Arts Podcasts

Librivox: Phantom of the Opera, The by Leroux, Gaston show

Librivox: Phantom of the Opera, The by Leroux, GastonJoin Now to Follow

An old theatre under new management; a diva who thinks she can sing; a young ingenue who really can; a masked man who wreaks havoc if he doesn't get his own way. Secrets, intrigues, falling chandeliers! The Phantom of the Opera is here! (Summary by Karen Savage)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Through the Looking-Glass (version 2) by Carroll, Lewis show

Librivox: Through the Looking-Glass (version 2) by Carroll, LewisJoin Now to Follow

The sequel to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” finds Alice back in Wonderland and a piece in a surreal chess game. This weird and wonderful book includes the poems “Jabberwocky” and “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” a talking pudding, and that immortal line “Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today.” Lewis Carroll was the nom de plume of Charles Dodgson (1832-1890) an Anglican clergyman, photographer, and mathematician.

By LibriVox

Librivox: Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, An by Hume, David show

Librivox: Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, An by Hume, DavidJoin Now to Follow

The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a shortened and simplified version of Hume's masterpiece A Treatise of Human Nature. It sought to reach a wider audience, and to dispel some of the virulent criticism addressed toward the former book. In it, Hume explains his theory of epistemology, and argues against other current theories, including those of John Locke, George Berkeley, and Nicolas Malebranche. (Summary by Kirsten Ferreri)

By LibriVox

Mansfield Park (version 2) by AUSTEN, Jane show

Mansfield Park (version 2) by AUSTEN, JaneJoin Now to Follow

Miss Frances, the youngest Ward sister, "married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune, or connexions, did it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice." Some years later, pregnant with her ninth child, Mrs. Price appeals to her family, namely to her eldest sister and her husband, Sir Thomas Bertram, for help with her over-large family. Sir Thomas provides assistance in helping his nephews into lines of work suitable to their education, and takes his eldest niece, Fanny Price, then ten years old, into his home to raise with his own children. It is Fanny's story we follow in Mansfield Park. (Summary by Karen Savage with text from Mansfield Park)<p></p>

By LibriVox

Librivox: With Christ in the School of Prayer by Murray, Andrew show

Librivox: With Christ in the School of Prayer by Murray, AndrewJoin Now to Follow

It is under a deep impression that the place and power of prayer in the Christian life is too little understood, that this book has been written. I feel sure that as long as we look on prayer chiefly as the means of maintaining our own Christian life, we shall not know fully what it is meant to be. But when we learn to regard it as the highest part of the work entrusted to us, the root and strength of all other work, we shall see that there is nothing that we so need to study and practise as the art of praying aright. ... the Father waits to hear every prayer of faith, to give us whatsoever we will, and whatsoever we ask in Jesus’ name. (Andrew Murray, quoted from the Preface of this book)

By LibriVox

The George R. R. Martin Podcast show

The George R. R. Martin PodcastJoin Now to Follow

Join the New York Times bestselling author of the epic A Song of Ice and Fire cycle, George R. R. Martin, for his very first podcast. In these eight episodes, George covers a range of topics from the birth of his acclaimed saga, to his experiences in Hollywood, to "weird stuff," and even reads an excerpt his new paperback novel A FEAST FOR CROWS. (photo copyright: Parris)

By George R. R. Martin

Librivox: Scarlet Letter, The by Hawthorne, Nathaniel show

Librivox: Scarlet Letter, The by Hawthorne, NathanielJoin Now to Follow

The story begins in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter “A” on her breast. The scarlet letter "A" represents the act of adultery that she has committed; it is to be a symbol of her sin for all to see. She will not reveal her lover’s identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Democracy in America II by Tocqueville, Alexis de show

Librivox: Democracy in America II by Tocqueville, Alexis deJoin Now to Follow

Democracy in America was published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840. It is a classic work on the United States in the 1830s and its strengths and weaknesses as seen from a European point of view. It is also regarded as a pioneering work of sociology. (Summary based on Wikipedia)

By LibriVox

French Revolution, The by BELLOC, Hilaire show

French Revolution, The by BELLOC, HilaireJoin Now to Follow

<p>“It is, for that matter, self-evident that if one community decides in one fashion, another, also sovereign, in the opposite fashion, both cannot be right. Reasoning men have also protested, and justly, against the conception that what a majority in numbers, or even (what is more compelling still) a unanimity of decision in a community may order, may not only be wrong but may be something which that community has no authority to order since, though it possesses a civil and temporal authority, it acts against that ultimate authority which is its own consciousness of right. Men may and do justly protest against the doctrine that a community is incapable of doing deliberate evil; it is as capable of such an action as is an individual. But men nowhere do or can deny that the community acting as it thinks right is ultimately sovereign: there is no alternative to so plain a truth.” - Hilaire Belloc</p><p></p>

By LibriVox

On the Nature of Things by CARUS, Titus Lucretius show

On the Nature of Things by CARUS, Titus LucretiusJoin Now to Follow

<p>Written in the first century b.C., On the Nature of Things (in Latin, <i>De Rerum Natura</i>) is a poem in six books that aims at explaining the Epicurean philosophy to the Roman audience. Among digressions about the importance of philosophy in men's life and praises of Epicurus, Lucretius created a solid treatise on the atomic theory, the falseness of religion and many kinds of natural phenomena. With no harm to his philosophical scope, the author composed a didactic poem of epic flavor, of which the imagery and style are highly praised. (Summary by Leni)</p>

By LibriVox