Arthur C Clarke (1917 – 2008) is best known as a science fiction writer who blended scientific expertise and poetic imagination.
He also wrote many non-fiction books on space travel, communication technologies, underwater exploration and future studies. Both his fiction and factual books have inspired generations of scientists, innovators and astronauts.
Clarke was versatile as he was creative, pursuing multiple careers as an undersea explorer, science populariser, television commentator and movie collaborator.
From covering Apollo Moon landings to probing mysterious phenomena, he became well known to millions of television viewers around the world. His advice was sought – and respected – by space programme managers in both the US and former Soviet Union.
A Magician Among the Spirits by Harry Houdini audiobook
"Harry Houdini (1874-1926), whose real name was Erik Weisz, was one of the most famous magicians and escapologists of all time. He was highly skeptical of the many claims made concerning psychic and paranormal phenomena, which were very popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He attended hundreds of seances for the purposes of his study, and never experienced one he believed genuine. In this book, published in 1924, he described the mediums and psychics whom he revealed as fraudulent, exposing the tricks which had convinced many notable scientists and academics. These included spirit writing, table rapping, spirit manifestations, and levitation. Among those he revealed as frauds was the famous medium Mina Crandon, and his exposures led to a public split with his former friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a firm believer. The book is a fascinating account of superstition and gullibility."
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"Hercule Poirot's Christmas" Radio Play by Agatha Christie - "The plot is based on the Christmas Eve murder of Mr. Lee, a former millionaire who, for the first time in twenty years, had invited his five children to spend the holidays at his home."
"The Exorcism: A Christmas Ghost Story" Radio Play by Don Taylor - "Dan and Margaret have come to spend Christmas with their friends Rachel and Edmund in their renovated eighteenth-century labourer's cottage. Later, as Rachel plays the harpsichord, she suddenly gets a sinister feeling of déjà vu. Shortly afterwards, the electricity fails and the phone fails. It is the start of a series of macabre events which mount relentlessly to a bizarre and terrifying climax."
Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen (Part 2 of 2) audiobook
"For the first time, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen takes us deep inside this top-secret history. With unparalleled access to former operatives, ambassadors, and even past directors of the Secret Service and CIA operations, Jacobsen reveals the inner workings of these teams, and just how far a U.S. president may go, covertly but lawfully, to pursue the nation's interests."
Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion by Janet Reitman audiobook
"Scientology, created in 1954 by pulp science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world’s fastest growing religion, with millions of members and huge financial holdings. Celebrity believers keep its profile high. Teams of volunteer ministers offer aid at disaster sites like Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a very closed faith, harassing journalists and others thru litigation & intimidation, even infiltrating high levels of the government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry & its requirement that believers pay as much as tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny and skepticism. Ex-members use the Internet to share stories of harassment and abuse. Reitman offers the first full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an evenhanded account that establishes the truth about the controversial religion. She traces Scientology’s development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a global spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and ex-followers. Based on five years of research, unprecedented access to Church officials, confidential documents and extensive interviews with current and former members, this is a defining book about a little-known world."
The Inmate by Freida McFadden audiobook
"There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison:"
"1) Treat all prisoners with respect."
"2) Never reveal any personal information."
"3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates."
"But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates."
"And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart—the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there."
"But Shane knows."
"And he will never forget."
The Anarchist Handbook by Michael Malice audiobook
"Anarchism has been both a vision of a peaceful, cooperative society—and an ideology of revolutionary terror. Since the term itself—anarchism—is a negation, there is a great deal of disagreement on what the positive alternative would look like. The black flag comes in many colors.The Anarchist Handbook is an opportunity for all these many varied voices to speak for themselves, from across the decades. These were human beings who saw things differently from their fellow men. They fought and they loved. They lived and they died. They disagreed on much, but they all shared one vision: Freedom."
Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell audiobook
"Intellectuals and Society not only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged. One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proved not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society—and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views."
The Stand by Stephen King (Part 2 of 6) audiobook
"When a man escapes from a biological testing facility, he sets in motion a deadly domino effect, spreading a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99 percent of humanity within a few weeks. The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge–Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them–and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity."