Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

THE BALLAD OF C33 BY FRANCIS SARGENT & KNIGHT MARTELL

Lover of beauty Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading, after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years’ hard labour in prison.  During his imprisonment, he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol. The finished poem was published by Leonard Smithers in 1898 under the name C.33 which stood for cell block C, landing 3, cell 3. This ensured that Wilde’s name – by then notorious – did not appear on the poem’s front cover. It was not commonly known, until the 7th printing in June 1899, that C.33 was actually Wilde.  Performed by The Wireless Theatre Company.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with JAMES HANSEN

James Hansen is well known for his research in the field of climatology and for helping to bring global warming to the world’s attention in the 1980s. In recent years, he has become active in promoting efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Hansen, Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, is the author of Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

POETRY featuring BRIAN TURNER & BRUCE WEIGL

Brian Turner is a soldier-poet whose debut book of poems, Here, Bullet, won the New York Times “Editor’s Choice” selection. His poetry has been published in Poetry Daily, The Georgia Review and other journals, and in the Voices in Wartime Anthology. Here, Bullet is a harrowing, beautiful first-person account of the Iraq war featuring poems that reflect Turner’s experiences as a soldier. The poems speak with compassion, sympathy, and horror of the first-hand experience of war and with immediacy of loss, beauty, comradeship, and longing for home and the familiar; he deplores the violence and acknowledges the grief and terror of war.

Bruce Weigl is the author of 12 collections of poetry, most recently Declension in the Village of Chung Luong which created “an eloquent spokesman for an entire generation of Americans whose lives were broken by the war and a country whose moral confusion desperately needed addressing.” His memoir, The Circle of Hahn, tells of his childhood in Ohio; his induction into the U.S. Army in 1967, and year in Vietnam that led to his passion for that country’s poetry and culture; and of a redemptive meeting in 1996 with his daughter-to-be at an orphanage outside Hanoi.

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with ROBERT McCHESNEY

Here at Audiobook Radio we are keen to provide a range of voices – very literally as well as in terms of opinions and views of the world. This strand created by Alternative Radio does just that. We will hear from some of the most informed minds and greatest social activists of our time whose take on justice and power does not chime with those that hold the power and don’t provide justice for all so we rarely get to hear from them in mainstream media. Different opinions always help inform our own and we are always eager to hear from listeners about this or any other strand. Contact us on the tab at www.audiobookradio.net

Today’s talk is given by Robert McChesney who is Professor of Communications at the University of Illinois and is talking about the problems with the media.  He is the author of many books including Digital Disconnect and the co-founder of Free Press, a national media reform organisation. 

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes, this time starring Tom Conway as Holmes. ‘The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor’ is followed by ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is JOWITA BYDLOWSKA.

5pm & 1am & 9am

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY THE INTERVIEW HOUR

ABR welcomes Publisher’s Weekly, an authority on all things books & publishing for a delve into the archives to come up with a couple of great author interviews.  Today it is Sarah Eckel with her book ‘It’s Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons You’re Single’ and Carla Kaplan talking about her book Miss Ann in Harlem :The White Women of the Black Renaissance.’  Their podcast, as always, is presented by Rose Fox and Mark Rotella.

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with The Buccaneer

Hollywood is indelibly printed in our minds as a go to place for entertainment and has been for decades. We take you back in time as The Hollywood ringmaster himself, CECIL B DE MILLE unveils The Buccaneer featuring CLARK GABLE

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – KIPLING & NESBIT

GEORGIE PORGIE BY RUDYARD KIPLING. READ BY EDWARD FOX.

A man breaks his promise to his Burmese wife, whom he bought essentially as a housekeeper. He bemoans his low station in such a remote colonial outpost, however, and returns to England to marry a proper British wife before moving to India and a higher diplomatic posting. The faithful Burmese wife, thinking he is in danger, seeks him out and follows him to India.

THE GARDEN OF TRUTH BY E. NESBIT. READ BY HARRIET WALTER.

Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children’s works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a precursor to the modern Labour Party. She is regarded by some as the first ‘modern writer for children’ but this short story can certainly be enjoyed and appreciated by adults as well.