Aural pleasure?

May 9, 2006 6:25 AM

Is there a good online resource for lectures on .mp3? Particularly in fields (soooo mefi) of liberal arts, psychoanalysis, culture, internet and politics. Oh and my girlfriend (yeah right) wonders if theres any fashion/Jane Austen stuff out there? Please help me find something interesting for a long car journey!
posted by you're only jung once to Computers & Internet (16 answers total)

I've been listening to lots of lectures published by The Teaching Company and I've been very happy with the breadth and depth of their offerings.
posted by bshort at 6:45 AM on May 9, 2006

Stanford's podcasts.
posted by mullacc at 6:56 AM on May 9, 2006

Also Berkeley on iTunes. Includes an entire course (19 40-50 minute lectures) on "Foundations of American Cyberculture."
posted by cushie at 7:12 AM on May 9, 2006

If you have an ipod, the free college itunes stores are great. There are tons and tons of good recordings on Stanford's.
posted by mathowie at 7:16 AM on May 9, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the heads-up on those.
posted by you're only jung once at 7:18 AM on May 9, 2006

I keep track of interesting podcasts on this blog (self-link) you might like some of them.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:42 AM on May 9, 2006

The Royal Society of Arts in the UK has podcasts and also audio versions of all its lectures, as does Gresham college. Both of these institutions cover the fields you're interested in, though a bit of digging might be needed.

See this post as well.
posted by patricio at 9:02 AM on May 9, 2006

TV Ontario does a weekly lecture program called Big Ideas, and they have finally started 'podcasting' (UGH!!! Why didn't they just post the mp3's five years ago..). They cover a wide variety of topics.

Also, Waterloo's Perimeter Institute posts streaming video lectures regularly. Physics though, just thought some other users might be interested in it.
posted by Chuckles at 9:39 AM on May 9, 2006

Terence McKenna
posted by hortense at 9:53 AM on May 9, 2006

On longer trips with interruptions here & there, you may find listening to light fiction more enjoyable than something heady which requires a lot more concentration. By interruptions I mean checks for directions, bathroom breaks, etc. etc. etc. I guess it all depends on your ability to remember what was going on where you "left off" and continue listening.
posted by catkins at 12:08 PM on May 9, 2006

Have a look at BBC radio 4's 'In our time.' It's basically a few very clever people talking about various subjects (ranging from Greek cynics to the history of immunisation). The current series is archived here.
posted by itsjustanalias at 12:46 PM on May 9, 2006

The Long Now Foundation has recorded seminars in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format. These seminars typically feature big-name speakers addressing long-term problems or visions in science and culture.

Many classes from MIT OpenCourseWare include audio lectures in MP3 format. (OpenCourseWare also has homework assignments, notes, video lectures, and other material from all sorts of MIT courses, from literature to nuclear physics.) There's a list of courses with complete video or audio, but many of the other courses have some recordings too.
posted by mbrubeck at 2:00 PM on May 9, 2006

LibriVox makes free (volunteer-recorded) audio recordings of public domain books. They've done a couple Jane Austen titles.
posted by mbrubeck at 2:09 PM on May 9, 2006

There are a bunch more in this previous AskMe question.
posted by whatnotever at 10:48 PM on May 9, 2006

There's very good stuff from Berkeley's Conversations with History series.
posted by daravida at 1:46 AM on May 10, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks again for all of those. I am in debt to you (as will my girlfrienc be when she realises she won't have to listen to QOTSA's Songs for the deaf for the 15*10^6th time) all.
posted by you're only jung once at 10:47 AM on May 11, 2006