Stephen Fry reads Eugene Onegin (Pushkin)

Russian literature translated into rhyming English - that could go wrong a million ways. In 1832 Alexander Pushkin published the final version of his novel about the eternal bachelor Eugene Onegin. The novel is comprised of eight chapters written in stanzas of iambic tetrameter with a unique rhyming scheme. The book has been translated many times and the James Falen translation is now available as an audio book, greatly performed by Stephen Fry. The files can be downloaded in two ways Fry Reads Onegin Zip and Fry Reads Onegin from iTunes. Delightful and exquisite. I wish I could compare it to the original.

Summer time tip: Mystery at Geneva

If you are looking for something different to listen to during long Summer days, whether on vacation or on dreary office days, you might consider listening to a piece of ironic narration from the public domain. Breakaway fro a moment from the lectures, the panel discussions and the interviews.

I was mesmerized by Mystery at Geneva: An Improbable Tale of Singular Happenings, written by Dame Rose Macaulay and skillfully read to us by Cathy Barratt at Librivox (feed)

Henry Beechtree is a British journalist who attends a session of the League of Nations in the early twenties and tries to solve the disappearance of the president of the League. Soon enough Beechtree not only gets into trouble, he also gets involved in the case. While on the surface the story evolves around the mystery plot, some of the best stuff Macaulay has to offer is not related to the plot, but rather the elegant irony with which she describes the machinations of international politics, lobbyists and journalists. In that respect the story is just as relevant today as it was in the 1920s and it can apply just as much to the buzz around UN sessions as the activities around Capitol Hill or any other political power center for that matter.

More Librivox:
Beyond Good and Evil,
Bhagavad Gita,
Frankenstein,
History of Holland.

Great Claus and Little Claus

Here is a piece of nostalgia - for me at least. When I was young and until today I loved Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales and especially Great Claus and Little Claus. At the podcast Forgotten Classics this tale was integrally read by Joseph in the new subseries Forgotten Tales. Go and listen yourself, especially in case you have never heard this cheeky tale. (feed)

Although Anderson's work is considered to be literary, I have always wondered how much of his tales are based upon regular folk stories. I own a collection of Dutch folk tales that continue a number of tales that contain some or all elements of Great Claus and Little Claus. In some respect the folk version is more cheeky - Little Claus catches the farmer's wife cheating on her husband and in some aspects Anderson is very daring when Great Claus is about to murder Little CLaus. He is weary of dragging him in a sack and decides to rest a bit in the Church. After he has heard some Psalms his spirit is uplifted and he has regained strength to continue with his plan.

More Forgotten Classics:
Flood tales; Noah, Gilgamesh and Manu,
5 podcasts I listened to (Genesis),
The Riddle of the Sands,
The message of Uncle Tom's Cabin,
Cooking with Forgotten Classics.

Petty frustrations - Namaste Stories

The latest story on the fictional podcast Namaste Stories (feed) is full of innuendo. More than ever Dave P plays his magic. As always the podcast is filled with a certain atmosphere that just hangs there and is not made explicit by any one sentence of the tale. And it is not just the music or the fatalistic voice of the narrator - although they undoubtedly add in.



In The Spoiled Brat that aboding presence is woven into the descriptions, the lines and the actions of the characters Melissa and Casper. This is what makes literature powerful: subtext. You will have to look beyond the subject of Capser and Melissa's conversation, the spoiled brat. What really matters is why they discuss him and not what their expressed convictions are, but what they tell us. The more they emphasize the brat is spoiled, the more they are envious of him and the more they reject him, the more they are attracted.

In the seeming consensus of their dialog, their petty frustrations are played out. Their repressed sexuality, the dissatisfaction in their relation, their failure of accomplishment. And all of this is expressed with utterly unconvincing self-congratulatory self-righteous bourgeois judgmental statements or silently and childishly hidden aggression. What a feat.

More Namaste and Dave P:
Surviving those family dinners on the holidays,
The new direction of Dave P,
New York Coffee Cup,
Namaste Stories, podcast as an art,
Namaste Stories, fiction podcast.

Freemasons - Rear Vision

The history program Rear Vision from Australia's ABC, responded to the media attention to Dan Brown's piece of fiction, Angels and Demons, which predominantly features the society of Freemasons. Rear Vision brought in two historians to demystify the Freemasons

If you read the transcript of the program about Freemasons, you see the discussion in interspersed with lines by a 'Documentary Narrator'. On the podcast these lines sound exalted as if they are from a movie's trailer. As a matter of fact that is what I felt and it bothered me that it was not explained. Between these hefty statements lie the explanations of the historians and in comparison they sound very timid and inconclusive.

It is with the Freemasons as it is with any social system that lies hidden. Whatever facts are available tell little, but leave much to the imagination. Such is it with Freemasons, just is it is with Jesuits, international communism, the Mafia and the CIA or Al-Qaeda. The point is that the hard facts give us so little to go on, yet suggest so much that on the subject of secret organisations the historian cannot win and the fiction writer cannot lose. In Rear Vision this is shown not otherwise.

More Rear Vision:
China,
A history of the Israeli-Arab conflict,
Fish depletion,
Follow up on Iran and Versailles,
Versailles 1919.

Bommel audioplay - De Antiloog

Right now I am listening to an audioplay - Bommel Hoorspel. The original stories by Marten Toonder have been adapted to play scenarios. The plays come in a series of installments that take about 15 minutes each. The whole play will take 8 episodes or so. It is hard to tell, since the previous plays took all a different amount, varying from 6 to 12. The current play is De Antiloog.

Bommel Hoorspel is in Dutch and filled with the neologisms that one also finds in the original tales by Toonder. I wonder how listeners not native in Dutch pick this up. If you can handle it, it is really fun. If you have read the stories by Toonder, as I have, you are treated with recognition.

De antiloog could be an allegory about how philosophers and gurus confuse people and put common sense thinking on its head. But, as usual with Toonder, there is a playful magical element. The thinker Krumknikker Kop is not delivering his own learning, but rather tapping into alien vibration coming from the place where he resides. That vibration, of course, could be used by other than the philosopher as well. Where will that lead to?

More Bommel Hoorspel:
De Aamnaak,
Bommel Hoorspel podcast - NPS podcast recensie,
Bommel Hoorspel.

Surviving those family dinners on the holidays

The stories of the fictional podcast Namaste Stories (feed) have a surrealist feel, but they seem profoundly real as well, autobiographical perhaps. In any case, there is a persistent personal perspective in these stories by Dave P.



In the last story (Wall of Gurus), I could very much sympathize with him. It was a Thanksgiving Dinner with the extended family; the posed idyll, the obligations of the occasion, the codes of good manners. In short the tensions rises to a breaking point and it starts to take tremendous efforts not to led this forced togetherness explode into a raging row. It could be Christmas or Passover just the same. What's up next? Shavuot - the vicious cycle never stops.

More Namaste and Dave P:
The new direction of Dave P,
New York Coffee Cup,
Namaste Stories, podcast as an art,
Namaste Stories, fiction podcast.

The new direction of Dave P

The narration podcasts I keep following are those by Dave P. Namaste Stories and The New York Coffee Cup come out rather irregularly. The short, five to twenty minute narrations by Dave P carry a very unique style and atmosphere that is both emotional and distanced. The tales observe and attach to people and emotions, trying not to judge them. The diction and the music is very suitable: restrained and passionate at the same time.

So it is always interesting to see what Dave P comes up with next and aside the two podcats he has begun publishing visual work. He is dabbling in the art of animation and this work in progress can be followed on the blog Namaste-Wood.



More Dave P on this blog:
New York Coffee Cup,
Namaste Stories, podcast as an art,
Namaste Stories, fiction podcast.

Namaste Stories - podcast as an art

I find it fascinating to analyze what make good podcasts work and more and more I come to the conclusion it is an art. As the brothers Shepherd from the Word Nerds already pointed out, this might well be part of the art form of story telling. For history podcasts, my main focus, this certainly is the case. Expanding upon that, the true expression of the art should be found in the fictional podcast, the oral narrative per se. The best example I know in that respect is Namaste Stories.



A wonderful example is given in the latest issue Episode #31 "A girl has to do what she has to do". This is a 13 minute tale which stands independently in the string of tales provided by host, narrator and writer Dave P. It can be enjoyed repeatedly. One is bound to find, as I did, new angles in the story, with each new session. However, the story also works in the first instant.

It would be too much of a spoiler to give anything away from the tale, but let me say this much. The perspective of the story is the teacher who finds a girl in his class that he is attracted to. What triggers the attraction? Something purely sensual? Or perhaps some echo of the past? Could the attraction be mutual and if so, how good is that? And so, with what possible intention could it be that the girl is approaching him now? Listen and find out.

Earlier about Namaste Stories.
Namaste Stories - fiction podcast review.

7th son book 3 - thriller podcast review

Too bad it ended. Even if it ended well, that is, with a good end, an end befitting a great book. And as with great books after you have finished them: too bad you are done reading them. Too add, I am done listening to J.C. Hutchins's 7th son, the trilogy. (legacy feed)(current feed)

Just as the first and the second book, the third kept me glued to my ear plugs. I couldn't stop listening until it was done. I find this particularly amazing, since book 3 had to tie down all the loose knots. Also, the third book had much less variety in characters and plot lines. Books one and two had the story split into parallel lines and move all over the place, but three had to bring that all back into a proportionate end. And I have to admit, I had a pretty fair idea how this was going to untie and was afraid the book would become predictable.

I also thought there was a danger of deception. With the high brow conspiracies going on, I didn't see how this could end and be explained and sort back into normal order, without something fizzling out in the story. But none of that happened. What a crafted story teller Hutchins is. With fewer characters and fewer places to go and a plot that needed to wind down, he managed to throw surprise after surprise and exciting twist after exciting twist at me. Brilliant. Even now that I know how it ends, I may listen to it again.

More fiction podcast reviews:
7th Son - book 2,
7th Son - book 1,
Night's Knights,
New World Orders,
Namaste Stories.

7th son book 2 - J.C. Hutchins thriller review

Have I said I am not particularly fit for listening to fictional podcasts? Well, be that as it may,  J. C. Hutchins's podnovel and thriller 7th Son was a podcast I could not stop listening to. I have hundreds of podcasts on my playlist, many of which I want to review on this blog. 7th Son was already reviewed, but I simply could not stop listening to it. The thriller had taken me in and I spent a couple of days finishing book 1 and book 2. (legacy feed)(current feed)

It rarely happens anymore, I am so taken in with a podcast, that even when I am done reviewing it, I continue to listen. What is it with 7th son that did it? What makes it all the more a mystery is that neither am I too good at listening to fictional podcasts, I am not much of a fan of the SciFi and thriller genres. The thriller genre, however, works with cliffhangers, and if you are caught, the thriller is working for you. 7th son managed to catch me, surprise me, keep me engaged and what is most important, had me identify with the main characters.

The main characters are the seven men that one day find out they are clones and must set out to stop their original. Hutchins works the thriller masterfully and had me surprised on many instances, but also invested sufficiently in the psychology of the clones, especially the 7th clone. It should not come as a surprise therefore this listening sensation is going to be published as a book soon and a movie should be expected. In the mean time, I am on to book 3.

More narration and fiction podcasts:
7th Son - book 1,
Night's Knights,
New World Orders,
Namaste Stories,
Forgotten Classics,
Celtic Myth Podshow.

7th son - Fictional podcast review

Since I started digging into fictional podcasts I ran frequently into the name J. C. Hutchins. I had heard of Hutchins before and now that I began to understand what a name he had made for himself in the world of fictional podcasts, I decided to investigate on his podcast novel, 7th Son. Then I found out this series has reached beyond its third book and its first cycle. (legacy feed)(current feed)

I should have listened back in 2006 when the novel began and quickly developed into a success. Hutchins has made a very effective and professional novel weaving together elements of SciFi, conspiracy and thriller genres. Apart from great story telling and a podcast worked out to the finest details, Hutchins also shows the ability to work his audience, create a community and let it take and active part in the podcast's success. But let's give a hint to the story.

Picture this: One day you are abducted and taken to an ultra-secret facility where you find out you are not the real you, but a clone, enriched with the childhood memories of the original. And there are six more sods like yourself. Of course, conform the genres, this part of a big conspiracy, is a global plot and a pretext to some hefty action, but what sets Hutchins apart is that he has worked out the characters and psychology of the seven clones very well and apart from the regular thriller stuff makes us partake in what they go through which greatly enriches the drama.

More narration and fiction podcasts:
Night's Knights,
New World Orders,
Namaste Stories,
Forgotten Classics,
Celtic Myth Podshow.

Night's Knights - fictional podcast review

I have read and liked Stephen King, but generally I am not partial to horror. Horror writer Emerian Rich figured that when she wrote me a request to review here horror podnovel Night's Knights. Nevertheless I took up listening to the first chapters of this fictional podcast.

Horror is a genre of effect, or at least that is the way I see it. It really doesn't matter too much how the effect of horror is established, certainly not whether it is logical or believable in any way. When it works, it is good horror. Emerian's novel does exactly that: it works the effects. To the extent I have listened to it, this much I can say: the story stands in its genre. Should you like it, it may well serve your taste.

Take for example the main character Jespa. She is a young girl living in San Francisco, working in a bar, being cheated upon by her boyfriend (and her best friend - of course) and she looks for a place to stay other than home. A place to 'crash' obviously. The atmosphere reminds me of Shadowrun roleplay, gritty, sleazy urban society. The sexual morality reminds me of Pohl's Gateway: bi-sexual across the board - and sex is a major issue. Jespa is walking sex, she is supposed to drive everybody's hormones crazy ("man or woman, from age 5 to 95"), yet she is cheated upon. And yet, she couldn't stand to be without a partner for the night. It really doesn't matter how coherent this is, it works like hell. Gritty, sleazy, down and out, that is where Jespa is at. The effect is completed with the music that is mixed in. The chorus is a hefty beat going: 'run, run, go and get yer gun' - which takes on very different meaning among the various scenes.

Here is the scene where vampires can appear and what have you. I trust it goes on just as well. The fact that I was not looking for this effect does not make it bad. As far as I can see it, it is well done, it sticks to the genre, it sticks to its tone, it rides at the proper pace. This is a podcast that does aptly what it promises to do.

More narration and fiction podcasts:
New World Orders,
Namaste Stories,
Forgotten Classics,
Celtic Myth Podshow.

Five Free Favorites of Jesse Willis (SFF audio)

SFF Audio, the blog about podcasts and other audio that is available about SciFi and Fantasy, invited me to write a couple of guest posts on their blog. This weekend, there will be the first. It will be part of their guest blogger series in which the bloggers tell about their Five Favorite podcasts.

I will write about my favorite history podcasts, which, by the way, is a shifting phenomenon. I'll give a you a different list any other day, but that is not what I wanted to get into. What I wanted to point out is that SFF audio covers intensively a field that I have just touched recently: fictional podcasts.

The main writer on SFF audio, is Jesse Willis. He was kind enough to reveal some of his favorites (five as it happens) in a guest blog over here. Thank you, Jesse!



Hi! I'm Jesse Willis, guest blogging on Anne is a Man. Today I'm going to tell you about some of the cool stuff I listen to. Sure, like Anne I listen to a lot of non-fiction podcasts. And like Anne I'm a big fan of some of the best listens out there. I'm a Dan Carlin's Hard Core History convert. I've been listening to Professor Bob of History According To Bob for years. But I figure you've heard the praises of these terrific shows from Anne before. So let me tell you about some similar shows, shows that will strike you as cool, but which Anne hasn't yet covered:

1. Entitled Opinions is a podcast radio program hosted by Professor Robert Harrison. Harrison teaches in the department of French and Italian at Stanford University. He interviews guests, often other Stanford profs, about literature, history, politics, philosophy and even sports. His shows are deep, cultured and highly literate. Having been born in Turkey as the son of American diplomats, Harrison has an immense knowledge about that country, his interview with historian Aron Rodrigue is enlightening. Similar-wise, Harrision's talks with René Girard on the subject of mimetic desire are perhaps the most fascinating ever podcast. From Virgil to the Virgin Mary, from the historical Jesus to Athenian Democracy; Entitled Opinions, with its braggadocious title, earns it.

2. Two programmes by Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards have obsessed me since they first launched. (blog)

Behind The Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed sits down with Crime/Mystery/Noir authors and dissects their work. Clute and Edwards approach each author's work as if it was their doctoral thesis.There has never been an interview series like this. The inteviewees often come away with a new sense of their own work. And The listener comes away with a strong desire to read the books they talk about. I'm hoping that soon they'll be able to interview Donald E. Westlake and Lawrence Block (my two favorite living crime authors). Check out their talks with Christa Faust, Seth Harwood and Charles Ardai.

Out Of The Past: Investigating Film Noir, on the other hand is an examination of films influenced by the Film Noir movement. Most DVD commentaries suck, if Clute and Edwards did film commentaries I'd buy the DVDs just to hear their shot by shot examinations. These are two highly literate Crime/Noir/Mystery fans. Check out their talks about: Body Heat, Kiss Me Deadly and the immortal Pickup on South Street.

3. Professor Courtney Brown's course at Emory University (it's archived) is a Political Science course entitled Science Fiction and Politics (Political Science 190). Brown's lectures are from two semesters of teaching this course and feature incisive political insights found in more than a dozen Science Fiction novels. Science Fiction is the most important of all modern literature because it engages the present with philosophical ideas. Let Courtney Brown illustrate just a few of the political ideas found in SF and you'll stick around for the whole course.

4. Welcome To Mars (1947-1959), is an odd series broadcast on Resonance FM. Creator Ken Hollings collects non-fiction oddments about the fantastic futuristic world of the fifties. This was a live-broadcast twelve-part series - kind of a one man show, with the subtitle The fantasy of science in the early years of the American Century. Hollings: "Between 1947 and 1959, the future was written about, discussed and analyzed with such confidence that it became a tangible presence. This is a story of weird science, strange events and even stranger beliefs, set in an age when the possibilities for human development seemed almost limitless." The show is hypnotic. I'm not sure I learned as much as I unlearned, if that makes any sense.

5 Finally, here's one you'd probably never otherwise see on Anne Is A Man:

Three years into it and I'm still in love with The Red Panda Adventures! (feed) This is an old-style radio drama (along the lines of The Green Hornet) but with modern storytelling and action. Full of kung-fu and snappy dialog you'll love it most for the wonderful characters and their dialogue. If you don't like Red Panda there's something broken in your heart!

New World Orders - fictional podcast review

More and more people use the report a podcast feature on this blog. Thus, I also found New World Orders, a fictional podcast telling a tale of world wide conspiracy. It is an entertaining ride, but I kept wondering whether this is intended to be a thriller or not. The story is so full of cliches, it could be a satire, but then again, that is not so clear either. The funny thing is, it is exactly this ambiguity that kept me listening.

For one, I was caught enough by the thriller, to want to know what was going to happen next. I wanted to know how the conspiracy works and I wanted to see the lonely hero succeed in his quest against it. Although, he seems so puny in comparison to the invisible enemy and he couldn't brush his teeth without them knowing. And they do not refrain from bribes, threat and murder to get their way.

But secondly, there was the thrill of observing the story and figuring out what the writers and performers are thinking. Are they deliberately going over the top a bit, in order to satirize the genre? And what about this hitman of Austrian descent - he sounds exactly like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Are they thinking of specific movies and actors for their characters? And what of this impersonation of George Bush, the father - that surely is more comical than tensely thriller-like.

So, eventually, this is a great podcast where everybody can have his own preferences served. If you want straightforward entertainment - there is the thriller with the evil schemer and his hidden agendas, with the silenced witnesses, the bribed ones and the lonely few who catch a whiff of something suspicious in the air and who investigate and then find themselves facing the invincible Moloch. If you like conspiracies, there is the question: who would want to cover up global warming? If it is not the big industry that wants to go on polluting, then somebody with long term vision. But what could he gain with a planet going sick? And who is behind the JFK assassination and the blowing up of the Space Shuttle? If you like Hollywood thriller movies, you can play the game of who is who in the story. The coldblooded killer is Schwarzenegger, but who are the rest? If you are struck by the cliches, you can observe the satire, the subtle poking at the over-construed genre.

More narration and fiction podcasts:
Namaste Stories,
Forgotten Classics,
Celtic Myth Podshow,
Librivox,
Sonic Society.

Namaste Stories - fiction podcast review

Podcast fits for passing any audio, not just interviews, panel discussions or lectures. Thanks to my readers' listening tips, I ventured a little bit more into narration and fictional podcasts. It goes to show, among others, how useful the report a podcast feature on my blog is. And so, I got a listening tip from Julie from Forgotten Classics to check out the podcast Namaste Stories and over the mail I was contacted by the makers of New World Orders. Both will be reviewed on this blog, beginning with Namaste, here and now; New World Orders will follow later this week.

Fictional podcasts magnify the elements of literary use of language and of drama, which includes dramatic use of voice as well as acting - if you can separate that after all. It makes for more intense listening. It adds to the cerebral, intellectual and possibly spiritual aspects, that I know so well from the regulars on this blog. It adds the aesthetic, in sound, language, composition and performance. Consequently, the listening is more intense and demands more concentration. I am used to listen while engaging in driving, shopping, cleaning or other menial tasks. Combining fictional podcast listening with driving or shopping doesn't work out to well. The menial task needs to be more monotonous and routine - like cleaning for instance.

For Namaste I didn't even do that. I just sat down and closed my eyes. DaveP, the maker, provides a total immersion podcast. He makes the music, writes the (very literary) text and reads it, with a restrained passion that is mesmerizing. I have let myself float with the sound experience, tremendously enjoyed the integrated whole and yet, still I haven't figured out whether the stories are independent or part of a larger scheme. They seem to be related however with returning persona's such as Georgette, Dad and I - the narrator. For the joy of the podcast, that is not needed. What we see is podcast as a work of art.

More:
Forgotten Classics

Forgotten Classics - podcast review

I am not a good audience for audiobooks, I guess. I have tried my ears on a couple of stories and books read on podcast and it never really worked for me. It could be because of the fact I had to listen to prose read in a non-native language to me (I tried English and German), but it could also be, I am more a listener to lectures after all. I have a couple of good reasons to review a listen-to-prose podcast anyway: Forgotten Classics. (feed)

I think the reading was done quite well, so if you are in to this kind of podcast, here is one I can recommend. In addition, the podcast contains an introductory and closing section in which the host, Julie, addresses her audience with whatever is on her mind. This gives for a very warm, community feel to the podcast, just as David van Nuys establishes on Shrink Rap Radio. Like Dr. Dave, Julie is very good at creating the intimate atmosphere that makes you feel at home in her show.

The most important reason to attend to Forgotten Classics, is that Julie gives listening tips for the podcast addicts such as you and me. She picks from the widest range of podcasts possible and seems to fulfill the reviewer and advisory role, not just also for her listeners, but also for her family members. So, there is some to find for everyone. More than that, also on the blog that goes along with the podcast, she reports on her findings in podcasts. So, this podcast and blog is a treasure trove for new podcast finds, even if it points you back to Anne is a Man. (Thanks Julie!)

More listen to stories/books/poetry podcasts:
Celtic Myth Podshow,
Librivox,
Sonic Society,
Irving Poetry,
Peopletalk.

Let Battle Commence! - Celtic Myth Podshow #2

The children of Danu engage in battle with the fearsome Bolg. One have mighty spears the other splendid fighting sticks. A hundred thousand perish. One can't say the Irish mythological cycle starts with a whimper - rather with a bang. The Celtic Myth Podshow brings it to us.

The great thing with the hosts of this podcast is that they are very receptive to feedback. I found it hard to keep track of all the names in the tales they tell and so they listed them. I suggested the names could do with some introduction or explanation and it seems they are seeing into this. Apart from being so user friendly, we see here yet another great quality of podcasting: they way it interacts with the audience and Gary and Ruth of the Celtic Myth Podshow understand this only too well.

My next item on the wish list is to get some framework around the myths. For all I know the Celts dwelt in Europe from before Roman times. I take it, at some point they even ransacked Rome, way before Julius Ceasar defeated Vercingetorix. And it makes me curious about the sources for the myths. There must have been an oral tradition, but then at some point, the legends must have been written down. Possibly this was done by Christian monks, implying there might be some censorship, or even alteration. Along there must be a history of recounting, retelling, discovery and rediscovery. Such fascinating added dimension to these tales. According to Gary's reply to my comments, he surely intends to have the Celtic Myth Podshow pay some attention to the reception of the Celtic Myths. Great going.

Previously:
The Celtic Myth Podshow - first review

Celtic Myth Podshow

Here is a new podcast that recently started: Celtic Myth Podshow. The podcast intends to bring us a wide variety of stories from the Celtic traditions, that is Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and from Brittany. The way the show intends to bring the tales is by telling them.

The way they phrase it themselves is: 'bringing the tales and stories of the ancient Celts to your fireplace.' Indeed they are brought home, close to the listener, by subtle dramatization. The text is read with a bardic tone of voice and the characters are featured with speaking voices. This is mixed with music in style and the odd sound effect, just the right blend to get you in the Celtic mood.

It may be hard, hopefully will become easier, to keep track of all the names, as they are many and they are very outlandish to the unaccustomed ear. Host Gary performs a pronunciation of the Celtic names that sounded very genuine to me, but at the end of the first show he throws a disclaimer and apologizes for possible mistakes in this respect. Well, we have had one show, I hope this is going to be continued in the splendid way it started.

Related content:
The Fisher King,
The art of coherence,
The Bitch, the Crone, and the Harlot,
Shrinkrapradio meets Curtiss Hoffman.

Midwest Writer - Guided Writing

Here is a podcast that will help you write your novel. Writer Jean Tennant takes you step by step through the process. There is nothing more specifically Midwest about this, than that Tennant is from the Midwest. I am three podcasts into the series and so far all of the advice was very helpful.

Tennant is the first to emphasize every writer has his own mode of working and her organized approach may not suit you, but you are free to pick form the advice what you like. Personally I am taken in by the systematic set up. That is maybe because I am an intuitive writer and what I lack in order, needs to be consciously added.

The only reserve I had was when she went over the list of genres. I could think of a couple more and personally did not feel inclined to choose any of the ones she listed. But certainly this is a minor point. You can go on with her and pile up your ideas, flesh them out, outlining and characterizing just as she proposes. This is a very promising podcast I will continue to listen to.