Snoozecast

Tonight, as part of our 6th annual spooky sleep story series, we’ll rebroadcast the opening to ���Carmilla”, an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu which first aired in October of 2022. Tune in every Wednesday this month for sleep stories of the darker variety- like classic horror literature and ghost stories. If you prefer to avoid the mildly macabre we hope you’ll enjoy one of our many other stories available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Originally published in 1872, Carmilla predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by over 25 years and is considered one of the earliest works of vampire fiction. Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella is a gothic tale set in a remote Austrian estate, where a young woman named Laura encounters the enigmatic and alluring Carmilla. What begins as an unexpected friendship quickly descends into something far more sinister as Laura becomes entangled in Carmilla’s dark, seductive influence.

What makes Carmilla particularly fascinating is its portrayal of a female vampire with overtly sensual undertones, challenging Victorian norms. The novella is rich with gothic atmosphere, utilizing isolated settings, eerie dreams, and uncanny occurrences to build suspense.

Le Fanu’s story is not only notable for its eerie ambiance but also for its early feminist subtext. Carmilla is portrayed as a powerful, predatory force in a genre that typically cast women as passive victims.

For fans of gothic literature and early vampire lore, Carmilla remains a foundational piece, paving the way for the vampire genre as we know it today, and offering a haunting tale of desire, fear, and the dangers lurking behind a beautiful façade.

— read by 'V' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices”, written in collaboration by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Snoozecast first read this story back in the year 2020.

An instrumental event in Wilkie Collins’s career was an introduction in 1851 when he was in his late twenties, to Charles Dickens by a mutual friend. They became lifelong friends and collaborators. For example, first, Collins acted with Dickens in a play together. Among the audience were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Then one of Collins's stories was published in Dickens's magazine the next year. Later that year Collins went on tour with Dickens's company of amateur actors.

“The Lazy Tour” reads as an autobiographical tour taken by the two of them in the north of Britain. What resulted is extremely whimsical, occasionally absurd, and it has to be said, very much of its time. The book takes place in the year 1857 and provides insight into the friendship and adventures of the pair of titans of Victorian literature.

— read by 'M' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we shall read the next part to “Persuasion”, the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen, and published in 1817. The story concerns Anne Elliot, an Englishwoman whose family moves in order to lower their expenses and reduce their debt, by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife.

In the last episode, Anne finally extricates herself from the long, awkward walk through the countryside by hitching a ride with Captain Wentworth’s parents, who happen to pass by in their carriage. Anne starts to look forward to meeting back up with Lady Russell after her two month stay with her sister, and moving on with her life. We will pick up our story where the group of young people went to visit the scenic town of Lyme on a lark, where Captain Wentworth has old friends.

— read by 'V' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Bon Iver on “SABLE,” His First New Record in Five Years from The New Yorker Radio Hour.

Follow the show: The New Yorker Radio Hour

Bon Iver is the alias of Justin Vernon, who holds an unusual place in music as both a singer-songwriter in an acoustic idiom and a collaborator with the biggest stars in pop, including Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, and Kanye West. Bon Iver’s new three-song EP, titled “SABLE,” is his first record of his own songs in more than five years. Vernon rarely gives interviews, so this is an extended version of his conversation with the staff writer Amanda Petrusich. They touched on the meaning of “sable,” a word that can refer to mourning and darkness. Vernon is not altogether comfortable with the acclaim he has received. “I’m not, like, famous on the street, People-magazine famous, but . . .  there’s been a lot of accolades,” he tells Petrusich. “I was getting a lot of positive feedback for being heartbroken and having heartache and I’ve wondered . . . [if] maybe I’m pressing the bruise.”

DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

Tonight, for this month’s Snoozecast+ Deluxe bonus episode, we’ll read a Snoozecast original story titled “The Goose, the Fox and the Dog”. In this tale, a quiet farmer returns from a bustling town market with his purchases: a fox, a goose, and a sack of grain. On his way home, he faces a dilemma as to how to cross the riverbank with his goods. The small boat can only carry one of his new acquisitions at a time, but to do so would surely ruin the others before they could be transported across. While the animals ceaselessly squabble and fret, the simple farmer keeps them all safe with his patience and steadiness.

This story is inspired by the classic “river crossing puzzle” in which the object is to carry items from one river bank to another, usually in the fewest trips. The difficulty of the puzzle may arise from restrictions on which or how many items can be transported at the same time, or which or how many items may be safely left together. The earliest known river-crossing problems occur in a manuscript from the 9th century.

This type of puzzle is also a form of recreational mathematics, which is to say it is carried out for entertainment rather than for research, formal education or professional applications. These sorts of puzzles and games are often appealing to children and untrained adults and can inspire their further study of the subject. Some of the more well-known topics in recreational mathematics are Rubik's Cubes, magic squares, fractals, logic puzzles and mathematical chess problems, the culture and aesthetics of mathematics, amusing stories and coincidences about mathematics, and the personal lives of mathematicians.

— read by 'N' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Transformations in AI: Why Foundation Models Are the Future from Smart Talks with IBM.

Follow the show: Smart Talks with IBM

Major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research often reshape the design and utility of AI in both business and society. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Goldstein explore the conceptual underpinnings of modern AI with Dr. David Cox, VP of AI Models at IBM Research. They talk foundation models, self-supervised machine learning, and the practical applications of AI and data platforms like watsonx in business and technology.

Visit us at: https://www.ibm.com/smarttalks/

Learn more about watsonx: https://www.ibm.com/watsonx

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

Tonight, to continue our 6th annual “Spooky Sleep Story Series”, we shall read the opening to The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards. Tune in every Wednesday this month for sleep stories of the darker variety- like classic horror literature and ghost stories. If you prefer to avoid the mildly macabre we hope you’ll enjoy one of our many other stories available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Catch up on previous years by finding our free standalone podcast series “Snoozecast Presents: Spooky Stories” or if you are a premium subscriber, look for “Snoozecast+” or “Snoozecast+ Deluxe: Spooky Stories” instead to listen ad-free.

The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards, first published in 1864, is a classic Victorian ghost story. Edwards, an accomplished novelist, traveler, and Egyptologist, was known for her keen storytelling abilities, especially in weaving the supernatural into everyday occurrences. In this tale, she explores the eerie and unsettling experience of a man lost in a snowstorm who encounters a mysterious coach that may not be of this world.

Set against a bleak, wintry landscape, The Phantom Coach delves into themes of isolation, fate, and the unknown. What sets The Phantom Coach apart from other ghost stories of its time is Edwards’ use of psychological suspense. Rather than relying on overt scares, she creates a slow-burn tension that lingers long after the tale is finished. The story reflects the Victorian fascination with the unknown and the afterlife, common themes in the literature of the period, making it a quintessential example of 19th-century ghostly fiction.

— read by 'V' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we’ll read the second half of “The White Cat” , penned by Madame d’Aulnoy in 1698. The first half aired last week. This story is one of the earliest examples of the contes de fées, or fairy tales, that were a hallmark of French literary culture in the late 17th century. These stories gained popularity not only for their fantastical elements but also for their subtle commentaries on social norms and gender roles, often woven into the intricate plots.

Unlike Charles Perrault, whose tales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty became classics, Madame d’Aulnoy’s work was often marked by a stronger emphasis on clever, resourceful female protagonists and the nuanced exploration of power dynamics within courtly life. Her stories, including The White Cat, catered to an aristocratic audience that enjoyed wit, irony, and moral lessons hidden beneath layers of enchantment.

The White Cat stands out not only for its magical setting but also for its structure, which reflects the taste of the era for episodic storytelling and rich, ornate descriptions. The enchanted castle, where a prince spends time with a talking cat, offers readers a blend of whimsy and allegory, symbolizing deeper ideas about loyalty, love, and transformation.

— read by 'V' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Via Podcast: Bonus Episode from Via Podcast.

Follow the show: Via Podcast

Surprise: The Via Podcast is back with one last episode for the season. Join hosts  Michelle Donati and Mitti Hicks as they reflect on what they discovered about the American West, from Mormon crickets on the Loneliest Road in America to foraging in their own backyards to a one-armed lawyer whose spirit may or may not be hanging around a ghost town to this day. 

Via Podcast is a production of AAA Mountain West Group.

DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

Tonight, we’ll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne.

In the previous episode, the Nautilus continues its journey past Newfoundland, Ireland, and England, but avoids the English Channel. Arronax spots an abandoned electric cable on the ocean floor, once meant to transmit telegrams, symbolizing the power of nature over humanity's greatest achievements. Then Arronax sees a distant steam ship, and Captain Nemo cryptically remarks, “It is here.” As the submarine descends, they discover the wreck of the Marseillais, later renamed the Avenger, a ship from 1762, which Nemo praises for its powerful name.

We will pick up within chapter 21.

— read by 'N' —

Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices