Radio Talking Book: Radio News
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JANUARY 2009 EDITION (Read below for Previous News Editions)
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Current Edition: January 2009
The Radio Talking Book is 40 years old this month
On January 2, 1969, the Radio Talking Book (RTB) went on the air as the world’s first radio reading service for the blind. In 1969, there were no other options available to blind and visually impaired people for accessing current print information. The RTB coming into existence was a confluence of a number of factors. C. Stanley Potter, Director of Minnesota’s State Services for the Blind (SSB), was visually impaired and a longtime ham radio operator, who thought a radio might be possible that could use a side-channel like the one Muzak used.
At the same time, Father Colman Barry, OSB, president of St. John’s University, was having conversations with William Kling, manager of KSJR, about methods of using their sub-channel space. In 1967 and 1968, conversations took place between Father Barry, Kling, and Potter. Then with the assistance of SSB engineer Robert Watson, a closed circuit radio was designed that would pick up only the signal of the new RTB to broadcast newspapers, magazines and current books. Forty years later, the RTB still broadcasts newspapers, magazines, and current books, and there are many other similar services around the country and the world.
In 2009, there will be events around the state celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the RTB. We hope that there will be an opportunity for listeners to participate in some of those events.
Books Available Through Faribault
All books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault. Their phone is 1-800-722-0550 and hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their catalog is also online, and you can access it at the main website, http://education.state.mn.us and clicking on the link, or go to http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Learning_Support/MN_Braille_Talking_Book_Library/index
.html. If you live outside of Minnesota, you may obtain copies of books 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.
Review old issues of Radio News on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/radionews.
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Chautauqua
Tuesday - Saturday 4 a.m.
The Death of the Grown-Up
Nonfiction by Diana West, 2007.
From culture to politics, Diana West asks “Where have all the grown-ups gone?”
Read by Sally Browne.
18 broadcasts. Began December 22.
The Windows of Brimnes
Nonfiction by Bill Holm, 2007.
Holm compares and contrasts America and what it offers, with Iceland.
Read by Bert Gardner.
8 broadcasts. Begins January 19.
The Thing about Life Is that One Day You’ll Be Dead, Nonfiction by David Shields, 2008. The author began an investigation into human life - birth to death - as a reaction to his father’s vitality. L -
Read by Dan Sadoff.
7 broadcasts. Begins January 29.
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Past is Prologue
Monday - Friday 9 a.m.
Shakespeare’s Wife
Nonfiction by Germaine Greer, 2008.
Greer gives new evidence about life in Stratford, and puts Shakespeare’s marriage in social context. Read by Bonita Sindelir.
14 broadcasts. Began December 17.
We Would Have Played for Nothing
Nonfiction by Fay Vincent, 2008.
It was during the 1950s and 1960s that baseball expanded across the country and became the national pastime.
Read by Ray Christensen.
11 broadcasts. Begins January 7.
Ladies of Liberty
Nonfiction by Cokie Roberts, 2008.
In our country’s youth, it was the women who laid the groundwork for a better society.
Read by Barbara Struyk.
17 broadcasts. Begins January 22.
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Bookworm
Monday - Friday 11 a.m.
The Air We Breathe
Fiction by Andrea Barrett, 2007.
As war proceeds in 1916, the Tamarack Lake tubercular sanitarium seems very separate. People take solace in gossip, rumor, and secret attachments.
Read by Carol Lewis.
10 broadcasts. Began December 22.
The Commoner
Fiction by John Burnham Schwartz, 2008.
In 1959, Haruko married Japan’s Crown Prince as the first non aristocrat to enter the world’s longest running monarchy. Her role was to produce an heir.
Read by Laura Rohlik.
10 broadcasts. Begins January 6.
The Rain before It Falls
Fiction by Jonathan Coe, 2008.
During the Blitz, Rosamond was evacuated to Shropshire where she forged a bond with her cousin. Before her death, she recorded memories of those times for a niece she hadn’t seen in decades.
Read by Mary Davies.
8 broadcasts. Begins January 20.
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Potpourri
Monday - Friday 2 p.m.
Charlatan
Nonfiction by Pope Brock, 2008.
Starting in 1917, and continuing through three decades, John R. Brinkley swindled the American public with fake medical claims.
Read by Ray Christensen.
11 broadcasts. Began December 29.
The Heart’s Alphabet
Nonfiction by James Grimm, 2007.
Jim Grimm, unable to communicate verbally or move of his own volition, has turned his isolating lifelong disability into a gift for connecting with others. L -
Read by Stuart Holland.
4 broadcasts. Begins January 13.
The Voice
Nonfiction by Thomas Quasthoff, 2008.
Though given severe physical limitations, this German bass baritone is one of the most admired singers in the world.
Read by Arlan Dohrenburg.
10 broadcasts. Begins January 19.
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Choice Reading
Monday - Friday 4 p.m.
Sepulchre
Fiction by Kate Mosse, 2008.
Léonie and her brother have been invited to their aunt’s country estate. But Léonie discovers the estate is the subject of local superstitions. V,S -
Read by Judith Johannessen.
22 broadcasts. Begins January 5.
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PM Report
Monday - Friday 8 p.m.
Setting the Table
Nonfiction by Danny Meyer, 2006.
In twenty years, Meyer went from an inexperienced ideas man to the CEO of a restaurant corporation.
Read by John Edmunds.
13 broadcasts. Began December 22.
McMafia
Nonfiction by Misha Glenny, 2008.
Current estimates suggest that illegal trade accounts for almost one-fifth of the global GDP.
Read by Leila Poullada.
17 broadcasts. Begins January 12.
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Night Journey
Monday - Friday 9 p.m.
An Incomplete Revenge
Fiction by Jacqueline Winspear, 2008.
Maisie accepts a straightforward assignment to investigate a potential land purchase, but it becomes complex.
Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe.
10 broadcasts. Began December 23.
Strangers in Death
Fiction by J.D. Robb, 2008.
Technology is different in New York in 2060, but some things are the same; murders still draw more attention when the victim is someone prominent. But to Lieutenant Eve Dallas, the facts don’t add up. L,S -
Read by Nancy Felknor.
14 broadcasts. Begins January 8.
Green Monster
Fiction by Rich Shevchik, 2008.
When Red Sox owner Louis Kenwood receives an extortion note, alleging a fix during the World Series, he turns to private detective Sam Skarda. Even a rumor of wrongdoing could ruin the value of the Sox and his reputation. L,S -
Read by Ray Christensen.
10 broadcasts. Begins January 28.
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Off the Shelf
Monday - Friday 10 p.m.
The White King
Fiction by György Dragomán, 2008.
Djata knows he is to fill his father’s shoes, even though he is only eleven. The random brutality of his world is tempered by absurdity, faith, and moments of beauty, hope, and kindness. V,L,S -
Read by Dan Sadoff.
10 broadcasts. Began December 29.
Majestic Descending
Fiction by Mitchell Graham, 2007.
Lawyer Katherine Adams is on a cruise on the Ocean Majestic, finding some romance with ex-cop John Delaney, but it quickly turns grisly when she sees two men argue and one turns up dead. L -
Read by Joy Fogarty.
12 broadcasts. Begins January 12.
His Illegal Self
Fiction by Peter Carey, 2008.
After being raised in privilege by his grandmother, Che was taken by a woman to live in a hippie commune in the jungle and he begins to confront his life. L -
Read by John Schmidt.
8 broadcasts. Begins January 28.
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Evening Odyssey
Monday - Friday 11 p.m.
Atomic Lobster
Fiction by Tim Dorsey, 2008.
The meanest member of the McGraw family is released from prison and is bent on revenge. Meanwhile, the government is covering up a list of victims across Florida who may be connected to a plot against national security. L -
Read by John Marsicano.
9 broadcasts. Began December 30.
The Sorrows of an American
Fiction by Siri Hustvedt, 2008.
When Erik and his sister, Inga, find a note from an unknown woman in their late father’s papers, they believe he may be implicated in a death. Erik and Inga are left to uncover the family’s secrets in the year after their father’s funeral. L,S -
Read by Dan Sadoff.
13 broadcasts. Begins January 12.
Now You See Him
Fiction by Eli Gottlieb, 2008.
The deaths of Rob and his girlfriend, unleash questions of love, marriage, family secrets, loyalty, and friendship among those closest to Rob. At the center of this is Nick, Rob’s best friend from childhood. L,S -
Read by Steve Waldhauser.
8 broadcasts. Begins January 28.
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Good Night Owl
Monday - Friday midnight
Bleeding Kansas
Fiction by Sara Paretsky, 2008.
On farms in Kansas’ Kaw River Valley, the Schapens, Grelliers, and Gina Haring are at odds. The Schapens are fundamentalist Christians, keeping track of their neighbors, especially the Grelliers. And then Gina, a Wiccan, moved in. L -
Read by Audray Rees.
17 broadcasts. Begins January 1.
Touchstone
Fiction by Laurie R. King, 2007.
After the Great War shattered his life, Bennett Grey is approached by an American intelligence agent seeking help infiltrating the aristocracy. Agent Harris Stuyvesant thinks it peopled with some who believe themselves outside of the reach of morality or government. L -
Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe.
21 broadcasts. Begins January 26.
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After Midnight
Tuesday - Saturday 1 a.m.
Turning Tables
Fiction by Heather & Rose MacDowell, 2008.
Downsized from her boutique firm, Erin gets help from a family friend and lands a job as a waitress. But life behind the apron is worse than she imagined. She needs to please the egomaniacal chef and the owner’s wife. L,S -
Read by Sue McDonald.
10 broadcasts. Began December 29.
Undead and Unworthy
Fiction by Mary Janice Davidson, 2008.
Betsy Taylor is a new bride and finds it almost as difficult as entering the world of the undead. Then a pack of vampires visits Betsy and her husband Sinclair - they’re hungry for blood and power. L,S -
Read by Jenny O’Brien.
5 broadcasts. Begins January 12.
Plague Ship
Fiction by Clive Cussler, 2008.
The Oregon is a private spy ship. Returning from a secret mission against Iran, the crew finds a cruise ship littered with hundreds of bodies. As the captain tries to determine what happened, explosions rack the ship.
Read by Dan Kuechenmeister.
16 broadcasts. Begins January 19.
Abbreviations:
V - violence
L - offensive language
S - sexual situations
2008
- January 2008, February 2008, March 2008, April 2008, May 2008, June 2008, July 2008, August 2008, September 2008, October 2008, November 2008, December 2008
2007
- January 2007, February 2007, March 2007, April 2007, May 2007, June 2007, July 2007, August 2007, September 2007, October 2007, November 2007, December 2007
2006
- January 2006, February 2006, March 2006, April 2006, May 2006, June 2006, July 2006, August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006