"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.
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.
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.
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.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/
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.
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
"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."
- featuring great authors and stories that should be better known. Includes a little about the authors and their writing.
A site devoted to the study of major works of British Literature, especially Shakesepeare's.
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.”
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Not really a podcast; you listen directly from their website.



