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Amazing Grace

I missed this film when it was showing at Amherst Cinema in the Before Times, so I was very excited to find it on Hulu. [It’s available on a variety of streaming services.] After a long, troubled production history, this film, which documents Aretha Franklin’s 1972 recording of her live gospel album, also called Amazing Grace. She recorded the album over two nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles with her own band as we…

Excellent Women

Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym’s best — a funny, engaging, and insightful story of post WWII English life. Like Jane Austen, Pym examines the small, seemingly mundane lives…Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym’s best — a funny, engaging, and insightful story of post WWII English life. Like Jane Austen, Pym examines the small, seemingly mundane lives of ordinary people in an extraordinary manner….

All a Novelist Needs: Colm Tóibín on Henry James

All a Novelist Needs is beautifully written with fascinating insights into Henry James and his creative process. Anyone who likes Tóibín or James will enjoy this book….All a Novelist Needs is beautifully written with fascinating insights into Henry James and his creative process. Anyone who likes Tóibín or James will enjoy this book….

Camping with Henry and Tom

This “book” is the audio to a play performed at L.A. Theatre Works in 2006 starring Alan Alda and was borrowed using Overdrive (see the reference desk for more information on how to download free books to your phone or e-reader!). The off-broadway play is a fictional account of inspired by an actual camping trip in 1921 with friends Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Warren Harding. The three men set off camping and their car breaks down and we hear t…

Levar Burton Reads

Levar Burton’s podcast has a tagline that embraces superlatives: “The Best Short Fiction, Handpicked by the Best Voice in Podcasting”. That may be taking things a bit far, but I am loving the stories Levar picks, and I can’t think of anyone I would rather hear read them. Perhaps that’s because I grew up on Reading Rainbow, but whatever your generation, if you enjoy short fiction read allowed, I urge you to check out Levar Burton Reads. The podcas…

LibriVox

LibriVox is a free source of public domain audiobooks read by volunteers from around the world. Most of the books are in English, but other languages are available as well with many titles in French and German and a not insignificant number of recordings in Ancient Greek. Titles for children and adults are available. I recommend starting with the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, both of which are available in va…

Valley Advocate Sessions

The Valley Advocate Sessions is presented by the Valley Advocate, Signature Sounds, and Northampton Open Media and regularly features short concerts by local musicians both seasoned and new. A recent…The Valley Advocate Sessions is presented by the Valley Advocate, Signature Sounds, and Northampton Open Media and regularly features short concerts by local musicians both seasoned and new. A recent contributor was Henning Ohlenbusch, who has been featured in our staff picks before and was one of Forbes Library’s 2018 Musicians in Residence….

99% Invisible

99% Invisible is a podcast that explores the effects of design on our lives and society in ways we generally don’t notice. The episodes delve into aspects of everyday life,…ld. Its about “all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about”. The show’s name is inspired by a quote by Buckminster Fuller: “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.”…

Stuff You Should Know

It can be a challenge to find a podcast that is very educational and informative, and at the same time is really funny. It can also be a challenge to…Thousands of episodes are available on this weekly podcast that started in 2008. Check out this sampling of topics from 2017: How Dictators Work Are Artificial Sweeteners Really Bad for You? How Pacifism Works (and could it?) The Black Panther Party Pain Scales – Yeeow! Why Isn’t the US on the Metric System? How Foreign Accent Syndrome Works Is A Head Transplant a Real Thing? Most of the podcasts are an hour, but Chuck and Josh offer short segmen…

Ian’s Shoelace Site

Sometimes its nice to dive into a seemingly trivial subject and learn what there is to learn. Shoelaces for example. We tie and untie them everyday, but what do we know about them? For most folks, the answer is not much. What is there to know about them? A fair amount, it turns out, and Ian Fieggen has provide a website (Ian’s Shoelace Site) that answers the questions you didn’t think to ask. The deepest and richest sections are, without a doubt,…

Spelling Bee

Like most librarians, I love words and games that involve language. This new one from the New York Times challenges you to come up with as many words as you can using just the 7 letters they provide. You can play it in fits and starts and it’ll track your progress throughout the day, making it very user-friendly during this strange, interruption-filled and routine-free time we’re currently living in. And lest you become too impressed with yoursel…

The Art of Manliness podcast

With episodes like “The Boring Decadence of Modern Society”, “The Case for Being Unproductive,” and “What Board Games Teach Us About Life”, The Art of Manliness’s subject matter is delightfully…With episodes like “The Boring Decadence of Modern Society”, “The Case for Being Unproductive,” and “What Board Games Teach Us About Life”, The Art of Manliness’s subject matter is delightfully unique and often offers a perspective you don’t hear anywhere else. Please don’t let its name dissuade you–you don’t have to be a “manly” man (whatever that means), or even a man, to get something out of it….

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