The Twin Cities Signal Is Digital
In early July, the Twin Cities area was converted to a digital signal. If you are listening there, you will experience one of two things: either your new signal is very clear and strong, or you are hearing nothing but static. If the latter is the case, you do not yet have a new digital radio. Please contact the Communication Center and get your new radio at 651-642-0885. The next areas for digital conversion will be Mankato and Rochester. It is exciting to see this conversion happen since we have been planning for it for more than a decade.
Weekend Program Books
Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing The Prosperous Heart, by Julia Cameron; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing How to Rock Braces and Glasses, by Meg Haston, and Wolf Storm, by Dee Garretson; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing The Foot of the Rainbow, by Thomas R. Smith, and Double Truth, by Chard deNiord; The U.S. and Us (Sunday at 4 p.m.) is airing Keeping Watch, by Kathryn A. Sletto.
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, http://education.state.mn.us, and then clicking on the link. 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.
See interesting information about current RTB events on the Facebook site for the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network. Register for Facebook at www.facebook.com.
Chautauqua
Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m
Healing the Heart of Democracy, Nonfiction by Parker J. Palmer, 2011. Palmer examines ways to restore the invisible infrastructure of American politics. He looks at how to deal with our political tensions for the sake of common good. Read by June Prange. 7 Br. Began August 7.
Zoobiquity, Nonfiction by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, M.D. and Kathryn Bowers, 2012. The authors claim that there are similarities between the ways human beings and animals live, die, get sick, and heal. Read by Lannois Neely. 12 Br. Begins August 16.
Past is Prologue
Monday – Friday 9 a.m.
Midnight Rising, Nonfiction by Tony Horwitz, 2011. Plotted in secret and launched in the dark, John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry ruptured the union between North and South. Yet few Americans know the true story of the militant idealists who invaded Virginia before the Civil War. Read by Marylyn Burridge. 13 broadcasts. Began July 25
She Wolves, Nonfiction by Helen Castor, 2011. Before Elizabeth I, there had already been a number of women who ruled England, though none as openly. Between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, three women discovered what was possible if male rule was not confronted explicitly. Read by Connie Jamison. 20 Br. Begins August 13.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday 11 a.m.
In Caddis Wood, Fiction by Mary Francois Rockcastle, 2012. Carl’s life was defined by his work as an architect. Debilitating illness and the discovery of secret letters to his wife cause Carl to question her devotion. L – Read by Jodi Lindskog. 8 Br. Begian August 9.
The Mercury Fountain, Fiction by Eliza Factor, 2012. Owen Scraperton is an idealist who sets up Pristina, a utopian community in the desert. His economic foundation for Pristina is the mining of mercury. Read by Ann Hoedeman. 9 broadcasts. Begins August 21.
The Writer’s Voice
Monday – Friday 2 p.m.
Running Away to Home, Nonfiction by Jennifer Wilson, 2011. Jen and Jim had always dreamed of taking a sabbatical in another country. When they lost savings in a stock-market crash, they took off for the Croatian town of Mrkopalj, the land of Jennifer’s ancestors. Read by Colleen Matz. 13 broadcasts. Began August 8.
Life Itself, Nonfiction by Roger Ebert, 2011. The first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, Roger Ebert has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967. He left TV because of thyroid-cancer treatment and became an even more prolific writer. Read by Bob Rees. 17 Br. Begins August 27
Choice Reading
Monday – Friday 4 p.m.
A Partial History of Lost Causes, Fiction by Jennifer deBois, 2012. Aleksandr Bezetov never answered a letter Irina Ellison’s father had written, so she travels to Russia for an answer. L,S – Read by Maria Rubinstein. 13 Br. Began August 6.
The Stockholm Octavo, Fiction by Karen Engelmann, 2012. The Octavo is a theory of the art of cartomancy in which eight cards represent the eight people essential to the outcome of every major event in a person’s life. L – Read by Esmé Evans. 14 Br. Begins August 23.
PM Report
Monday – Friday 8 p.m.
Muzzled, Nonfiction by Juan Williams, 2011. In today’s partisan world, each side, liberal and conservative, preaches to a choir that revels in expressions of anger, ideology, conspiracies, and demonized opponents. The result is an absence of truth-telling and honest debate. Read by John Demma. 10 broadcasts. Began July 30.
Warriors of God, Nonfiction by Nicholas Blanford, 2011. In 1979, Hezbollah was a group of zealous raw fighters motivated by Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. Today, it is the most formidable non-state military organization in the world. Read by Leila Poullada. 22 broadcasts. Begins August 13.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday 9 p.m.
Instruments of Darkness, Fiction by Imogen Robertson, 2011. In 1780, Harriet finds a dead man on her grounds. She recruits Gabriel Crowther to help her find the murderer. The same day, another man is slain in London. Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe. 13 Br. Began August 1.
Fade Away Girl, Fiction by Martha Grimes, 2011. Twelve year old Emma is a waitress at her mother’s summer hotel, a cub reporter for the local newspaper, and a sleuth. L – Read by Amy Morris. 11 Br. Begins August 20
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 10 p.m.
Field Gray, Fiction by Philip Kerr, 2011. Bernie is a tough-talking cop who spent eleven years as a homicide detective in Berlin. He became a private detective in 1933, then was forced into the SS in 1940. But after the war, he became a marked man because he knew too much. L – Read by John Schmidt. 15 Br. Began July 23.
Accidents of Providence, Fiction by Stacia M. Brown, 2012. In 1649, a new law presumes that anyone who hides the death of an illegitimate child is guilty of murder. When a child is found in the woods, Rachel is arrested and charged. Read by Judith Johannessen. 10 broadcasts. Begins August 13.
The Funny Man, Fiction by John Warner, 2011. The comic finds success when he starts performing with his fist in his mouth. But he gets tired of having his fist in his mouth. L – Read by Stevie Ray. 11 broadcasts. Begins August 27.
Potpourri
Monday – Friday 11 p.m.
Rin Tin Tin, Nonfiction by Susan Orlean, 2011. Rin Tin Tin was found in France during World War I, but became the most famous dog in the world when he was brought back to America. He starred in twenty-three silent films and saved the Warner Brothers Studio from bankruptcy. Read by John Hagman. 12 broadcasts. Began August 9.
Behind the Palace Doors, Nonfiction by Michael Farquhar, 2011. Highlighting the unique mix of tragedy, comedy, romance and heroism. Behind the Palace Doors ventures beyond the rumors to tell the unvarnished history of Britain’s monarchs. L – Read by John Potts. 11 broadcasts. Begins August 27.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday midnight
The Kingdom of Childhood, Fiction by Rebecca Coleman, 2011. Sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson is struggling with knowledge of his mother’s affair when he begins an affair of his own with Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher. At first, the affair thrills, then corrupts each of them. L,S – Read by Sue McDonald. 11 broadcasts. Began August 7.
Narcopolis, Fiction by Jellt Thayil, 2012. The Bombay of the 1970s had a unique underworld of drugs and sex. As decades pass, the drugs are different, and the city seems to have changed greatly. But the passions remain. L,S – Read by Dan Sadoff. 10 broadcasts. Begins August 22.
After Midnight
Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.
Webs of Fate, Fiction by Darlene Quinn, 2011. Danielle is guilty of betrayal. As her mentor tries to uncover the truth, every step draws Danielle closer to a deadly trap set for her by her fiancé’s son. S – Read by Lynda Kayser. 17 broadcasts. Began July 24.
The Night Circus, Fiction by Erin Morgenstern, 2011. This amazing circus arrives with no warning or announcements and dazzles the viewer. At the heart of it all are two illusionists, Celia and Marco, who have been bound by their masters. When Celia and Marco find out that they are supposed to be adversaries, they fall in love. Read by Michele Potts. 13 broadcasts. Begins August 16.
Abbreviations: V – violence, L – offensive language, S – sexual situations
