Facts about Radio Talking Book
The State of Minnesota’s Radio Talking Book is the world’s first radio reading service for the blind, visually impaired, and those with disabilities that impede them from reading print. RTB’s on-air date was January 2, 1969. Within six years similar services emerged across the country, and in 1975 the Association of Radio Reading Services was formed. That organization later became the International Association of Audio Information Reading Services, and includes member services that provide access to the printed word in any audio format.
Weekend Program Books
Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing The Power of Meaning by Emily Esfahani Smith. For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh. Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Tranströmer. The Great North (Sunday at 4 p.m.) is airing Warrior Nation: A History of the Red Lake Ojibwe by Anton Treuer, followed by The Big Marsh by Cheri Register.
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, 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 651-539-2363.
Donate to the State Services for the Blind at mn.gov/deed/ssbdonate.
Chautauqua Tuesday, Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m
Brilliance and Fire. Nonfiction by Rachelle Bergstein, 2016. Diamonds are the world’s most coveted gemstones, and hold a place in our imagination as symbols of royalty, glamour, and eternal love. Read by Jan Anderson. 12 broadcasts, beginning November 10. – V L S
The Happiness Effect. Nonfiction by Donna Freitas, 2017. Social media has become a dominant force in many people’s lives. But many believe it has magnified something to a great degree: the need to look perfect. Read by Mary Hall. 13 broadcasts, beginning November 28. – L
Past is Prologue, Monday – Friday 9 a.m
The Gatekeeper. Nonfiction by Kathryn Smith, 2016. If you wanted access to President Franklin Roosevelt you had to go through Missy LeHand, his private secretary and right-hand woman. Read by Bonnie Smith-Yackel. 11 broadcasts, began November 8.
Agent 110. Nonfiction by Scott Miller, 2017. World War II spymaster and future CIA director Allen Dulles’s mission was to report on the inner workings of the Third Reich. Instead he discovered a network of Germans conspiring to overthrow Hitler. Read by Dan Sadoff. 11 broadcasts, beginning November 23. – L
Bookworm, Monday – Friday 11 a.m.
The Fortunate Ones. Fiction by Ellen Umansky, 2017. Rose Zimmer searches for a painting her mother loved. Lizzie Goldstein also searches for the painting, stolen from her childhood home. Their quest unites them in an unexpected friendship, to help heal the pain of Nazi Germany. Read by Judith Johannessen. 13 broadcasts, begins November 14.
The Writer’s Voice, Monday, Monday – Friday 2 p.m.
Al Capone. Nonfiction by Deirdre Bair, 2016. Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone became the most infamous gangster in US history. But the man behind the legend remains a mystery. Read by Mike Piscitelli. 19 broadcasts, began November 6.
Choice Reading, Monday, Monday – Friday 4 p.m.
Mercury. Fiction by Margot Livesey, 2016. Donald and Viv are a happy couple: he a successful optometrist, she running the local stables. Then Mercury, a new horse, arrives and changes everything. Read by Judy Woodward. 10 broadcasts, began November 9. – L
The Secrets of Flight. Fiction by Maggie Leffler, 2016. A fifteen-year-old girl teams up with octogenarian Mary Browning. Together they learn it’s never too late in life for second chances. Read by Carolyn Light Bell. 9 broadcasts, begins November 23. – L
PM Report, Monday – Friday 8 p.m.
Divided We Stand. Nonfiction by Marjorie J. Spruill, 2017. The 2016 US Presidential election made it clear that women’s movements on both the left and right have affected the course of modern American politics. Read by Esmé Evans. 17 broadcasts, began November 7.
Panic at the Pump. Nonfiction by Meg Jacobs, 2016. The 1970s energy crisis became a lesson in the limitations of government power. Mounting insecurity and skepticism set the stage for the rise of conservatism. Read by Nancy Bader. 20 broadcasts, begins November 30.
Night Journey, Monday – Friday 9 p.m.
Twelve Angry Librarians. Fiction by Miranda James, 2017. College librarian Charlie Harris is known for long walks with his cat named Diesel. But when his nemesis is found dead, Charlie may be taking a walk in handcuffs. Can he and Diesel clear his name? Read by Diane Ladenson. 7 broadcasts, began November 8.
Stalking Jack the Ripper. Fiction by Kerri Maniscalco, 2016. Audrey Rose Wadsworth, groomed to be the perfect Victorian lady, instead studies forensics and gets drawn into the investigation of Jack the Ripper. Read by Isla Hejny. 11 broadcasts, begins November 20. – V,L,S
Off the Shelf, Monday – Friday 10 p.m.
The Barrowfields. Fiction by Phillip Lewis, 2017. A son realizes he can never truly escape the place where he grew up, and that he has to return home. Read by John Marsicano. 13 broadcasts, begins November 14.
Potpourri, Monday – Friday 11 p.m.
The Upstarts. Nonfiction by Brad Stone, 2017. Ten years ago, getting into a stranger’s car or entering their home would have seemed strange. But Uber, Airbnb, and others have redefined how we travel. Read by Jim Tarbox. 13 broadcasts, began November 1. – L
Three Stones Make a Wall. Nonfiction by Eric H. Cline, 2017. Archaeology began as an amateur pursuit, but over the last century has become a cutting-edge science. Eric Cline shares more than thirty years of stories and discoveries. Read by Lannois Neely. 16 broadcasts, begins November 20.
Good Night Owl, Monday – Friday midnight
As Good As Gone. Fiction by Larry Watson, 2016. Calvin Sidey is one of the last of the old cowboys. Now he’s been asked by his estranged son to stay with his two grandchildren for a week. Read by Greg Olson. 10 broadcasts, began November 7.
First Light. Fiction by Bill Rancic, 2016. Dan, Kerry, and their fellow travelers are stranded in Alaska after their plane crashes into a mountainside. Dan relies on his survival experience to save the travelers and the woman he loves. Read by Tom Speich. 9 broadcasts, begins November 21.
After Midnight, Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.
So Much Blue. Fiction by Percival Everett, 2017. When his past surfaces, Kevin Pace struggles to justify sacrifices made for his art and secrets he’s kept from his wife and family. Read by Peter Danbury. 8 broadcasts, began November 9. – S,V,L
The First Time She Drowned. Fiction by Kerry Kletter, 2016. Cassie, age 18, is about to leave an institution and re-enter the world. But whose version of history is real – and whose life must Cassie reclaim? Read by Pat Muir. 11 broadcasts, begins November 21. – S,V,L
Abbreviations: V – violence, L – offensive language, S – sexual situations
