Category: Online Audio

Bill Moyers: A World Of Ideas – A conversation between Bill Moyers and Isaac Asimov

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Bill Moyers A World Of Ideas

Among the many books in my maternal grandmother’s collection was Bill Moyers – A World Of Ideas which is subtitled “Conversations With Thoughtful Men And Women About American Life Today And The Ideas Shaping Our Future.” I’d read out of it, years ago, at her home and commented on it to her. She had lots of books, lots is a bit of an understatement, and when she died, and it came time to sort through everything, I thought this one was a keeper.

Essentially it is a collection of smart interviews that you can dip into to find fascinating transcriptions of a conversations between Moyers and some other thoughtful person.

My favourite conversation in it, so far, is from 1988, with the inspirational Isaac Asimov. Here’s a |PDF| and here’s an |MP3|

It is also available as a three part YouTube video series:

Posted by Jesse Willis

Lastborn (aka The Ugly Little Boy) by Isaac Asimov

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Perhaps Isaac Asimov’s most famous novella, certainly one of his best, Lastborn (aka The Ugly Little Boy) is in the public domain and narrated by the wonderful Gregg Margarite!

The Drama PodGregg Margarite
2 MP3 Files – Approx. 1 Hour 35 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: The Drama Pod
Podcast: November 2011
ETEXT from Archive.org
A scientific experiment or not, the patient was her responsibility … and all the more
so for having died so many centuries ago! First published in the September 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

That entire issue, including Lastborn, is available as a |PDF|.

Lastborn by Isaac Asimov - illustration by Wood
Lastborn by Isaac Asimov - illustration by Wood
Lastborn by Isaac Asimov - illustration by Wood

The Ugly Little Boy was also released as one half of Tor Double No. 8:
TOR Double No. 8: The Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Asimov

There was a 1977 television adaptation (available for purchase HERE). It is noteworthy for its fidelity to the text:

Posted by Jesse Willis

SFBRP #069 – A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast I had forgotten that Luke Burrage’s Science Fiction Book Review Podcast used to be, occasionally, available as a live video feed. Take for example his SFBRP #069 from October 23, 2009 show (still available as a video).

It was a review of A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Have a look:

So, it looks to me like the video was not something that was really needed. But it is interesting to see how Luke’s setup worked. Since then Luke has replaced the video with a still photograph of himself posed with whichever book (or audiobook) he is reviewing – I love these, (HERE‘s my current favourite).

And of course the audio version of SFBRP #069 is also available: |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://www.sfbrp.com/?feed=podcast

Posted by Jesse Willis

Barely Literate: The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Barely LiterateThe Barely Literate podcast, back in 2009, put out a wonderful and thoughtful podcast discussion of Philip K. Dick’s The Man In The High Castle. Chris Berg, Jim Dempsey, Sam Hansen and Colin Marshall had various levels of experience with Philip K. Dick reading – and they all brought something interesting to the conversation. This is great discussion about a great book!

|MP3|

Here’s the podcast feed:

http://barelyliterare.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBCR4 + RA.cc: A Night With A Vampire – David Tennat reads stories by Calmet, Tolstoy, Maupassant, Freeman, Gautier

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 4RadioArchive.ccLast year The Book At Bedtime, BBC Radio 4’s evening book reading program, also had a collection of five short stories called A Night With A Vampire (you may have noticed I just posted about the sequel).

The first story in this collection of five vampire tales was written by a Benedictine Monk. It purports to be non-fiction (the author having surveyed Europe for real life eighteenth century stories in his book The Phantom World). The second story, by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (a Soviet SF writer with an asteroid named after him) may be the best of the bunch – it’s romantic and creepy. The third story, by Guy de Maupassant, well we did a whole show on that one, is extremely abridged with only about a quarter of the original text still present. Numbers four and five didn’t do much for me, but maybe you’ll find them more engaging than I did.

From November 22nd to 26th, 2010 (BBC R4 22:45-23:00) David Tennant narrated five 14 minute (abridged) short stories. The complete set is available as a |TORRENT| from RadioArchive.cc.

1. Dead Persons In Hungary by Antoine Augustin Calmet – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
Antoine Augustin Calmet published an apparently serious anthropological history of the Vampire throughout Europe in the early 19 century called “The Phantom World.” All the people he spoke to were adamant about what they had witnessed. His account therefore appears all the more disturbing and became the basis for the flights of Vampiric fancy that took off in the Victorian age.

2. The Family Of The Vourdalak by Alexis Tolstoy – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
Leo Tolstoy’s lesser known brother has written this compelling story about a patriarch who sets off on a mysterious mission but fears he may come back a Vampire. If he should return to their village after 10 days – he begs his family to deny him access and plunge a stake through his heart.

3. The Horla by Guy de Maupassant – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
After an unusual Brazilian ship enters the harbour – our hero suddenly begins to feel unwell, and starts to have feverish and disturbing visions. Only too late does he discover the demonic nature of the South American ship’s cargo.

4. Luella Miller by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
Luella Miller seems incapable of surviving on her own – so she calls on friends, relatives and lovers to help her. And they all die – one by one – until there is no one left to lift a finger to assist this most demanding of women. An unusual tale – set in small town America.

5. Clarimonde by Theophile Gautier – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
As a young man approaches his first moments as a priest his eyes glance to heaven – and sees leaning over the sanctuary railing – a young woman of extraordinary beauty. And so begins a sensational struggle for his soul…

Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBCR4 + RA.cc: A Night With A Vampire 2 – David Tennant reads stories by Wharton, Matheson, Lieber, Swindells, Carter

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 4RadioArchive.ccThe Book At Bedtime, the serialized audiobook slot on BBC Radio 4, last week featured a collection of five short stories called A Night With A Vampire 2. From November 29th to December 3rd, 2011 (BBC R4 22:45-23:00) five 14 minute (abridged) stories were read by David Tennant. Now the set is available via |TORRENT| for download at RadioArchive.cc.

As you might guess from the title, these are all vampire stories.

My pick of the lot is Richard Matheson’s Drink My Blood (aka Drink My Red Blood… aka Blood Son) which was Matheson’s seventh published short story. I find it to be extremely creepy. Parents will probably find it doubly so. Also good is Fritz Leiber’s Girl With The Hungry Eyes which is a bit less sanguineous and a bit more sexual.

The Lady Of The House Of Love by Angela Carter – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
“This wonderful retake on the Sleeping Beauty story first appeared in Carter’s 1979 volume “The Bloody Chamber“. A virginal English soldier, travelling through Romania by bicycle, finds himself in a deserted village. He comes across a mansion inhabited by a vampiress who survives by enticing young men into her bedroom and feeding on them. She intends to feed on the young soldier but his purity and virginity have a curious effect on her…”

The Girl With The Hungry Eyes by Fritz Lieber – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
“This 1949 story has exerted it’s grip on many an imagination and has been filmed several times. It concentrates on the magnetic power of the Vampire and – in this case – the utterly captivating and inescapable lure of a Vampiress cum glamour model.”

The Girl With The Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber

Bewitched by Edith Wharton – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
Saul still goes out to see his previous girlfriend…even though she died years ago.

Drink My Blood by Richard Matheson – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
A young schoolboy whose only ambition in life is to become a vampire.
First published in Imagination, April 1951 (as Drink My Red Blood).

Drink My Red Blood by Richard Matheson

A Lot Of Mince Pies by Robert Swindells – Read by David Tennant [ABRIDGED]
A group of carol singers visit the same cottage every year.

Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.

[via Roy in the SFFaudio Yahoo! Group]

Posted by Jesse Willis