Listen to a Story Podcasts

A trail of 117 pages, marked with comments, by Marje
About this trail:
That rare niche of the podcasting world in which people read you stories, poems, novels, essays, speeches, great literature, etc... for the love it.

"A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species Homo sapiens--second in necessity apparently after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or home, almost none in silence; the opposite of silence leads quickly to narrative, and the sound of story is the dominant sound of our lives, from the small accounts of our day's events to the vast incommunicable constructs of psychopaths." --Reynolds Price

Please contact me at m.cannon@comcast.net if you would like to suggest a new site.
117 marks in this trail
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A wonderful and ever-growing selection of all sorts of fiction and nonfiction, including short stories, speeches, essays and poetry. The stated goal of Librivox is “to make all public domain books available as free audio books.” You can find everything from the Gettysburg Address to Robinson Crusoe to The Wizard of Oz to Pride and Prejudice to The Communist Manifesto.

If you'd like to volunteer to either read or proofread, the site provides a simple system that makes it easy to participate.

LibriVox describes its mission to be the “acoustical liberation of books in the public domain.” It is a digital library of free public domain audio books that are read and recorded by volunteers. It was started in August 2005, and already has amassed over 730 recordings. Most of the recordings are in English but there are also recordings available in German, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Japanese as well as other languages. This link http://creativecommons.org/text/librivox tells you more about LibriVox.
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Guides for Listeners and Volunteers at www.librivox.org Audio books and stories.
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A LibriVox appreciation blog, describing one person's (Chris Hughes)  attempt to listen to 52 Librivox audiobooks in a year.  I thought I'd include it in the Listen to a  Story Podcast trail to help you get the flavor of Librivox.
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The Classic Tales Podcast delivers professional performances of unabridged classics. Enjoy classic short fiction from Poe, Dickens, Hardy, and others. Performed by character actor B.J. Harrison. Very well produced. Audio podcast.
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www.peopletalk.libsyn.com is an audio site dealing with audio books and interviews with people, about their lives, stories and anecdotal social history. I am fascinated by Nigel Killick's walking audio tours around south England and his interviews of local people. He includes photographs on the website.  A number of literary works are read by professional actors with beautiful voices.... I especially enjoy Cleopatra, ready by Sandra Ventris. She has a beautiful voice ...
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Audio Book Podcast Collection: wonderful selection of free downloadable audio books ... your favorite classic will likely be here.
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Listen to classic books from some of the world's best known and respected authors... there is also a Poem of the Week with beautiful music background. The accompanying blog includes photographs and images associated with the books and poems. Very nicely done. Audio podcast.
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It's story time for adults with NPR's award-winning series of short fiction read by the stars of stage and screen. Audio stories.
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Each month, a New Yorker fiction writer chooses a story from the magazine’s archives for a New Yorker Out Loud podcast - to discuss and then to read.
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Wonderful voice actor, Nikolle Doolin, presents this podcast of classic literature. She recently featured an  unabridged recording of Henry James' mysterious novella The Turn of the Screw, which is a ghost story that leaves readers with more questions than answers. Also on the podcast feed is an unabridged recording of the Arthurian legend Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart by Chrétien de Troyes, which is the first work of literature to focus on Lancelot's love affair and rescue of the abducted Guinevere. More recently,  Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Nikolle Doolin reads many other classic short stories and poems for the podcast, such as The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson, The Fullness of Life  by Edith Wharton, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, The Lady With the Dog by Anton Chekhov, Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, and poems of Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Shakespeare, Lord Byron and more.
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my favorite podCASTresse; warning, she has a dark side, but what an intoxicatingly beautiful voice! Audio podcast.
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The Spoken Alexandria Project is creating a free Creative Commons library of spoken word recordings, consisting of classics in the public domain and modern works (with permission).
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The most famous of Jane Austen’s novels, Pride and Prejudice is the satirical tale of  Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, one of the most popular couples in literary history. This Librivox version of the audiobook is read by a collection of readers, all Jane Austen enthusiasts. I also highly recommend Librivox's version of Emma.
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Syd is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, an award-winning teacher, and an author. He has appeared at major storytelling festivals across the country.

Says Syn Lieberman .... As I travel around the country, I’m often asked what I do for a living. When I say I’m a storyteller, many people stare at me blankly. They have no idea what I’m talking about.

So I created this website to explain what I do. But reading about storytelling isn’t the same as experiencing it. Now you can hear everything I’ve recorded. I’m also releasing my work because some people who love stories can’t afford to come to festivals or buy CDs. They should have the opportunity to enjoy my stories, too.

I love storytelling and want to introduce lots of new listeners to this wonderful art. If you like what you hear, please spread the word. Tell your friends about this website.
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A real page-turner - Great story, excellent reader.
What if
the cataclysmic Tunguska explosion of 1908 was caused, not by a meteor or a comet, but by a microscopic black hole?
What if that fantastic object - smaller than an atom, older than the stars, heavier than a mountain - is still down there, orbiting deep inside the earth, slowly consuming the planet?
What if only a rookie government agent and an uncannily-insightful consultant stand between a renegade Russian billionaire and his plans to use the black hole to change history - or end it?

"Singularity is a swift, gripping novel with a goose-pimple mix of scary science and near-future action. An excellent debut from Bill DeSmedt - and I'll be looking forward to his next one!"
- Greg Bear, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author

"DeSmedt veers an action-packed thriller into perilous realms of black hole physics. The combination of adrenaline and intellect sizzles."
- David Brin, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author

http://www.singularitythebook.com/

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Audio books from the public domain. They describe themselves this way: Urban Art Adventures is located at the intersection of art, audio, literature, music & media. UAA is audio, video & internet-ready. Voice-overs, audio books, vlogs & podcasts.
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I will always keep his Tralfamadore1 and Tralfamadore 2 in my ipod to listen to over and over forever. Audio.
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A directory of high quality podcasts that instruct, inspire and enlighten with the ability to subscribe to each  from within the site. Topics include: Arts &  Entertainment, Biography, Business, History, Languages,  Literature, Politics, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Self-Develoment, Social Sciences, Sports & Hobbies, Technology, Travel.
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A podcast resource for fans of mythology, folklore, fairy tales and other stories. In each episode,  owner Gregory Lemon, discusses an aspect of a myth, folk lore, or tall tale from the many wonderful culters around the world.

This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales. Nice music by Jon Schmidt.
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The focus of the MythMinute is to present a character or story line from mythology in a short format. (Under 5 minutes).
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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Podcast.
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The official, free, weekly podcast of the award-winning radio show "This American Live." First-person stories and short fiction pieces that are touching, funny and surprising. Hosted by Ira Glass WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.

They describe themselves this way: There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always. There's lots more to the show, but, like we said, it's sort of hard to describe.

They offer each of their radio episodes as a free mp3 for exactly one week, beginning the Monday after broadcast.

Also find them on myspace
http://myspace.com/thisamericanlifespace

youtube
http://youtube.com/talwithiraglass

and, facebook
http://doiop.com/thisamericanfacebook
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Fascinating videos of Ira Glass discussing story-telling. Ira Glass talks about stories. He ought to know. His radio program, This American Life, has been a staple of listeners for years. This is n excellent, fun, quick overview on storytelling!
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Audio Books - The theater of your mind beats watching TV or movies - by Roy Trumbull.
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All or nearly all of the Sherlock Holmes books and stories. Tim Aldrich speaks with a beautiful British accent and is adept at communicating characters' social class through accent which adds to the depth of the stories.
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Science fiction and fantasy short stories read aloud. Great fun. As a nice touch the podcaster rates the stories which can range from "G" to "X."
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A series of classic short stories from the public domain: The Celebrated Jumping Frog .... The Tell Tale Heart.... The New Accelerator (H.W.Wells) The Lees of Happiness (F. Scott Fitzgerald).
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Robert M. Pirsig's full audio book with a special prologue by the author for this 25th anniversary version. This book has been called the most widely-read philosophy book ever. Also see http://www.moq.org/ the web site a website that exists to provide a forum for discussion and study of the Metaphysics of Quality as proposed by Robert M Pirsig in his books Lila: An Inquiry into Morals and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
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Classics including: White Fang by Jack London, American Indian Folklore & Fairy Tales, Melville's Typee, Treasure Island, Huck Finn, and The PRisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope.
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Free Audio Books to Download in Mp3 format, History, Philosophy, Science including The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Boys Life of Theodore Roosevelt, Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, and The Essay's of Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Life of Abraham Lincoln.

"We love history and learning and desire its proliferation in the electronic era. We look at ipods and Mp3 players not as competition but as a vehicle for knowledge."
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Audio versions of some of the Project Gutenberg texts (many read by computerized voices).
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Listen to poems by many well known poets read aloud by poetry fans.
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The Fray is a site where people tell stories and others comment on those stories, and once a year there are worldwide gatherings to do open-mic storytelling live, dubbed. The  Fray Audio Archive  contains recordings from the past 5 years of events, totalling over 18 hours of Creative Commons licensed audio. The site is currently being redesigned.
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  • featuring great authors and stories that should be better known. Includes a  little about the authors and their writing.
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Kara is reading many of the classic children's books -  Heidi, The Road to Oz, and The Secret Garden are among those you can find. All are published before 1923.
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Living Memories: Each digital story uses a personal or family experience to develop a living memory with a moral, an a-ha awareness, or a lesson learned. Very moving; includes video. "A man is always a teller of tales, he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others." - Jean-Paul Sartre
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The Aesop's Fables Podcast collects the timeless moral fables of the Greek storyteller Aesop. A perenial choice for the early education of children, these brief tales of virtuous living can be enjoyed by the young and old alike.
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This novel written by Daniel Defoe in 1719 is considered to mark the beginning of English novel-writing. It is one of the greatest books ever written and will completely enthrall readers and listeners alike. View original illustrations and read introductions to each chapter.
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A site devoted to the study of major works of British Literature, especially Shakesepeare's.
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Each day, The Writer's Almanac features Garrison Keillor recounting the highlights of this day in history and reads a short poem or two. The Writer's Almanac is produced by Prairie Home Productions and presented by American Public Media.
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Listen to science fiction novelist and short story writer Cory Doctorow (a walking, talking Wikipedia of digital-age information) reads from his and others' works.

In his words: "My podcast is a regular feed in which I read from one of my stories for a few minutes at least once a week, from whatever friend's house, airport, hotel, conference, treaty negotiation or what-have-you that I'm currently at." Most recently he read Bruce Sterling's book "The Hacker Crackdown" and his own novella-in-progress “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow/Now is the Best Time of Your Life.”
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Jean Shepherd was a beloved and gifted humorist/storyteller whose mix of satiric wit and insight into who and why we are made him famous through his radio work from the 1950s through 1980s. Today he is best-known for his movie, "A Christmas Story," though the newly curious can learn much from the man and his brilliant ramblings. This is a podcast of from the Jean Shepherd archives.

This site describes itself thus: Shep (as both he and his fans called him) is very hard to tie down to one or two labels. He was one of the great media talents from the 50s to the 80s, very much like the Mark Twain of his time, and most nights he could be heard on the radio waxing eloquent, his gift for insight and articulation wrapped up in what seemed like comedic nostalgia, fascinating and inspiring generations. His stories work on so many levels. His characters are vivid, unforgettable, and oddly likable. Shep had an uncanny mastery of the narrative form: enticing the listener with his nightly premise, careening down one tangent to the next, eliciting knowing laughs along the way, and often leaving one with a warm sense of the fondness the artist felt for his past. And somehow, more often than not, one might sense a deeper meaning, a hidden message in all the lighthearted romps. This podcast is an attempt to maintain, and hopefully spread, awareness of Jean Shepherd, his wonderful mind, and his amazing body of work.
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Nice collection of children's stories - an original illustration with each one. A new story is added each week.
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LoudLit.org is committed to delivering public domain literature paired with high quality audio performances. We pair together great literature and accompanying audio. Novels, poetry, short stories, children's books, historical. Includes: Heart of Darkness, The Secret Sharer, Tale of Two Cities, Typee, Huckleberry Finn.
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 12 stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes.
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All the Literature titles listed on the website Learnoutloud.com. Huge selection.
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The News from Lake Wobegon

Each week, Garrison Keillor shares with listeners the latest news and views from the little town where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." Compelling and wonderful!
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A podiobook thriller trilogy composed of two serialized audio novels, Descent and Deceit ... both complete and downloadable. Book three: Destruction is currently underway. Seventh Son recently won the best podiobook online at the Podcast Peer Awards. Audio book.

From the site:
7th Son is a free serialized audiobook. It chronicles the story of seven strangers who have been brought together after the recent assassination of the U.S. president. These men quickly discover they all appear to be the same man ... with identical childhood memories.
 
Unwitting participants in a human cloning experiment, these "John Michael Smiths" have been assembled to catch the man who murdered the president. Their target? The man they were cloned from; the original John Michael Smith, code-named John Alpha.
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Baba shares his passion for narrative by offering some of the mostinsightful, thought-provoking and humorous tales ever heard. This podcast is created for those who love listening to a well-told tale every once in a while.
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Every Town Has One- Local Legends, Folklore, Ghost Stories, Odd Culture.  Hear the latest bizarre news and tales from around the world.  This is a podcast and video feed taken from the popular underground public access show. Gene and Bryan come to you every week with stories from around the globe.  Tune in to get a scare, laugh and learn a little.

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Free serialized audio books which are made available in podcast format. Listeners to Podiobooks.com can choose to receive the episodes of their books via an RSS feed or by listening to episodes by directly downloading episodes from this site.

Authors participate in Podiobooks for a number of reasons: many authors do this to get exposure for their work, others do it in the hopes you'll buy their next work in development. Still others simply do it for the sheer joy of writing. And while it's not required, you have the option to donate money to the author of your choice.
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A well-rounded, intelligent view of classic literature, history and philosophy. Included are: The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Kandinsky, The Spiritual in Modern Art by Wassily Kandinsky, Sojourners & Settlers, The Chinese Experience in Arizona by Lawrence Fong, Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake, Greek Myths by James Bladwin, Quotations of Mahatma Gandhi,
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Host Jeff Gere presents the tales and tellers of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim in half hour diversely themed weekly programs.
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The Spiritual Classics Podcast collects key texts from a wide range of religious traditions throughout human history and is dedicated to showcasing the core teachings of the world's greatest spiritual thinkers.
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The Well Told Tales podcast brings you free original short stories in the sci-fi, horror and hardboiled genres. Think of them as audiobooks, only shorter -- 15 to 35 minutes, the perfect length for your commute, workout, whatever. New stories are released on the 1st and 15th of the month. You can also sign up for their newsletter.
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shortstoryradio.com is an internet radio station that showcases previously unpublished original fiction to a worldwide audience. It gives writers an opportunity to have their work professionally broadcast and made available to the widest audience possible.

Not really a podcast; you listen directly from their website.
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Storynory brings you a beautifully read autio story every week. Natasha reads fairy tales, classic children's stories, poems, myths, adventures and