Arts Podcasts

Librivox: Paradise Lost by Milton, John show

Librivox: Paradise Lost by Milton, JohnJoin Now to Follow

Paradise Lost is the first epic of English literature written in the classical style. John Milton saw himself as the intellectual heir of Homer, Virgil, and Dante, and sought to create a work of art which fully represented the most basic tenets of the Protestant faith. His work, which was dictated from memory and transcribed by his daughter, remains as one of the most powerful English poems.

By LibriVox

Librivox: Introduction to The Philosophy of History by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich show

Librivox: Introduction to The Philosophy of History by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm FriedrichJoin Now to Follow

The introduction to Hegel's lectures on the philosophy of world history is often used to introduce students to Hegel's philosophy, in part because Hegel's sometimes difficult style is muted in the lectures, and he discourses on accessible themes such as world events in order to explain his philosophy. Much of the work is spent defining and characterizing Geist or spirit. Geist is similar to the culture of people, and is constantly reworking itself to keep up with the changes of society, while at the same time working to produce those changes through what Hegel called the "cunning of reason". Another important theme of the text is the focus on world history, rather than regional or state history. The obscure writings of Jakob Böhme had a strong effect on Hegel. Böhme had written that the Fall of Man was a necessary stage in the evolution of the universe. This evolution was, itself, the result of God's desire for complete self-awareness. Hegel was fascinated by the works of Spinoza, Kant, Rousseau, and Goethe, and by the French Revolution. Modern philosophy, culture, and society seemed to Hegel fraught with contradictions and tensions, such as those between the subject and object of knowledge, mind and nature, self and Other, freedom and authority, knowledge and faith, the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Hegel's main philosophical project was to take these contradictions and tensions and interpret them as part of a comprehensive, evolving, rational unity that, in different contexts, he called "the absolute idea" or "absolute knowledge". According to Hegel, the main characteristic of this unity was that it evolved through and manifested itself in contradiction and negation. Contradiction and negation have a dynamic quality that at every point in each domain of reality—consciousness, history, philosophy, art, nature, society—leads to further development until a rational unity is reached that preserves the contradictions as phases and sub-parts through an up-lifting (Aufhebung) into a higher unity. This whole is mental because it is mind that can comprehend all of these phases and sub-parts as steps in its own process of comprehension. It is rational because the same, underlying, logical, developmental order underlies every domain of reality and is ultimately the order of self-conscious rational thought, although only in the later stages of development does it come to full self-consciousness. The rational, self-conscious whole is not a thing or being that lies outside of other existing things or minds. Rather, it comes to completion only in the philosophical comprehension of individual existing human minds who, through their own understanding, bring this developmental process to an understanding of itself. (summary by wikipedia and d.e. wittkower)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Jewish Children (Yudishe Kinder) by Sholem Aleichem show

Librivox: Jewish Children (Yudishe Kinder) by Sholem AleichemJoin Now to Follow

Although written from a child's perspective, this is not a kids book but a series of funny, poignant, and sometimes disturbing stories about life in a late 19th-century Russian-Jewish village -- the world of my grandparents. Sholem Rabinovich (1859-1916) was born in Pereiaslav, Ukraine and later immigrated to New York. His short stories about Tevye and his daughters were freely adapted into the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Rabinovich's will contained the following injunction: "Let my name be recalled with laughter or not at all." His translator, Hannah Berman, was Irish of Lithuanian descent. Some of these stories may be too intense for younger children. (summary by Adrian Praetzellis)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Edgar Allan Poe i udvalg by Poe, Edgar Allan show

Librivox: Edgar Allan Poe i udvalg by Poe, Edgar AllanJoin Now to Follow

Det er næppe nogen overdrivelse at benævne Edgar Allan Poe som gysets sande mester. Her følger et lille udvalg af historier, som fører lytteren gennem en oplevelse af alt lige fra den mest psykopatiske kynisme og over til noget der minder om direkte mareridtsagtige drømme. (Summary by Kristoffer Hunsdahl)

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Librivox: Rinkitink in Oz by Baum, L. Frank show

Librivox: Rinkitink in Oz by Baum, L. FrankJoin Now to Follow

Rinkitink in Oz is the tenth book in the Oz series written by L. Frank Baum, first published in 1916. It was originally written in 1905 as a stand alone fantasy work and subequently rewritten as an Oz book. Therefore, most of the action takes place outside of Oz in neighboring fairy countries. It tells the story of Prince Inga's quest to rescue his parents from captivity after his island home is ravaged by enemies. With the help of three magical pearls and the more dubious assistance of the excessively jolly King Rinkitink and his surly goat, Bilbil, his travels lead him to the underground caverns of the Nome King where he is united with some people from Oz who help him to free his parents and restore his island kingdom. (description written by Judy Bieber)

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Librivox: Keepsake, The by Anonymous show

Librivox: Keepsake, The by AnonymousJoin Now to Follow

"The Keepsake, or, Poems and Pictures For Childhood and Youth", is a collection of twenty pastoral poems published as one collection in London, 1818. The topics are moral encouragement for children, young and old alike. (Summary by Sam Stinson)

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Librivox: Short Story Collection Vol. 027 by Various show

Librivox: Short Story Collection Vol. 027 by VariousJoin Now to Follow

LibriVox’s Short Story Collection 027: a collection of 10 short works of fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.

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Librivox: Film Mystery, The by Reeve, Arthur B. show

Librivox: Film Mystery, The by Reeve, Arthur B.Join Now to Follow

The Film Mystery is one of eighteen detective novels by Arthur B. Reeve starring his best known character Professor Craig Kennedy and his trusty sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter. The pair bears an unmistakable resemblance to the more famous British master sleuth and his doctor friend. The setting of this mystery is the early days of movie making, and the murder victim is Stella Lamar, “the beautiful idol of the screen, beloved of millions”, who collapses and dies during the filming of a scene for her latest movie. (Summary by Maire Rhode)

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Librivox: Sammlung kurzer deutscher Prosa 001 by Various show

Librivox: Sammlung kurzer deutscher Prosa 001 by VariousJoin Now to Follow

Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik.

By LibriVox

Librivox: Bible (ASV) 30: Amos by American Standard Version show

Librivox: Bible (ASV) 30: Amos by American Standard VersionJoin Now to Follow

"The Book of Amos is one of the books of the Nevi'im (Hebrew: "prophets") and of the Christian Old Testament. Amos is one of the minor prophets. Amos was the first biblical prophet whose words were recorded in a book, an older contemporary of Hoseah and Isaiah. He was active c 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II. He lived and prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah. His major themes of social justice, God's omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy." (Summary by Wikipedia)

By LibriVox