Podcasts
A podcast is a digital audio or video recording that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or computer. For some time now, SSB has been working with a podcast site called Blind Abilities that specializes in making podcasts that are about blindness and limited vision. You can access Blind Abilities on your digital device or computer by going to https://blindabilities.com/. The site is fully accessible. Blind Abilities also has podcasts that have been produced here at SSB about careers, technology, or directed toward young people dealing with high school or college. Those podcasts are also on the DEED website.
Weekend Program Books
Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing Power Your Happy, by Lisa Sugar; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing The Keepers, by Ted Sanders; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing My Feelings, by Nick Flynn, and Application for Release From the Dream, by Tony Hoagland; The Great North (Sunday at 4 p.m.) is airing Pothole Confidential, by R.T. Rybak, and Everybody’s Heard about the Bird, by Rick Shefchik.
Books Available Through Faribault
Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault, MN. Their phone is 1-800-722-0550 and hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their catalog is also online, and you can access it by going to the main website, www.mnbtbl.org, and then clicking on the link Search the Library Catalog. If you live outside of Minnesota, you may obtain copies of our books via an inter-library loan by contacting your own state’s Network Library for the National Library Service.
Listen to the Minnesota Radio Talking Book, either live or archived programs from the last week, on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/rtb. Call the staff at the Radio for your password to the site.
Audio information about the daily book listings is also on NFB Newsline. Register for NFB Newsline by calling 651-539-1424.
Chautauqua Tuesday, Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m
Idiot Brain, Nonfiction by Dean Burnett, 2016. 12 Br. Begins April 18. The brain may be the pinnacle of evolutionary progress, but it is also messy, fallible, and out of date. We cling to superstitions, remember faces but not names, miss things in front of us, and lie awake replaying our fears.
Read by Lannois Neely.
Past is Prologue, Monday – Friday 9 a.m
City of Sedition, Nonfiction by John Strausbaugh, 2016. 18 Br. Began April 6. During the Civil War, no city was more of a help to Lincoln and the war effort than New York, or more of a hindrance. It was a city of patriots, war heroes, and abolitionists, but also, of antiwar protest, draft resistance, and sedition. Read by John Potts.
Bookworm, Monday – Friday 11 a.m.
Today Will Be Different, Fiction by Maria Semple, 2016. 7 Br. Began April 17. Eleanor Flood’s life is a mess, but she vows today will be different. Today she will be her best self. Unfortunately, those around her get in the way and she comes completely undone. Read by Sue McDonald.
Spill Simmer Falter Wither, Fiction by Sara Baume, 2016. 9 Br. Begins April 26. It is springtime, and two outcasts – a man invisible to his village and the one-eyed dog he takes into his quiet, tightly shuttered life – find each other. They forge an unlikely connection and over the course of a year, Ray opens up to One Eye and tells the story of his life. L – Read by Jeffrey Weihe.
The Writer’s Voice, Monday, Monday – Friday 2 p.m.
The Song Poet, Nonfiction by Kao Kalia Yang, 2016. 10 Br. Begins April 17. The Hmong tradition is that the stories of the culture are kept alive by a song poet. Author Kao Kalia Yang’s father, Bee Yang, was one of these. Bee’s song started when he was orphaned and went from one neighbor to the next, collecting the things they said to each other. His song started in Laos, moved through the jungle and a Thai refugee camp, and ended in a St. Paul housing project. Read by Rachael Freed.
Choice Reading, Monday, Monday – Friday 4 p.m.
Crossing the Horizon, Fiction by Laurie Notaro, 2016. 16 Br. Began April 11. It’s 1927, before Amelia Earhart makes her historic flight, and three women vie for being the first woman aviatrix to cross the Atlantic. One is the daughter of an earl, Elsie Mackay, also the first Englishwoman to get her pilot’s license; one is Mabel Boll, a society darling, of dubious origins who is ardent to make the historic flight; and one is a beauty pageant contestant, Ruth Elder, who uses her winnings for flying lessons and becomes the preeminent American girl of the sky. L – Read by Susan Niefeld.
PM Report, Monday – Friday 8 p.m.
The Beltway Bible, Nonfiction by Eliot Nelson, 2016. 19 Br. Began April 4. Political reporter Eliot Nelson knows how D.C. works. He looks at politics and government from an insider’s perch, breaking the bureaucracy into easily digested entries on fundamental subjects such as how legislation is formed, the scope of the president’s power, and an overview of primary federal agencies.
Read by Stevie Ray.
Night Journey, Monday – Friday 9 p.m.
Whispers Beyond the Veil, Fiction by Jessica Estevao, 2016. 11 Br. Begins April 18. Ruby is a tarot reader who grew up with a snake-oil salesman for a father. After one of her father’s remedies goes wrong, Ruby evades authorities at her aunt’s seaside hotel that caters to Spiritualists. But then a psychic investigator checks in to the hotel. Read by Nan Felknor.
Off the Shelf, Monday – Friday 10 p.m.
Unspeakable Things, Fiction by Kathleen Spivack, 2016. 12 Br. Began April 6. Life is a test of courage and silence, especially for refugees from Hitler’s Europe. For Anna and her coausin, Herbert, New York gives opportunity, but not safety from the memories of the life they had before.
S – Read by Carol McPherson.
Orphans of the Carnival, Fiction by Carol Birch, 2016. 15 Br. Begins April 24. Julia stood apart from other carnival acts, not because of her wonderful accomplishments but because of her unusual face. A century later, Rose feels the weight of history and finds herself drawn to an object that binds her to Julia.
Read by Connie Jamison.
Potpourri, Monday – Friday 11 p.m.
The Porcelain Thief, Nonfiction by Huan Hsu, 2015. 15 Br. Begins April 12. Huan Hsu was born in the U.S., but his great-great-grandfather emigrated from China when the Japanese arrived in his home town. Huan moved to China and searched for his family’s hidden treasure. He also reconnected with his ancestry and came to terms with his identity. L – Read by Don Lee.
Good Night Owl, Monday – Friday midnight
The Long, Hot Summer, Fiction by Kathleen MacMahon, 2016. 11 Br. Bean April 10. The MacEntees are no ordinary family. Determined to be different from other people, they have carved out a place for themselves by the sheer force of their personalities. But when a series of misfortunes befalls, even they will struggle to make sense of who they are. L –
Read by Anne Obst.
Amateurs, Fiction by Dylan Hicks, 2016. 10 Br. Begins April 25. Archer is a sex-toy heir. His best friend, John, is as earnest as Archer is feckless. John’s girlfriend, Sara, writes Archer’s semi-celebrated novels for him. Sara’s roommate, Lucas, wishes he’d never lost his girlfriend to the man. L,S –
Read by Dan Olson.
After Midnight, Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.
Lost Gods, Fiction by Brom, 2016. 17 Br. Began April 11. Fresh out of jail and eager to start anew, Chet and his wife, Trish, leave town. But what seems safe isn’t. Murdered by an arcane horror, the lives and souls of his wife and child are at stake. Chet must go into purgatory to restore the order of life and death. V,L –
Read by Dan Sadoff.
Abbreviations: V – violence, L – offensive language, S – sexual situations
