56. Aldous Huxley - Visionary Experience

Broadcast on 30th November 2010

The author of Brave New World, The Perennial Philosophy, The Doors of Perception, The Devils of Loudon and more delivers a superb lecture to an audience at Los Alamos laboratories, effortlessly drawing on art, science and mysticism to express his ideas with tremendous eloquence.

Speaking Personally... Aldous Huxley
Lansdowne, 1975

Here's a short extract from this wonderfully recorded album released on Lansdowne as a taster of Huxley's voice and engaging charm as a speaker.

Aldous Huxley, Visionary Experience
A series of talks on The Human Situation, Recorded Live from The Lecture Hall
Volume Two.
Laura Archera Huxley/ Gifford Associates, undated but suggested as 1969.
 
This is the entire lecture. Check out the back of the sleeve for his notes for this lecture.

55. Ludwig Koch

Broadcast on 23 November 2010

Ludwig Koch was the first person to record the voice of an animal, recording an Indian Sharma bird in 1889 on an Edison Cylinder. His interest in sound recording led him to make some of the most amazing field recordings over many decades, and we present excerpts of two records in which he is interviewed and some of his recordings are played and remarked upon.

A Salute To Ludwig Koch and a selection of some of his finest recordings
BBC Wildlife Series No. 1
BBC Records,

Adapted from a BBC programme "The Best of Ludwig Koch" originally broadcast on 11th November 1968 in "The World Of Sound" series in honour of his 87th birthday.


Ludwig Koch - recollections and recordings The pioneer of nature recordings looks back over his life. With a further selection of his unique recordings.
BBC Wildlife Series No. 6
BBC Records,
 
A longer version of a BBC programme produced by John Burton and originally broadcast on 14th November 1969 in the Radio 4 series "listen" to mark Ludwig Koch's 88th birthday.

54. JB Priestley and Gerard Hoffnung

Broadcast on 16th November 2010

The warm Bradford tones of Priestley reading from Delights, finished off with the effusively rumbunctious mirthfulness of the inimitable Gerard Hoffnung.

An Informal Hour with J.B.Priestley
DELIGHT
Spoken Arts, undated

Introduction
Fountains
Orchestral Conductors
Smell of Tahiti
Smoking in a Hot Bath
Not Going
Blossom
Wood

No School Report
Long Trousers
Pleasure and Gratitude of Children
The Mineral Water in Bedrooms of Foreign Hotels
Orchestras Tuning Up
The Delight That Never Was
But This is Where We Came In

Hoffnung
BBC Records, 1973
 
Two excerpts:
The Film Fan recorded in 1955 and broadcast originally on "Talking About Films".
My Life recorded in 1953 and originally broadcast on "Woman's Hour" thus earning it, in my humble opinion, clearly the best ever Woman's Hour broadcast honours.

53. Sherlock Holmes and the Redheaded League

Broadcast on 9th November 2010.

Here is an entire Sherlock Holmes story along with a selection of Aesop's Fables read by Boris Karloff.

Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone
The Redheaded League
Caedmon, 1963


Aesop's Fables - read by Boris Karloff
Wing, 1967