The Library of Babel Podcast

James Davisson

5.0 (5)
Books

Short, speculative fiction read aloud with music, effects, and commentary.

08/22/2017

The Invisible Empire, by John Kessel (Season 2, Episode 5)

This is an alternate history story set in the 1880s and concerns the underground activities of a group of first-wave feminists. It has been released under a Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license, and the full text can be found here, as part of the author's short story collection, The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories. Music Attribution: Autumn Sunset by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/ Chorale No. 1 by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/ Easy Breezy by Silent Partner can be found at the YouTube Audio Library, as can the other works above.
08/21/2017

Beneath the Language, by Ken Liu (Season 2, Episode 4)

This is a story in the form of a long-form magazine article, which I think is a neat way to write a bit of speculative fiction. It’s a story about art and machine learning. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License. The full text can be found on the author's website, here. Several other works by Ken Liu can be found for free at his website, here. You can also listen to his World Fantasy Award, Hugo, and Nebula-winning short story The Paper Menagerie on the Levar Burton Reads podcast; it's episode 11. Music: Pump by Gunnar Olsen, New Land by ALBIS, Terminal D by Silent Partner, In Albany New York by the 126ers. All music can be found at the YouTube Audio Library.
08/20/2017

The Lincoln Train, by Maureen McHugh (Season 2, Episode 3)

A bit of Civil War alternate history, this story won a Hugo Award in 1996 (I said 1995 in the episode, which is the year it was written). It has been released under a Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license, along with many of the Maureen McHugh's other works, in a collection called Mothers and Other Monsters. You can find the full text of the story here. Civil War era music is from History on the Net; the songs were The Vacant Chair and Tramp, Tramp, Tramp. The closing song is Song to the Moon from the opera Rusalka, performed by Zaira Soria, released under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
08/19/2017

Welcome to the Federation, by Mark Onspaugh (Season 2, Episode 2)

The text of this story and can be found online here. It was released under a Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license. The other stories in the collection, Thoughtcrime Experiments, are released under the same license. I recommended Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice series in this episode. Find out more about it at her website, here, and read more about why I think it's a better sci-fi model for political action and change here. Music: Noble Dub by Silent Partner, True Love by Silent Partner, Coast by Silent Partner, Bomber by Riot, Tropix by Gunnar Olsen, and Camagüey by Silent Partner. All songs can be found on the YouTube Audio Library.
08/18/2017

The Book of Jashar, by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Season 2, Episode 1)

The text of this story can be found at the Strange Horizons website where it was originally published, here, or in the author's short story collection, The Ant King and Other Stories, which was released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license. I highly recommend reading 1 Samuel 15-31 in the Bible if you have the time; it's very useful background for understanding the story. If you'd like a translation recommendation, I highly suggest The David Story, by Robert Alter. Give Us a King by Everett Fox is also great. I mentioned a story called The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis by Michael Bishop, about Jesus returning to Earth as an alien mantis; you can find it in the author's collection of scifi-meets-religion short stories, Close Encounters with the Diety. Music Attribution: Desert City by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100564 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Emerald Therapy by Audionautix (http://audionautix.com) is part of the YouTube Audio Library (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/) and it's licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Lamentation by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100607 Artist: http://incompetech.com/
08/03/2017

The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe (Season 1, Episode 4)

The Library of Babel Podcast
08/03/2017

The Celestial Omnibus, by EM Forster (Season 1, Episode 5)

The Library of Babel Podcast
08/03/2017

Is He Living or Is He Dead, by Mark Twain (Season 1, Episode 3)

The Library of Babel Podcast
08/03/2017

The Other Side of the Hedge, by EM Forster (Season 1, Episode 2)

The Library of Babel Podcast
08/02/2017

The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges (Season 1, Episode 1)

The Library of Babel Podcast

10 Episodes

5

out of 5

5 Ratings

Short, speculative fiction read aloud with music, effects, and commentary.

Creator

James Davisson
Years Active

2008 - 2017
Episodes

10
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© This podcast features content in the public domain and the creative commons. Feel free to use it under the appropriate licenses.
Show Website

The Library of Babel Podcast