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Background, context, and highlights from the transcript: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/07/16/sylvia-plath-ted-hughes-bbc-interview-1961/

Rare 1961 BBC interview with Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes

Background, context, and transcript: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/07/09/sylvia-plath-spoken-word-tulips-bbc/

Sylvia Plath reads "Tulips": A Rare BBC Recording

Unfettered, edited by Shawn Speakman on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Unfettered-Audiobook/B00HJCEGKM?source_code=SCLGB90A0WS122613

Summary:

You define life or it defines you. In Shawn Speakman’s case, it was both. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011, Shawn quickly accrued a massive medical debt that he did not have the ability to pay. That’s when New York Times best-selling author Terry Brooks offered to donate a short story that Shawn could sell to help alleviate those bills - and suggested he ask the same of his other writer friends. Unfettered is the result: An anthology built in order to relieve that debt, featuring short stories by some of the best fantasy writers in the genre.

Twenty-three tales comprise this incredible collection, and as the title suggests, the writers were free to contribute whatever they wished. Here is the table of contents:

    Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss
    Introduction: On Becoming Unfettered
    Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
    How Old Holly Came to Be by Patrick Rothfuss
    The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
    Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
    The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey
    Mudboy by Peter V. Brett
    The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian
    The Coach with Big Teeth by R. A. Salvatore
    Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood
    Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton
    Dogs by Daniel Abraham
    The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne
    Select Mode by Mark Lawrence
    All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
    Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth
    Nocturne by Robert V. S. Redick
    Unbowed by Eldon Thompson
    In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik
    River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
    The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan
    The Duel by Lev Grossman
    Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks
    The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman

    With the help of stalwart friends and these wonderful short stories, Shawn has taken the gravest of life’s hardships and created something magical. Unfettered is not only a fantastic anthology in its own right, but it’s a testament to the generosity found in the science fiction and fantasy community—proof that humanity can give beyond itself when the need arises. After all, isn’t that the driving narrative in fantasy literature? 

Buy on Audible

Unfettered: Tales By Masters of Fantasy, edited by Shawn Speakman, Multi-Cast Narration

Around 2002 Boards of Canada created a microsite with some interactive motion graphics which were accompanied by short loops.  I made this (unofficial) remix back then with some of the samples from the site. 

Boards of Canada - Sevenfortyseven (Helios Remix)

For full poem text, plus Eliot on idea-incubation and the mystical quality of creativity, go here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/26/t-s-eliot-on-creativity/

MORE / POEM TEXT

T.S. Eliot Reads "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Sylvia Plath reads "A Birthday Present." Written in September of 1962, recorded in October. Background and full text: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/10/29/sylvia-plath-reads-a-birthday-present-1962/

Sylvia Plath Reads "A Birthday Present" (1962)

Background, context, and transcript: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/20/tennessee-williams-reads-hart-crane

Tennessee Williams reads "The Broken Tower" by Hart Crane (1960)

Tennessee Williams reads "The Hurricane" by Hart Crane (1960)

An exclusive recording for Brain Pickings. Background and transcript: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/04/09/ode-to-the-book-pablo-neruda-tom-obedlam/

"Ode to the Book" by Pablo Neruda, read by Tom O'Bedlam

Full conversation and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/06/wendy-macnaughton-caroline-paul-design-matters/

Excerpt from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/carolinepaulandwendymacnaughton

On true love

Excerpt from Orwell's fantastic 1946 essay outlining his 11 "golden" rules of tea perfection: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/14/george-orwell-a-nice-cup-of-tea/

TRANSCRIPT / DETAILS

George Orwell on how to make the perfect cup of tea

After going three years without having written poetry, Christian Wiman explains how he came about writing this poem and why it took this shape. Listen to his marvelous reading, which we included in our production.

You can download and listen to Mr. Wiman's full interview with Krista Tippett in our show, "A Call to Doubt and Faith: Christian Wiman on Remembering God" at onbeing.org.

"Every Riven Thing" by Christian Wiman

Christian Wiman read this poem during his interview with Krista Tippett. 

You can download and listen to Mr. Wiman's full interview in our show, "A Call to Doubt and Faith: Christian Wiman on Remembering God" at onbeing.org.

"From a Window" by Christian Wiman

Christian Wiman explains the origin of this poem's title and offers this marvelous reading for your ears.

You can download and listen to Mr. Wiman's full interview with Krista Tippett in our show, "A Call to Doubt and Faith: Christian Wiman on Remembering God" at onbeing.org.

"Hammer is the Prayer" by Christian Wiman

Christian Wiman reads this searching, intimate poem beseeching God to hear him.

You can download and listen to Mr. Wiman's full interview with Krista Tippett in our show, "A Call to Doubt and Faith: Christian Wiman on Remembering God" at onbeing.org.

"This Mind of Dying" by Christian Wiman

This was the last poem, Christian Wiman says, that the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam wrote. Listen to Mr. Wiman's recitation of this powerful poem and how he finds more value in it than other poems about death.

You can download and listen to Mr. Wiman's full interview with Krista Tippett in our show, "A Call to Doubt and Faith: Christian Wiman on Remembering God" at onbeing.org.

"And I Was Alive" by Osip Mandelstam and recited by Christian Wiman

Annotated highlights and discussion: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/29/joss-whedon-2013-wesleyan-commencement-address/

Be All Your Selves: Joss Whedon's 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Address

Background and transcript: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/31/james-earl-jones-reads-walt-whitman/

James Earl Jones reads Walt Whitman

T.S. Eliot reads from his celebrated classic, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/04/t-s-eliot-reads-t-s-eliot-the-ad-dressing-of-cats-1947/

T.S. Eliot reads "The Ad-dressing of Cats" from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Excerpt from her 2013 McGill University commencement address

Transcript, and discussion: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/07/judith-butler-mcgill-2013-commencement-address/

T.S. Eliot reads "The Ad-dressing of Cats" from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

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