The Curious Autodidact

Winter is a good time to catch up on listening to podcasts and radio programs while you work or exercise or are at home on a cold evening. These can be listened to on your computer or downloaded onto an mp3 player to listen to on the go. If your car is old enough it may have a tape player meaning that you can get one of those inexpensive cassette tape adapters and plug your ipod right into the car’s audio system.

Author David McCullough was interviewed on KUER radio program Radio West and it was so interesting that I listened to it twice and encouraged my friends all to listen too. He talks about his career as an historian but speaks most poignantly about his reading life and the books that have influenced him. One friend said it was important for all parents and grandparents to listen to. You will want to read one of his many books after listening to this excellent interview.

Two books that are written by Pacific Northwest residents are featured on the local NPR station KUOW. Map as Art edited by Katherine (Kitty) Harmon and published by Princeton Architectural Press is a fabulous collection of different types of maps. This radio segment features several of the artist’s featured in the book including Karey Kessler and Leo Berk. Tony Angell noted artist has a new book published by the University of Washington called Puget Sound Through an Artist’s Eye, with a forward by Ivan Doig. This radio segment takes you into his studio and introduces you to his wife Lee and their two daughters too—great fun.

Two shows out of San Francisco’s KQED‘s program The Forum worth listening to are Francine Prose talking about her new book Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife and Raj Patel speaking about his book about the ecologic ties to our economy in his book The Value of Nothing.