On the 29th January 1942 the first ever
Desert Island Discs was broadcast. Surpassed only by the
Grand Ole Opry it is the second longest running radio show in history. Beautiful in its simplicity - each castaway is asked to choose eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury item for their imaginary stay on the desert island. For those who have not come across it before aquaint yourself with its iconic theme tune 'By the Sleepy Lagoon'
here. Then for newcomers and old hands aquaint yourself with the wonderful new
BBC website with searchable archives of 2852 episodes detailing castaways choices, and
now with more than 500 episodes available for free download.
posted by numberstation
on May 3, 2011 -
23 comments
Audiophoolery: Pseudoscience in Consumer Audio.
You might think that a science-based field like audio engineering would be immune to the kind of magical thinking we see in other fields. Unfortunately, you would be wrong [...] As a consumerist, it galls me to see people pay thousands of dollars for fancy-looking wire that’s no better than the heavy lamp cord they can buy at any hardware store. Or magic isolation pads and little discs made from exotic hardwood that purport to “improve clarity and reduce listening fatigue,” among other surprising claims. The number of scams based on ignorance of basic audio science grows every day. Via.
posted by amyms
on Jan 11, 2010 -
209 comments
A tale of two countries Some time ago, the french & German tv channel
Arte had created an internet extension devoted to audio only,
Arteradio. This website contains hours of audio creations. This is the place where you can listen to
The first radio drama /la première fiction radio /in two languages and one version /en deux langues et une seule version /a BBC-ARTE Radio coproduction /enregistrée à Paris et London /recorded on location /diffusée en hertzien /broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 on February, 4th, 2009 /online on arteradio.com.
You can also listen to
McKenzie Wark, or to
the moment of silence created on September the eleventh 2002, to
Steve, to
English pupils in Paris, to
Susan George, to
Dean Hurley commenting his work, and then dive into the complete unknown, and pure French sounds, like
these testimonies about masturbation, or about
la chanson, like a Paris
postcard, or even a
street snapshot.
posted by nicolin
on Feb 10, 2009 -
3 comments
To The Best Of Our Knowledge is one of the most wide-ranging and literate public radio shows in the US, a two-hour "radio salon" featuring leisurely exploration of weekly themes like
No Smoking,
Identity Crisis,
Weekend, and
The Mind, Music, and Math. Host
Jim Fleming approaches these big ideas through the works of authors - journalists of all stripes, memoirists, poets, fiction writers, essayists.
Five years' worth of shows are available on audio archives; you can also search the impressive list of
authors by name, or
subscribe to the podcast.
[more inside]
posted by Miko
on Feb 27, 2008 -
17 comments
Jean Shepherd was one of the greatest storytellers ever to be heard on radio.
The Jean Shepherd Project collects recordings of these historic broadcasts, converts them to mp3 files and makes them available to be revisited by his longtime fans and by those who wish to discover what great American storytelling is all about.
[more inside]
posted by carsonb
on Dec 11, 2007 -
26 comments
Claybourne was a unique and well produced radio drama set in New Zealand. It was science fiction, a thriller, a soap opera. It aired in 96 five minute episodes, but
died mid-storyline when it's creative team- like so many creative teams- couldn't get it together.
posted by jiiota
on Jul 18, 2007 -
7 comments
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is pumping out a pile of podcasts that have covered
the importance of offensive comics to Art Spiegelman,
600 bands over 54 shows,
Captain America versus the American government,
Amy Sedaris and geekdom,
the journey of young immigrants,
French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut and Harper's publisher John MacArthur discussing Europe and America perspectives since 9/11,
the after life,
sex with monkeys,
what radio producers do,
the french word "corps",
Bonnie Fuller's "The Joys of Much Too Much: Go For the Big Life — The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You've Ever Wanted (Even If You're Afraid You Don't Have What It Takes)",
Veteran Washington reporter Helen Thomas and some other bits & bobs [Breakdown inside]
posted by boost ventilator
on Jun 5, 2006 -
25 comments
A Day in Radio. "On September 21, 1939, WJSV, an AM radio station in Washington, D.C., recorded the entire 19 hours of its broadcast day... Along with the news coverage, the station ran the standard stream of music, soap operas, sports, and other programming." Looks like you can listen to pretty much the entire's day's broadcasts.
posted by Tin Man
on Sep 10, 2002 -
15 comments
Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! ("The Exception to the Rulers") maneuvered a get-out-the-vote telephone call by President Clinton to WBAI in New York into a 30-minute interview addressing such controversial topics as the death penalty, sanctions against Iraq, clemency for Native American activist Leonard Peltier, relations with Cuba and China, racial profiling, and the candidacy of Ralph Nader! A
transcript is available, and the
audio is extremely compelling listening.
posted by sudama
on Nov 8, 2000 -
13 comments
