I am listening to Richard Feynman - Lectures on Physics at the moment. What are some other good ones?
I liked How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, by Robert Greenberg I believe, published by the Teaching Company. They put out a lot of nonfiction books or lectures on tape. I listened to the early-music section second to last because I didn’t think it would be exciting, and I skipped some of the opera parts. I think the whole course is something like 40 tapes.
It covers the history of western music from the Renaissance up through the early 20th century. He talks a lot about the different forms, styles and composers but not much in the way of theory. A large portion of the tapes consist of musical exerpts.
It’s always weird to see someone’s face after hearing their voice for a long time. That’s not how I pictured Robert Greenberg.
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams is the most entertaining nonfiction book ever, and quite possibly the best Douglas Adams book as well. There’s an audiobook read by the author.
I guess that whether you think these are “excellent” or not might depend on your politics, but i like listening to the speeches and interviews available at the A-Infos Radio Project. The stuff is mostly liberal and left-wing, with lots of stuff by prominent leftist commentators, political activists, environmentalists, etc., etc.
I also like the National Radio Project’s Making Contact shows.
I’m sure there are middle-of-the-road or conservative equivalents of this type of thing, if that’s more your style. There’s just no shortage of good stuff to listen to on the internet, and much of this stuff is available for downloading and/or podcasting.
Politics or any other subject does not matter. I am more concerned with clarity, rhetoric and information. Anything that literally sounds good and is educational would be great.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
ABC Radio National provide many of their programs free as downloadable MP3s or podcasts programs include:
All In The Mind
Delving into all things mental: the latest research and expert commentary on our brains and behaviour.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Saturdays at 2pm.
Anticipated File size: 13MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/mind.xml
Books and Writing
Let Ramona Koval put you in the know about all things literary with in-depth discussions about books, ideas and writing.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Sundays at 2.30pm.
Anticipated File size: 14MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/bwriting.xml
The Deep End
Sian Prior with what’s happening now in new music, art and culture in Australia and around the world.
podcast: Live music from local and international artists, updates Friday 3pm.
Anticipated File size: 9 - 12MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/deepend.xml
The Health Report
A wide range of topics in the area of health and medicine, considered within their social, scientific and political contexts.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Mondays at 10.30am.
Anticipated File size: 14MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/health.xml
The Night Air
Hard to describe but you’ll be glad you listened: a mix of all the best uses of radio in one time-slot.
podcast: One selected segment a week, updating Sundays 11.30pm.
Anticipated File size:22MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/night.xml
Ockham’s Razor
Thoughtful people have their say, without interruption, on important science-related topics.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Sundays at 10.30am.
Anticipated File size: 5MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/ockham.xml
The Science Show
RN’s science flagship: your essential source of what’s making news in the complex world of scientific research, scandal and discovery.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Saturdays at 2.30pm.
Anticipated File size:22MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/science.xml
The Spirit of Things
An adventure in religion and spirituality, exploring contemporary values and beliefs as expressed through ritual, art, music, and sacred texts.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Sundays at 8.30pm.
Anticipated File size: 23MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/spirit.xml
You can get free content from Stanford by using iTunes (though it uses the same interface application, it’s not connected directly to the ITMS ).
The teaching company puts out a lot of great audio courses. They’re very long and pretty expensive though.
Awesome. Thanks all.