7 chapters across the catalog
President Obama launched a $250 million initiative to provide free e-books to low-income children through major publishers. The program is part of a broader goal to provide high-speed internet to 99% of students by 2018. Critics argue the initiative ignores existing free resources like Project Gutenberg, which offers over 48,000 professionally edited public domain books.
Marxism and Engels, American Civil War History, Elite War-Making
The hosts suggest that listeners read the original works of Marx and Engels, noting that Engels was the true radical behind "Marxism." They specifically recommend their book on the American Civil War, which argues that the war was orchestrated by a small minority of slave owners against the will of the general Southern public.
Social Media History, LiveJournal to MySpace Transition, Digital Decay
The conversation traces the evolution of social media from LiveJournal to MySpace and the rise of "self-adulation" through animated GIFs and diary blogs. They discuss the fragility of digital archives, noting that many photos hosted on defunct services like TwitPic or stored in proprietary formats like iPhoto may be lost forever. They compare the current internet era to the slow societal shift following the Gutenberg press.
Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here Book Review
The hosts discuss the 1933 novel It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. Curry compares the book's themes of a totalitarian fascist state to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, suggesting Rand may have been influenced by Lewis. Dvorak also recommends Life and Death in Shanghai, a book about the communist takeover of Shanghai.
British Library, Gutenberg Bible and Manuscript Handling
The director of the British Library discussed the institution's policy against using white gloves when handling rare manuscripts like the Gutenberg Bible to prevent page tears. The segment references a Stephen Fry documentary on the history of the printing press and the financial ruin of Johannes Gutenberg.
Audio Book Production, Tom Swift and Dialect
The challenges of recording audiobooks are discussed, including maintaining consistent intonation and dealing with historical texts written in dialect. The hosts explore the political correctness of reading Mark Twain or the Tom Swift series in their original forms and the availability of public domain works on Project Gutenberg.
Old Time Radio and Copy-Paste Internet Culture
The hosts recommend "Old Time Radio" (OTR) collections available on Mevio as a superior form of entertainment compared to modern "copy-paste" internet culture. They lament how the internet has become a "game of telephone" where dubious articles are endlessly propagated through blogs without original sourcing. This trend is described as a failure of responsibility in the digital publishing age.
