Tag: NPR

Five Free Favourites #8

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I’m Scott Danielson, and I’m currently not under investigation for a single impropriety. I’m one of the original members of the team here, and am the Reviews Editor. I love a great novel read by a great narrator – can’t get enough – and I also love great audio drama. Most of my listening time is spent with commercial audiobooks, and below are some of my favourites amongst the high-quality stuff I’ve found on the web for free.

Five Free Favourites

1.
NPRKrulwich on Science (NPR)
In a highly entertaining and wonderfully sounding manner, Robert Krulwich covers the world of science at the rate of one story per month. As a sample, I picked a story called “Lucy’s Laugh Enlivens the Solar System”, which is about what really happens to the radio noise we humans pump out into space. Find it here and enjoy!
 
2.
Star Ship SofaThe Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chaing (StarShipSofa)
Jesse picked this one in his first Five Free Favourites, but I simply can’t help picking it again. Ted Chiang is easily my favorite active short fiction writer. Highest on my audio wishlist is a well-narrated version of Stories of Your Life and Others. This story is well-narrated, with James Campanella performing. Go get it here.
 
3.
Escape PodThe 43 Antarean Dynasties by Mike Resnick (Escape Pod Episode 101)
I haven’t subscribed to Escape Pod for a while, because I simply don’t have the time to keep up with all the audio fiction being published nowadays, but I always keep my eye on them and grab stories that interest me. “The 43 Antarean Dynasties” by Mike Resnick is an absolute gem about some self-centered humans taking a tour of an alien site. Steven Burley and Gregg Taylor of the Decoder Ring Theatre turn in a fine narration. Find this one here.
 
4.
A Study in Emerald by Neil GaimanA Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (Audible.com)
Neil Gaiman is an example of an author who does an excellent job reading his own material. This story won a Hugo Award and is available at no cost through Audible. Sherlock Holmes, Cthulhu, Neil Gaiman… what are you waiting for? Find it here.
 


5.
Earshot - Audiofile MagazineEarshot! by Audiofile Magazine (podcast)
Earshot is a great way to keep up with what’s hot in the audiobook world as a whole (not just science fiction and fantasy). The daily short excerpts, provided by Audiofile Magazine help me discover new narrators and new audiobooks. Find the podcast here.
 
 
 
Posted by Scott D. Danielson

NPR’s Cultural History of Mars

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NPR - National Public RadioAll thanks to the Marooned: Science Fiction Books On Mars blog for this…

Originally broadcast on January 27, 2004 in the wake of Opportunity’s landing on the Red Planet, Cultural History of Mars is a 35-minute piece from National Public Radio’s program Talk of the Nation.

Hosted by Neal Conan, here’s a description of the piece: “Earthlings were fascinated by Mars long before sending rovers and landers to beam back three-dimensional color pictures of its surface. Does it have canals? Did little green men ever inhabit the planet? Will humans ever walk or live on Mars? NPR’s Neal Conan and guests discuss the history and mystery of Earth’s neighbor, from Galileo to War of the Worlds and beyond.”

Conan’s guests include Dr. William Sheehan, co-author of Mars: The Lure of the Red Planet (2001), David Catling, professor of astrobiology at University of Washington, and Mark Rahner, pop culture writer for The Seattle Times.

Covering both science and science fiction, the discussion mentions a Ray Bradbury episode from X-Minus One (radio drama, 1955), Percival Lowell, Mars Attacks! (film, 1996), H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (1898), Arthur C. Clarke’s The Sands of Mars (1951), Kim Stanley Robinson, Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles from Dimension X (radio adaptation, 1950/1951), Edgar Rice Burroughs’ character John Carter, C. S. Lewis, Robinson Crusoe on Mars (film, 1964), Angry Red Planet (film, 1960), Total Recall (film, 1990), and Rocketship X-M (film, 1950).

Posted by Jesse Willis

NPR: Auto-Obituary includes Babylon 5 quotes

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NPR - National Public RadioAmerican Army soldier and blogger Andrew Olmsted used some poignant Babylon 5 quotes in his final blog entry – his own obituarty.

“‘I will see you again, in the place where no shadows fall.’
Ambassador Delenn, Babylon 5

I don’t know if there is an afterlife; I tend to doubt it, to be perfectly honest. But if there is any way possible, Amanda, then I will live up to Delenn’s words, somehow, some way. I love you.”

Have a listen to the NPR story HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

NPR talks to author Michael Chabon

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NPR Fresh Air NPR’s Fresh Air radio show has a fascinating 25 minute interview with author, SF and comic books fan, Michael Chabon. Host Terry Gross talked with Chabon about his newest book The Yiddish Policemen’s Union which is a murder-mystery novel set in an alternate history Alaska in which a flood of European Jews have settled in Alaska. It sounds like a fascinating book (the audiobook is coming out UNABRIDGED from HarperAudio).

Chabon’s novel trades on the fact that a Jewish homeland, other than Israel, was a major possibility immediately after WWII. In the interview Chabon mentions the fact that Uganda, Madagascar, Australia, Suriname and Alaska were all once considered suitable homelands for the Jews of Europe. I myself read a fascinating book last year about the “Fugu Plan” – a very real plan by the Empire of Japan to settle European Jews in, of all places, newly enslaved Manchuria!

To listen to the interview, CLICK HERE, you’ll need a RealAudio or WindowsMedia player.

Also, over on the HarperCollins website for the novel, there’s a flashy, flash animated trailer for The Yiddish Policemen’s Union which features an excerpt from Peter Reigert’s reading of the audiobook.

posted by Jesse Willis

NPR covers the emerging subgenre Economic Science Fiction

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NPR Weekend EditionRick Kleffell, NPR correspondent and podcaster had a fascinating 7 minute piece on the NPR’s Weekend Edition. The topic? The theme is Economics in Science Fiction:

During the Cold War, science-fiction tales of alien invasion mirrored society’s fear of Communism, and monsters from Frankenstein to Godzilla have tapped into our unease about the boundaries of science. But a new type of genre fiction has plots centering around business and economics. A book by T. C. Boyle takes the subject of identity theft and treats it like a horror story. Several other writers are also turning their attention to our preoccupation with finances and business, and finding fertile ground.

Listen via RealAudio or WindowsMedia HERE.

posted by Jesse Willis