Photo by Flickr/cupcakes2
This evening I listened to a short and sweet audio byte courtesy of NPR StoryCorps. At around 4 minutes long, this podcast entitled 'Witnessing the end of a Family Tradition' is a story told by Nicholas Petron, an Italian Manhattanite.
Have a listen for a melancholic and heart warming story.
Link to Podcast:
Witnessing The End Of A Family Tradition
Related Links:
Photo by Flickr/martin_pettitt
This made me giggle today. If you live in London or have done so recently you will enjoy the Richard Dawkins' short story 'The Great Bus Mystery' from the book 'The Atheist's Guide to Christmas'. If you haven't lived in London you will still enjoy listening, but may not appreciate the bendy bus anecdotes.
Read by Dawkins himself, the story is charming, witty and sweetly short at 12 minutes or so.
Link to Podcast:
Related Links:
The Athiest's Guide to Christmas
Photo by Flickr/D'Arcy_Norman
So, it's finally Christmas week and with all the snow around my part of the world, it does feel very christmas-ey indeed!
Rather than drive yourselves mad amidst the shopping chaos, why not forget all that, put the fire on and listen to Adam Maxwell's festive short story audio: 'The Curious Story of the Hypnotists Christmas Tree'. Read by the author himself, complete with silly voices and expression this is a great story to unwind to in the evening.
Adam Maxwell's website has a selection of his work available as audio to listen to for free. Many of the stories are of a surreal nature with references to popular culture and humorous undertones. His audio stories are of a really good quality and his readings are both clear and compelling.
Link to Podcast:
The Curious Story of the Hypnotists Christmas Tree
Related Links:
Photo by Flickr/Tatters:)
Today's audio is a reading by author Anthony Doerr of his essay entitled 'Butterflies on a Wheel'. The piece is set in western Wyoming and is about a chance encounter between migrants. Deorr's writing style is poetical and whilst he reads this story you get an immense sense of being there in Wyoming through his descriptive observations.
This programme comes from PopTech, who's tag line is 'world changing people, projects and ideas'. If you like the generalist appeal of TED talks then Poptech will definately be your cup of Darjeeling. They have a wide range of videos, all available as audio files to listen to on the go.
Link to Podcast:
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Photo by Flickr/ipohkia
This cold and wintry evening I've been snuggling indoors and listening to an audio of a short story entitled 'Mr Penumbra's Twenty-Four-Hour Book Store' by Robin Sloan.
The story could be described as a modern fantasy story which is both charming and thought provoking. If you like reading physical books, e-books and internet content then Sloan's work will really resonate with you as it attempts to deliberate on our times by questioning 'print' versus 'computerisation' without drawing any conclusions.
I found this original and entertaining story on Escape Pod, where there's a wealth of similar sci-fi and fantasy fiction to be found.
Link to Podcast:
Related Links:
Photo by Flickr/curlsdiva
Today I've been listening to Dial A Stranger's latest podcast. It features strangers Zarla a vintage clothes seller and Sandy a yoga teacher.
Dial A Stranger is a radio programme which takes questions from listeners and then calls up strangers to ask these questions. In this particular episode the questions asked are: 'where do you find peace?' and 'when did you realise things would be different?'. Through personal, emotional and insightful stories the questions are answered.
For the format, the 20-30 minute podcast was an appropriate length and pace. The audio quality is good, and it's an enjoyable listen, especially if you like programmes such as This American Life.
Link to Podcast:
Link to Podcast:
Photo by Flickr/gorriti
This morning I've listened to an audio goodie that was a personal, honest and insightful account of acting on that dream which many of us have; opening a cute neighbourhood coffee shop.
The audio piece is based on the reading of a story, entitled 'Bitter Brew' by Michael Idov, who ran a short lived cafe in Manhattan. Yes, indeed, this story may dampen your romantic notions of swapping your tedious nine to five for brewing aromatic cups of delight, but perhaps it balances out those notions with the realities of this pipe dream.
Having listened to many audio readings this particular one, from online magazine Slate, is read beautifully almost as though it's not a reading at all but a story being told off the cuff. Also, the audio quality is excellent and the format is appropriately simple.
Go on have a listen... this will not elevate your Monday morning blues, but rather entertain you with a well told personal yet slightly melancholic story.
Link to Podcast:
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Photo by Flickr/Theafroman9
Today I've been listening to This American Life's latest podcast all about infidelity. Many of you may have heard of this award winning series, but for those of you who haven't then let me warn you that listening to the most recent episode may kick start a little podcast addiction!
The format of each program is based around a collection of stories (which are mostly true) connected by a central theme, in this case 'infidelity'. With such a tricky subject I was shamefully allured to this particular episode and on listening found that each of the stories built on each other to expose all the different sides of infidelity, from the cheaters, cheated and cheating, painting a complete yet complex picture of the associated emotions involved. Although many of you may not be inclined to cheat, the truthful descriptions from every speaker will probably throw out some sentiments that everyone will identify with.
In terms of the sound and editing quality, This American Life does a damn good job; layering voices interrupted at just the right moments with music and pauses. In this last episode there are samples of music from Mulato Astatke and Miles Davis adding to the mellow listen-ability of the entire show.
Link to Podcast:
This American Life: infidelity
Related Links:
This American Life
Wikipedia on Infidelity
Miles Davis
Mulato Astatke
Photo by Flickr/Linking Paths
Seeing as it's Halloween tomorrow, I thought it's time for a good old spine chilling ghost story. The Ghost of the Rue Jacob by Joan Juliet Buck is not disturbingly scary, but as it's a true story it has made me scared enough for the evening to forego my environmentally conscientious side and turn the lights on in every room of the house. In order not to give too much away I'm going to keep it short and sweet, so that you can listen and be scared for yourselves.
I am however going to tell you a little more about The Moth Podcast, where this story hails from. Each of The Moth's programmes feature a recording of a live story telling performance in New York City, with the prerequisite being that the story is a true personal life experience. Having listened to several of The Moths podcasts I have found the stories to be sometimes funny, surprising, eye-opening, chilling but in all occasions extremely engaging and full of character.
The Moth was started by George Dawes Green (a poet and novelist) over ten years ago, as he missed his story telling evenings with friends from his native St Simon's Island, Georgia and wanted to recreate those entertaining and intimate evenings in NYC. Although The Moth performances take place from much larger venues these days, listening to the warmth, expression and intimacy in each story, you feel as though you're listening to a recording from George's living room.
Link to Podcast:
Joan Juliet Buck: The Ghost of the Rue Jacob
Related Links:
Joan Juliet Buck: The Ghost of the Rue Jacob
Photo by: Flickr/Ceanandjen
Another wintry evening, and today I've been exploring short fiction podcasts. Having happily stumbled across a short story called A Guide to San Francisco, read by author Damian Searls, gave me another excuse to tune in and snuggle up next to the fire with a cuppa.
I rather enjoyed Damian's introduction, which provided a glimpse into his writing process and inspiration. Once he begins the reading, I found the story itself is highly descriptive and observational with a gentle melancholic narrative. As a short 15 minute reading it gives you just enough to sample Damian's writing style and has led me to promptly add his book to my reading list, a collection of stories entitled What We Were Doing and Where We Were Going.
The Guardian books podcast has a wide range of interviews with authors or discussions on literature, but for me the book extracts or entire short stories (often introduced and read by the author) are a great way to discover new fiction.
Link to Podcast:
A Guide to San Francisco reading by Damian Searl
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