H.G. Wells Month – The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells Month

Podcast - Mister Ron's BasementMr. Ron of the Mister Ron’s Basement podcast, is one of most experienced podcasters in all of podcasting. He has produced more than 700 shows in more than two years! His is a daily podcast of funny stuff from the public domain. Not much of it has been SFF audio related, but there is an H.G. Wells story from way back in his archives. Here’s how Mr. Ron describes his contribution to our H.G. Wells Month…

Episode #175 of Mister Ron’s Basement is H. G. Wells’ 1899 story, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, which Wells himself rewrote as a screenplay for the wonderful 1936 Movie of the same name starring Roland Young. The musical intro and outro is also special – selections from a 1912 recording of ‘I’m The Guy’ penned by legendary cartoonist Rube Goldberg.

The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H.G. WellsThe Man Who Could Work Miracles
By H.G. Wells; Read by Ron Evry
1 MP3 – Approx. 37 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Mister Ron’s Basement
Podcast: October 2005
A man who vigorously asserts the impossibility of miracles, suddenly discovers that he can perform them! After being thrown out of a bar for what is thought to be a trick, he tests his powers, they work! Worried, he seeks advice from the local clergyman with hilarious results.

You can subscribe to the podcast, and visit the basement daily, via this feed:

http://slapcast.com/rss/revry/index.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: Radio Drama & Dystopia

SFFaudio Commentary

Exploring Dystopia - Radio Dystopia

“The purpose of Exploring Dystopia is not to kill time, play with web editors, stimulate the ego, build a virtual monument or something like that. The raison d’être of Exploring Dystopia is simply to promote dystopian fiction, thus stimulating people to think for themselves.”

-Niclas Hermansson (editor of Exploring Dystopia)

And that’s just what you’ll find on the Exploring Dystopia website. It is a super-detailed, highly engaging exploration of the seamier side of utopia. You’ll find endless resources at the site, but I found myself enthralled by one particular section:

This section is solely comprised of a 1300 word essay entitled “Voices In The Night: An Introduction To Dystopias In Radio Drama.” The essay is written by Jeff Dickson, the master behind The OTR Plot Spot. You’ll find it a terrific study of both the history and the power of dystopian fiction in the Radio Drama form. Go check it out!

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7 has C.L. Moore’s Shambleau

Online Audio

BBC 7's The 7th Dimension BBC Radio 7 has an new project Saturday, a reading of C.L. Moore’s classic Shambleau! The story was produced by Gemma Jenkins as a commission for the 7th Dimension. This is the most famous of Moore’s famous pulp adventure Northwest Smith stories. Shambleau was Moore’s first professional sale, it first appeared in the November, 1933 issue of Weird Tales and the sale netted her a cool $100.00. The hero of the story is Northwest Smith, a spaceship pilot and smuggler, who’ll remind you of both Indiana Jones and Han Solo both. Smith lives in a future in which humanity has colonized the solar system. The relationship of the planetary primitives, on these planets, to the earth colonists, is analogous to the situation between the Native Indians of the Americas or the Aboriginies of Australia to European colonials. Smith is a ruthless, self-serving, and cynical anti-hero with a core of goodness. “Shambleau” mixes themes of sexuality and addiction during Smith’s encounter with a strange female alien. Details follow…

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Shambleau by C.L. MooreShambleau
By C.L. Moore; Read by; Read by Elizabeth McGovern
3 Radio Broadcasts – Approx. 90 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Saturday April 21st, 28th and May 5th at 6.30pm and 12.30am
“An adventure set on Mars, bounty-hunter Northwest Smith lands himself in trouble when he comes to the aid of a beautiful young woman who is being attacked by an angry mob.“

NOTE: Those outside the UK can get all of the above using the BBC7 Listen Again service for up to 6 days following the broadcasts.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC WorldService has Kenyan Science Fiction

SFFaudio OnlineAudio

BBC WorldserviceBBC World Service’s African Performance contest for 2006 was won by a Kenyan teacher and columnist John Rugoiyo Gichuki. His 2006 entry, Eternal Forever, is Science Fiction! This guy won for 2004 as well (though that one wasn’t an SF play as far as I can tell). Hopefully there will be more Speculative Fiction entries for the 2007 contest. The good news, you can listen to the 2006 winner and the runner ups (none else are SF) HERE. Details on Eternal Forever itself follow…

Eternal Forever
By John Rugoiyo Gichuki; Performed by a FULL CAST
1 REALAUDIO File – Approx. 30 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
BROADCASTER: BBC World Service
BROADCAST: April 2006
Set in the year 2410, in the United States of Africa, it is the tale of Kwabena whose wife and son have mysteriously disappeared. His desperate search to find them brings him into contact with a scientist, Dr. Chishedi, who has helped to create a top secret parallel world into which his family have been transported. Kwabena is given the opportunity to join them in this unknown world, but it’s a big decision to make as it will change his life forever.

Via [JMX and his Silent Universe]

posted by Jesse Willis

Canadia: 2056 is airing! Catch it now!

SFFaudio OnlineAudio

Canadia 2056Canadia: 2056 episode 1 has already aired in Eastern Canada. It is, at the time of this post, airing in Central Canada and will begin airing in Alberta and British Columbia very shortly. If you haven’t already heard it, there’s still an opportunity. Click on over to the Streaming Radio Map for CBC Radio One. Click on an Alberta feed or a British Columbia feed to catch the last two original episode airings.

Canadia: 2056 airs this Friday at 11:30 AM (Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern) on CBC Radio One.

posted by Jesse Willis

H.G. Wells Month: Exclusive reading of The Crystal Egg by H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells Month

Podcast - Beam Me UpPaul Cole of the Beam Me Up radio show/podcast, has recorded a special H.G. Wells month short story, just for us (and all his podcast subscribers). This special reading won’t be going on the air at WRFR but it’s already in the feed for the show’s podcast right now. Here’s how Paul describes the story:

Here is a classic treat for listeners who enjoy the classic Science Fiction of the masters. In this podcast only version of Beam Me Up – we have on tap, The Crystal Egg written by Herbert George Wells. The story tells of a shop owner, named Mr. Cave, who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars. The story was written the same year in which Wells was serializing The War of the Worlds in Pearson’s Magazine, a year before it was published as a novel. Because of the vaguely similar descriptions of the Martians and their machines, “The Crystal Egg” is often considered a prequel to The War of the Worlds, though there is no clear foreshadowing of the events that transpire in the novel.

The Crystal Egg by H.G. WellsThe Crystal Egg
By H.G. Wells; Read by Paul Cole
1 MP3 – 51 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Beam Me Up
Podcast: April 19th 2007

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://beameup.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

posted by Jesse Willis