PodParley PodParley

Winter Talk (1859)

Episode 19 of the Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 083 by Various podcast, hosted by LibriVox, titled "Winter Talk (1859)" was published on April 11, 2026 and runs 5 minutes.

April 11, 2026 ·5m · Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 083 by Various

0:00 / 0:00
Short Nonfiction Collection Vol. 031 by Various LibriVox Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include the Faust Legend, Stephen Crane, Sundials and the Statue of Liberty. (Summary by Sue Anderson) Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 084 by Various LibriVox Ghosts everywhere, and of any colour," was the promise of Spectropia, a book of "surprising spectral illusions" published in 1863. Optical illusions were among the twenty vol. 084 topics, chosen by their readers, which were concerned with science, technology, and medicine, including the societal implications of decision making in these fields: (The Equality of Inertial and Gravitational Mass; The Machine That Thinks; Rocks For Homes; Ottawa Illinois Radiation Area; Florence Nightingale to Her Nurses; Cincinnati's "Old Cunny; and Buck v. Bell). This Troubled World, a 1938 essay by Eleanor Roosevelt, is joined by others with a sociological focus: (The Graves of the Fallen; The American Indian in the Great War (1921); A Letter to a Hindu: The Subjection of India (1908); and Not Revolution, but Evolution). Rational thought is explored in both philosophic and religious contexts (Ascending Forms and Powers; The Four Gospels from a Lawyer's Standpoint). Foibles and quibbles get their due (Mr. Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 085 by Various LibriVox "A regard for decency, even at the cost of success, is but the regard for one's own dignity" was novelist Joseph Conrad's take on fame, a quote from the preface to his autobiography A Personal Record (1912). Other lives chosen by readers to examine in vol. 085 include the Borgias; the Cynocephali; Hermann von Helmholtz; Edgar Allan Poe; John Burroughs; a pre-Revolutionary War magnate named Browne, who built a mansion on the ridge of a hill; women as a social class; and an 1821 rabies victim named Thomas, who exhibited hydrophobia. Political history receives scrutiny in Some Materials and a Possibility; The House Famine; Cracow; The Dutch East India Company; and Across Africa by Air and Rail. The art of Japanning illuminates an ancient craft. Literature, by Irvin Cobb, is welcome humor. And for hungry souls, there are recipes for ice cream and for Army chow! Summary by Sue Anderson. Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 086 by Various LibriVox "The democracy of the future will sicken of a chronic and mortal boredom," was Aldous Huxley's prophecy for the United States in 1923. You won't be bored listening to these 20 recordings, selected by their readers, with topics ranging from Leacock's humorous Manual of Education to Unamuno's Tragic Sense of Life. There's an artist's diary (Thomas Cole); an after-dinner speech (Mark Twain); reflections on Beauty by John Burroughs; Willa Cather and Christopher Morley on writing; and Leibniz on the Origin of Things. Political topics include the Power of Third Parties; the House of Commons; the 1904 South Dakota Land Lottery; and an NAACP anti-lynching poster. The 1918 Influenza Epidemic mirrors today's Covid quarantine and mask requirements; while virtual adventure beckons in Königstein Fortress; an Equatorial Chinese Wedding; Nellie Bly; and An Humane Skeleton of Extraordinary Size. Finally, acts of heroism are celebrated in A Pioneer Girl and in Poland's Tadeusz Kościuszko. (Summary by S
URL copied to clipboard!