Audio Books

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include philosophy and thought–Phtah-Hotep, Petrarch, Diderot, Bertrand Russell, and the Weymouth New Testament; adventure and travel–a survival story by Mark Twain and a woman’s sojourn in Saltillo, Mexico; immigration and war–Benjamin Franklin on the assimilation of German speakers, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the League of Nations, and an essay on potatoes and war; geology–on the origins of chalk; a critique of one-act plays, a biography of H.H. Munro (Saki), and Emerson’s advice to Thoreau to clear his brain by writing poetry. Aphorisms by Diderot was translated by Margaret Jourdain Petrarch’s Secret was translated by William H. Draper The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep was translated by Battiscombe G. Gunn

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include science and natural history–carnivorous plants, tadpoles, tent caterpillars, flights of birds, horse training, dogs, children’s sign language, trees in winter, and night noises in the woods; philosophy–Roger Bacon and Nicholas of Cusa; satire and literary criticism–the movies as “stupies,” bustles, and facetious plots for short stories by Dorothy Parker; also an appraisal of Conrad Aiken’s poetry, and an intimate look at Abraham Lincoln’s early life in Illinois. (Summary by Sue Anderson)

Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include History–Jocelyn de Brakelond’s 13th century chronicle of the Bury St. Edmund monastery, Lorenzo de Medici’s Florence, the voyage of the Mayflower, and Mark Twain’s essay Stirring Times in Austria; Philosophy–Kierkegaard and Leibniz; Speeches, Sermons, and Diary Entries from Abraham Lincoln, Robert Ingersoll, and Queen Victoria; Literature–a tribute to George Meredith and a critique of Mencken’s The American Language; and Nature and the Natural World–George Mallory outlining the route to the summit of Mt. Everest, Newton’s proof of the elliptical orbits of planets, native bees, pear tree blight, fruit soups, and a description of a grain of wheat. Panegyric on Abraham was translated by Lee M. Hollander. (Summary by Sue Anderson)

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. The human condition is variously explored in Chesterton’s essay “The Contented Man,” Sh?toku Taishi’s “Laws” outlining the proper relationships between rulers and governed in 7th century Japan, the Egyptian “Story of Sinuhe” composed circa 1800 B.C. with its theme of divine providence and mercy, “The Four Minute Men of Chicago” invoking patriotism during World War I, and in Arthur Moss’ secularist essay “Natural Man.” Contributing to this exploration are selections from Locke’s “Essay Concerning Humane Understanding,” an exchange between Johann Fichte and Immanuel Kant on the subject of censorship, and an excerpt from medieval theologian Peter Lombard’s “Books of Sentences.” The Natural World is the subject of several readings: Anna Brassey’s thrilling account of her ascent of the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea, Leopold Claremont’s essay on mining jewel stones in Ceylon, an entomologist’s praise of toads, and a history of the cochineal trade in Mexico and the Canary islands. “Harriet Hosmer” profiles the career of an eminent 19th century woman sculptor. Foibles and fables round out the collection. In “A Tight Squeeze for Uncle George,” a small boy is smitten with the theater after an outing with his uncle but gets in trouble at home when he tries to duplicate the bright lights and magic of the stage in his basement. Lastly, a charlatan in Alaska hawks doctored photographs of Muir’s glacier with a “Silent City” rising out of the ice. (summary by Sue Anderson) The Story of Sinuhe was translated by Sir Alan H. Gardiner “Johann Fichte and Immanuel Kant on Censorship” is a set of two letters, the first written by Fichte, and the reply by Kant. The letters were translated by William Smith (1816-1896).

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain independently chosen by the readers. Volume 60 features excerpts from two German philosophers, Christian von Wolff and Hegel, as well as British theologian Edward Stillingfleet. It contains essays on women as inventors (Matilda Joslyn Gage) , Uruguayan society (W. H. Hudson), political economy (Frederick Bastiat) pipe smoking (Sewell Ford) and personal dislikes (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.). Days to remember are chronicled in first hand accounts of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (James Stetson), and a 1830’s hydrogen balloon ascension over New York City (Charles Durant). Natural history is highlighted in accounts of Brazilian ants and monkeys (Henry Bates) and North American raccoons (N. M. Pairpoint). Last but not least, American journalist William Allen White writes a moving tribute to his 17-year old daughter Mary, who died after after being hit in the head by an overhanging tree limb while she was riding her horse. (Summary by Sue Anderson) Rational Psychology was translated by Edward Kennard Rand. The Contrite Consciousness was translated by Josiah Royce.

Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 63 features essays on a variety of topics: the emotion of the multitude in drama (Yeats), audience (Encyclopedia Britannica), corpulence and diet (Banting), charity (Ambrose Bierce), the forgotten man (Sumner), murder (DeQuincey), suicide (Bierce), free masonry (Albert Pike), the poetic principle (Poe), and the evils of slavery (Othello). Excerpts from Kierkegaard explore his philosophy. Biographical sketches include Calamity Jane, Joseph Glidden, Lucy Bakewell Audubon, and J. M. W. Turner, while Joseph Conrad speaks to his own life in A Familiar Preface. Rounding out the volume is a fascinating 1674 meet-up with a miraculous sea-monster (probably a giant squid). Summary by Sue Anderson

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Eucken’s “The Failure of Speculative Philosophy,” is one of several essays devoted to timeless questions. Others are by James Howell on man, nature and the universe, Samuel Johnson on procrastination and the flight of time, Schleiemacher on the social element in religion, Ambrose Bierce on immortality, and Thomas Paine and Jonathan Swift with their famous essays, “The Age of Reason” (1794-1795) and “A Modest Proposal” (1729). Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor “Day of Infamy” speech is one of various commentaries on war, politics and the polity. Others are Bierce’s moving description of a solitary Civil War hero, Woodrow Wilson speaking to capitalism’s spiritual crisis, Rev. Jee Gam presenting a Chinese Christian’s thoughts on the Boxer Rebellion, and a partisan, Eugene Weeks, eulogizing Calvin Coolidge. Intuitive self-direction is the theme of Lafcadio Hearn’s essay “A Mystery of Crowds.” Other selections that touch on personal development are Robert Louis Stevenson on literary style, Gelett Burgess on creativity and the art of play, Brann on the relative worth of the sexes, and Mary Wood-Allen on what a woman should know in picking a husband. For the musically inclined, Lawton Mackall has an amusing look at pianos, while sports enthusiasts will enjoy Benjamin Richardson’s treatise on what to avoid in cycling. Artists should be interested in the biography of designer William Kilburn, who, in the late 1700s, was the first artist to seek copyright for his original textile designs. Summary by Sue Anderson William Tudor Jones translated “The Failure of Speculative Philosophy.” George Ripley translated “On the Social Element in Religion.”

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. A review of William Carlos Williams’ “Kora in Hell” by Robert McAlmon is one of several selections devoted to literature and learning. Others are H. P. Lovecraft’s “Literary Composition;” George Herbert Betts’s “The Mind and Its Education;” William Wells Newell’s “Michelangelo as Poet;” and Thoreau’s “Wild Apples.” Humor receives its due in “The Methods of Mr. Sellyer: A Book Store Study” (Stephen Leacock); “The Plumber” (Charles Dudley Warner); “The Yawn of the Computer Age” (NSA Cryptolog); and an unnamed boy’s “Essay on Girls.” Innovation and inquiry are treated in a 17th century study “Of a Deaf Man’s Capacity to Speak;” a 1794 description of color blindness (John Dalton); and an 1896 exposition on scientific kite flying. Historical topics include the status of Palestine and Syria in the 1920’s; democratic socialism (Victor Considerant); Letters to Muriardachus (11th century, Anselm of Canterbury), and an Illinois flour mill’s change over from horse team to gas powered delivery truck in 1913. Politics meet history in readings of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee death notification letter and two selections from the 2019 Mueller Report–the executive summaries from volumes 1 and 2. Finally, for those with the munchies or a sweet tooth, Vol. 65 has recipes from Maria Parloa’s “Chocolate and Cocoa and Homemade Candy Recipes.” Summary by Sue Anderson.

Twenty short nonfiction works selected by the readers. ?Shall we ever be able to visit the moon?? queries journalist Charles Nevers Holmes in 1920. Holmes was hopeful. Technology had come a long way since 1862, when balloonist James Glaisher made a daring ascent to 37,000 feet above the earth and passed out for lack of oxygen [Travels in the Air]. Glaisher had to best-guess the altitude to which his balloon had climbed while he was unconscious. Technology requires a rational system of accurate measurement [A Metric America]. Societies, however, are not rational. Some past eras were filled with horror [The Blues and Greens of Justinian; An Accursed Race]; others with heroism [Not to be Forgotten]. Some men view the public weal through stoic’s eyes [Of Seneca’s Writings] and some in a more hopeful frame of mind [Theodore Roosevelt on Applying the 9th Commandment]. Days of public observance tell a nation’s concerns [Veteran’s Day; 5th of November Act 1605]. Myths and legends speak to the importance of loyalty [King Arthur’s Table] and to our trust that truth will win out [Merlin the Magician]. Sometimes a humorist like Mark Twain can make us laugh at ourselves [Poets as Policemen]. At other times grief overwhelms us [The Burning of Peshtigo, Wisconsin]. The single woman or man, wondering their place in this complexity, can make a difference: a woman stops to think about the food she buys for her family [How Much Shall We Spend for Food]; another woman sparks a bit of self-assertive feminism in a friend [The New Stove]. And, ever and again, in our search for meaning, we turn to artists [A Talk with Mr. Oscar Wilde; Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic Movement; Post Impressionism in the Prose of Gertrude Stein]. – Summary by Sue Anderson

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. “Suffrage for women will not usher in a millennium of peace and leisure” was the editorial opinion of the Boston Cooking School Magazine in May, 1914. [Woman’s Problems]. Disillusionment with easy answers is the theme of several Vol. 071 readings [On Thinking for Oneself; Limitations of Truth-Telling; On Demagogues]. Rebellion and war, heroics and aftermath, are treated in Alexander at Gordium; Before Grant Won His Stars; Draft Riots in Wisconsin; The Truth About Greece; and Sophie Treadwell Interviews Pancho Villa. Humor provides relief in a lighthearted look at home heating [The Furnace]; bicycling [A Despicable Trick; Healthy But Not Social], grammar [The Woman’s Press Club] and The Beauty of Unpunctuality. Exploration then and now is contrasted in Tasman Explores Australia and A California Motor Tour. The arts–literature, drawing, and the cinema–are celebrated in Mary Pickford’s Beginnings, Rendering Reflections in Window Glass, and On the Tomb of Keats. Lastly, a biography of British fossil finder Mary Anning (1795-1847) throws light not only on ichthyosaurs, but on the remarkable life of a self-taught woman scientist. – Summary by Sue Anderson

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. President Theodore Roosevelt, in a 1903 speech, declared that “The future welfare of our nation depends upon the way in which we can combine…decency and strength,” and opined that being “loose and foul of tongue” was incompatible with good citizenship. Personal and public morality, ethical and religious questions figure in several vol. 077 recordings: (Negro Slavery in Wisconsin, Russo-Japanese Agreement Concerning Korea, Government by the Brewers, My Cases of Old Sermons, The Dilemma of Determinism, How Religion May be an Embodiment of Reason, The Epistle to Diognetus; Tetzel’s Theses on Indulgences, and two selections on Kierkegaard). Serious students of literature will relish Literary History of the Arabs. Nature and travel enthusiasts will be informed by The Bittern in the Norfolk Broads, Montenegro: The Smallest Capital in Europe, Ten Types of Clouds, and Controlling Japanese Beetles. Finally, for pure pleasure, indulge in The Candy Box! (Summary by Sue Anderson)