Radio News
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Radio Talking Book Radio News October 2006 |
Current Edition: December 2006
Next Edition: January 2007
Previous News Editions: January 2006, February 2006, March 2006, April 2006, May 2006, June 2006, July 2006, August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006
Local Number for NFB-Newsline for the Blind®
In many areas of the country, NFB-Newsline for the Blind® has a local phone number to call instead of the published 888 number. The Twin Cities metro region is one of those areas. Users of NFB-Newsline for the Blind® should use 612-392-2483 as the local access number. Users will then be prompted for a “portal code” and that number is 632.
Radio planning for 40th Anniversary
Last year, staff and supporters began laying the foundations for the 2009 celebration of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book (RTB) Network’s 40th Anniversary. The RTB went on the air for the first time January 2, 1969. Most recently, the Anniversary Committee, comprised of staff, volunteers, and consumers, enlisted Blue Grotto, Inc. to help with the planning process. Stay tuned for updates.
Volunteers Feted
Every year, the Communication Center hosts an appreciation event for the almost 700 Communication Center volunteers. On September 10, well over 300 Communication Center volunteers had a dinner at the Visitor Center of the Como Park Zoo and Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in St. Paul. Comments of appreciation from the customers were passed on to the volunteers at that time.
Books Available Through Faribault
All books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Faribault. Their phone is
800-722-0550 and hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their catalog is also online, and you can access it at www.klas.com/mnbph. 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.
Review old issues of Radio News on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/radionews/.
Chautauqua
Tuesday - Saturday 4 a.m.
A War Like No Other
Nonfiction by Victor Davis Hanson, 2005.
Over a generation, Athens and Sparta fought a war that resulted in the collapse of Athens and the end of its golden age.
Read by Arlan Dohrenburg.
20 broadcasts. Began September 27.
Rousseau’s Dog
Nonfiction by David Edmonds and John Eidinow, 2006. In 1766, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was on the run from intolerance. He took refuge in England under the protection of David Hume. Within months, the two became the deadliest of foes.
Read by Bill McNiff.
11 broadcasts. Begins October 25.
Past is Prologue
Monday - Friday 9 a.m.
The Master Plan
Nonfiction by Heather Pringle, 2006.
In 1935, Heinrich Himmler founded an institute to rewrite history. He was convinced archaeologists had ignored a race of blond conquerors, the Aryans. V,L -
Read by Dan Sadoff.
16 broadcasts. Began September 18.
A Crack in the Edge of the World
Nonfiction by Simon Winchester, 2005.
On April 18, 1906, an earthquake registering 8.25 hit San Francisco and a string of other towns. It wrecked 490 blocks and set off fires that lasted for three days killing 700 people and leaving 250,000 homeless.
Read by Sherri Afryl.
14 broadcasts. Begins October 10.
The Colony
Nonfiction by John Tayman, 2006.
The Molokai leper colony opened in 1866. Over the next hundred years, 8,000 were sent to the island, a prison with little food, little medicine, and little hope.
Read by Fred Lyon.
20 broadcasts. Begins October 30.
Bookworm
Monday - Friday 11 a.m.
Sweetness in the Belly
Fiction by Camilla Gibb, 2006.
When Lilly is eight years old, her British parents leave her at a Sufi shrine in Morocco. Three weeks later, she learns they’ve been murdered. Growing up in Africa, she never feels like she belongs, but the same is true in London. S -
Read by Eleanor Berg.
12 broadcasts. Began September 25.
Digging to America
Fiction by Anne Tyler, 2006.
Two families meet as they await the arrival of adopted Korean daughters. The Donaldsons are a very American family, the Yasdans are still outsiders; both families are changed when they begin an annual tradition of celebrating the adoptions.
Read by Laura Rohlik.
10 broadcasts. Begins October 11.
Dave Barry’s Money Secrets
Fiction by Dave Barry, 2006.
Dave Barry takes the wonder out of money, explaining things like the U.S. economy, how to make money in the stock market, how to buy and sell real estate, and how to minimize your taxes. L -
Read by Chris Kelly and Stuart Holland.
6 broadcasts. Begins October 25.
Potpourri
Monday - Friday 2 p.m.
The Wit in the Dungeon
Nonfiction by Anthony Holden, 2005.
Leigh Hunt was a man whose gifts were only surpassed by the brilliance of his friends. Famous as a poet, playwright, literary and political essayist, editor, and critic, Hunt had a talent for bringing out the best in great writers.
Read by June Prange.
16 broadcasts. Began September 18.
Lost in the Wild
Nonfiction by Cary J. Griffith, 2006.
Griffith follows the tales of two men lost in the wilderness, surviving by their own skills. They faced the harsh force of the places they had sought for refuge from city life.
Read by Susan Niefeld.
9 broadcasts. Begins October 10.
Fantastic
Nonfiction by Laurence Leamer, 2005.
The life of Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most extraordinary success stories of our time. From bodybuilding, to movies, to politics, he has stepped from one incredible achievement to the next. L - Read by Laura Kovich.
18 broadcasts. Begins October 23.
Choice Reading
Monday - Friday 4 p.m.
Flush
Fiction by Carl Hiaasen, 2005.
Noah’s dad gets put in jail for trying to stop illegal dumping in the Florida Keys. So Noah decides to take on the polluting culprit himself - with a few allies. The odds aren’t good, but Noah has a plan. Fiction read by Bill McNiff.
7 broadcasts. Began September 26.
Purity of Blood
Fiction by Arturo Perez-Reverte, 2006.
Captain Alatriste is hired to rescue a girl from a convent where a powerful priest is using her as his concubine. He soon finds he has become entangled in a religious and political conspiracy. L -
Read by Art Nyhus.
7 broadcasts. Begins October 5.
The Book Thief
Fiction by Markus Zusak, 2006.
Liesel Meminger lives with her foster family near Munich in Nazi Germany. She steals
books wherever she can find them, and shares them with neighbors and the Jewish man in her basement. L -
Read by Steve Rosenthal.
15 broadcasts. Begins October 16.
PM Report
Monday - Friday 8 p.m.
Thieves of Baghdad
Nonfiction by Matthew Bogdanos, 2006.
Bogdanos was a member of the Marine Reserves but was also an attorney with a master’s degree in Classical Studies. When he heard about the looting of the Baghdad Museum, he dropped everything, risking career and life in pursuit of Iraq’s most priceless treasures. L -
Read by John Schmidt.
13 broadcasts. Begins October 4.
State of War
Nonfiction by James Risen, 2006.
Beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history that involves domestic spying, abuses of power, and outrageous operations. Much of what was happening was kept from the attention of the president, who had created a sphere of deniability.
Read by Hugh Jones.
10 broadcasts. Begins October 23.
Night Journey
Monday - Friday 9 p.m.
In Plain Sight
Fiction by C.J. Box, 2006.
Game warden Joe Pickett is concerned that local ranch owner Opal Scarlett has vanished. Everyone is so caught up in her sons’ battle for their mother’s empire they’ve forgotten that Opal is missing. L - Read by Ray Christensen.
9 broadcasts. Begins October 3.
The Sacred Cut
Fiction by David Hewson, 2006.
Detective Nic Costa arrives under the Pantheon, where a dead American woman has a carving in her back. Within hours, U.S. agents have arrived, one of whom has a story that ties her to the killer. V,L - Read by Neil Bright.
16 broadcasts. Begins October 16.
Off the Shelf
Monday - Friday 10 p.m.
Ordinary Heroes
Fiction by Scott Turow, 2005.
When Stewart Dubinsky learns of his father’s wartime court-martial and imprisonment, he’s plunged into his family’s secret history. Through military archives, letters, and his father’s secret memoir, he pieces together his father’s past. L -
Read by Bert Gardner.
14 broadcasts. Begins October 4.
A Long Way Down
Fiction by Nick Hornby, 2005.
Four ill-matched strangers find themselves on the top of a building, ready to jump. It’s New Year’s Eve and each has decided to end it all. But what they are about to learn from each other will change their lives in the most fundamental ways possible. L -
Read by Judy Woodward.
9 broadcasts. Begins October 24.
Evening Odyssey
Monday - Friday 11 p.m.
S Is for Silence
Fiction by Sue Grafton, 2005.
34 years ago, Violet Sullivan disappeared. Some thought she’d run off with a lover, some thought she was murdered by her husband. Now her daughter Daisy is looking for explanations and closure. L -
Read by Barbara Morison.
13 broadcasts. Began September 27.
Lunar Park
Fiction by Bret Easton Ellis, 2005.
Bret’s celebrity drowns in a sea of drugs and booze. When he gets a second chance, his new life shatters in days. As he struggles to defend his family against a menace, all insist that his fears are rooted in substance abuse and egomania. L,S -
Read by John Edmunds.
13 broadcasts. Begins October 16.
Good Night Owl
Monday - Friday midnight
Gary Benchley, Rock Star
Fiction by Paul Ford, 2005.
Gary leaves Albany for the hotbed of hip, Brooklyn. He starts the world’s most inclusive band and they land a recording gig and tour. L,S -
Read by John Marsicano.
9 broadcasts. Begins October 3.
With No One as Witness
Fiction by Elizabeth George, 2005.
When a teen’s body is found mutilated, it is the fourth such killing. The killer seems to be a psychopath who does not intend to be stopped. L -
Read by Madeline Hamermesh.
27 broadcasts. Begins October 16.
After Midnight
Tuesday - Saturday 1 a.m.
Thud!
Fiction by Terry Pratchett, 2005.
Sam Vimes is determined to keep his city’s peace. But Grag Hamcrusher is reminding people of the combat centuries ago when the dwarfs and the trolls fought each other.
Read by Katja Amyx.
13 broadcasts. Began September 26.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Fiction by Lisa See, 2005.
In 19th century Hunan, girls were paired to form emotional matches to help them bear the isolation of being a woman. V -
Read by Jody Bjornstad.
10 broadcasts. Begins October 16.
Passarola Rising
Fiction by Azhar Abidi, 2006.
In 1731, Bartolomeu built an airship to escape the structures of the Church and Portugal’s stultifying climate.
Read by Richard Klein.
5 broadcasts. Begins October 30.
Abbreviation Code: V - violence, L - rough language, S - sexual situation