002 by VariousJoin Now to Follow
A collection of LibriVox volunteers’ favourite chapters. Some were chosen for being the key chapter in a great novel, others for the wonderful clarity with which great ideas are expressed, and still others because the reader did a wonderful job. Whatever the reason they were chosen, we hope they will give you as much pleasure as they did us. (Summary by David Barnes).
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Librivox: Hard Times by Dickens, CharlesJoin Now to Follow
Hard Times, the shortest of Dickens's full-length novels, is set in the fictitious Victorian-England city of Coketown, where facts are the rule and all fancy is to be stamped out. The plot centers around the men and women of the town, some of whom are beaten down by the city's utilitarian ideals and some of whom manage to rise above it. The novel was written in 1854 and was a scathing attack on then-current ideas of utilitarianism, which Dickens viewed as a selfish and at times oppressive philosophy. Perhaps the novel's best features are its clever, ironic narration and the larger-than-life characters that push the plot forward, such as the upper-class banker and hypocritical braggart, Josiah Bounderby, and the fact-driven schoolmaster, Thomas Gradgrind. (Summary by Rosalind Wills).
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Librivox: Rautatie by Aho, JuhaniJoin Now to Follow
Aho's first novel Rautatie (Railroad), considered one of his main works, is a story of an elderly couple who hear about railroad first time ever and have a hard time imagining carriages with no horses. They eventually get around to trying it out. Juhani Ahon esikoisromaani vuodelta 1884, Rautatie, on kertomus maaseudun ukosta ja akasta, jotka kuulevat naapurikylälle saapuneesta uudesta ihmeestä, ilman hevosia kulkevasta vaunusta, ja päättävät pitkän jahkailun jälkeen lähteä sitä katsomaan. (Summary by Tuija Aalto)
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Librivox: Apology, The by Emerson, Ralph WaldoJoin Now to Follow
LibriVox volunteers bring you 28 different recordings of The Apology by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of September 2, 2007.
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Librivox: Essays of Francis Bacon, The by Bacon, FrancisJoin Now to Follow
Voltaire was an atheist. Diderot was Enlightened. But trite titles seldom encompass completely the beliefs of any individual. And this one fact is certainly true when dealing with Sir Francis Bacon.The youngest son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Francis was born in Strand, London, on Jan. 22, 1561. He went to Trinity College at Cambridge. He was elected to Parliament; he was Queen’s Counsel; he even became Attorney General before finally gaining the position of Lord Chancellor.But as do the careers of so many politicians, in 1621 his political career ended in disgrace.And yet, for all of this, both Diderot and Voltaire considered him “the father of modern science.” Others consider him only the father of the “scientific method.” (That process of collecting and organizing data.) Bacon’s “The Essays,” to which we now turn our attention, are–if they are nothing else–a delightful collection in decided disarray. That is, they seem to take no true progression. But an essay is not meant to be a treatise. And for all that, these essays are still a pleasure to read.Encompassing a broad field of interest, their largesse denotes the broad learning of this brilliant philosopher. It is therefore our sincere hope that the reader will, themselves, encompass these Essays. More importantly, we hope you enjoy them. (Summary by Carl Vonnoh, III)
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Librivox: Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home by Post, EmilyJoin Now to Follow
Far from being a proscriber of minutiae, Post the philosopher offers a way of living: “Manners are made up of trivialities of deportment which can be easily learned if one does not happen to know them; manner is personality—the outward manifestation of one’s innate character and attitude toward life.” Post gives us thousands of tips on correspondence, wedding planning, party giving and conduct in every public or private setting. (Summary from Bartleby)
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Librivox: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Wiggin, Kate DouglasJoin Now to Follow
Rebecca goes to live with her two stern aunts in a village in Maine. Her joy for life ends up inspiring them. (summary from Wikipedia)
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Librivox: Water-Babies, The by Kingsley, CharlesJoin Now to Follow
The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby is a novel by the Reverend Charles Kingsley, first published in its entirety in 1863. Though some of the author's opinions are very dated now, the journey of a little chimney-sweep water-baby through rivers and storms, under sea and over iceberg, is still a classic, wonderful children's adventure. Summary by Cori Samuel. Music from Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture at musopen.org
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Librivox: Reginald by SakiJoin Now to Follow
Saki (December 18, 1870 - November 14, 1916) was the pen name of the British author Hector Hugh Munro. His witty, biting and occasionally odd short stories satirised Edwardian culture. Saki is considered a master of the short story and has been compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker as well as Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde (who clearly influenced Saki.) His first collection of short stories, Reginald, was published by Methuen Press in 1904 though these stories first appeared in the 'Westminster Gazette'. The stories in this collection are a foil for allowing the jaded and insider/outsider figure of Reginald to comment on some ridiculous or provincial attitude prevelant in upperclass Edwardian society, although one can easily recoginize these same attitudes in our society today. Long popular and well known, Saki's brilliant humour is as enjoyable now as it was almost a century ago. (Summary by Jason Xanthopoulos).
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Librivox: Critique of Pure Reason, The by Kant, ImmanuelJoin Now to Follow
The Critique of Pure Reason, first published in 1781 with a second edition in 1787, has been called the most influential and important philosophical text of the modern age. Kant saw the Critique of Pure Reason as an attempt to bridge the gap between rationalism (there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience) and empiricism (sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge) and, in particular, to counter the radical empiricism of David Hume (our beliefs are purely the result of accumulated habits, developed in response to accumulated sense experiences). Using the methods of science, Kant demonstrates that though each mind may, indeed, create its own universe, those universes are guided by certain common laws, which are rationally discernable. (Summary by Ticktockman)
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