The Machine Stops

Spacehounds of IPC by E. E. Smith.

When the Inter-Planetary Corporation's (IPC) crack liner “IPV Arcturus” took off on a routine flight to Mars, it turned out to be the beginning of a unexpected and long voyage. There had been too many reports of errors in ship's flight positions from the Check Stations and brilliant physicist Dr. Percival (“Steve”) Stevens is aboard the Arcturus on a fact-finding mission to find out what's really happening, and hopefully save the honor of the brave pilots of the space-liner Arcturus from the desk-jockeys' in the Check Stations implications of imprecision - the nastiest insult you could cast at a ships pilot. He and the pilots are right, it was the Check Stations that were out of position, not the ships. But that's cold consolation because before the Arcturus reaches Mars it's attacked by a small, mysterious, globe shaped spaceship.

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Second Variety (Version 2) by Philip K. Dick.

First published in Space Science Fiction May 1953. "The claws were bad enough in the first place—nasty, crawling little death-robots. But when they began to imitate their creators, it was time for the human race to make peace—if it could!" When future war becomes so horrific that humans turn to machines and computers to design ways to kill each other strange things may happen. And DO in this classic Philip K. Dick story!

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Coffee Break Collection 002 by Faith-Various.

The theme for this collection is Multi-Faith in various genres.

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Coffee Break Collection 017 by Health and Fitness-Various.

The topic for this collection is health and fitness... views on these, including physical activity, nutrition and sport, have changed drastically over the years.

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island by President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island.

At 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979, a serious accident occurred at the Three Mile Island 2 nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. The accident was initiated by mechanical malfunctions in the plant and made much worse by a combination of human errors in responding to it. During the next 4 days, the extent and gravity of the accident was unclear to the managers of the plant, to federal and state officials, and to the general public. What is quite clear is that its impact, nationally and internationally, has raised serious concerns about the safety of nuclear power. This Commission was established in response to those concerns.

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Coffee Break Collection 014 by New Beginnings-Various.

This is the fourteenth collection of our "coffee break" series, involving public domain works that are between 3 and 15 minutes in length. These are great for study breaks, commutes, workouts, or any time you'd like to hear a whole story and only have a few minutes to devote to listening. The theme for this collection is "New Beginnings", where some kind of change or new start is significant. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry... we have them all.

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

The Story of the Siren by E.M. Forster.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Aspects of the Novel by E. M. Forster.

This s a series of lectures given at Trinity College by the acclaimed author E.M. Forster (A Passage to India, Howard's End, A Room With a View) . In them, he discusses "both the different ways we can look at a novel and the different ways a novelist can look at his work." The aspects of the novel Forster discusses are the story, people, plot,, fantasy, prophecy and rhythm.

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Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Howard's End by EM Forster.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Howard's End by EM Forster.

This episode includes AI-generated content.