Quick Links for the Week Ahead

Well, the Masked Downloader is back from an all-too-brief vacation with another completely random and patternless post filled with free and legal MP3 goodness. So let's get started!

--Any geek worth his or her salt is either (a) already in San Diego with 120,000 other lost souls and enjoying the Comicon or (b) sitting at home wishing they were there. Well, count me among the latter. Here's a tiny little podcast to whet your geek thirst: Hasbro is posting daily podcast updates on all things Transfomers-related at Comicon!

--The WhiskyCast combines two of the most powerful forces in the universe -- strong alcohol and podcasting -- into one potent concoction. Mark Gillespie chats about all things whisky-related (and he recently celebrated his 100th episode!).

--Get your pre-historic ancient geek on with the all-Druid, all-the-time Druid Podcast.

--As a follow-up to the list of food-related podcasts we ran in a previous issue of our e-mail newsletter (see the right-hand side for info on how to subscribe -- it's easy and free!), here's an interesting 'cast entitled Deconstructing Dinner, described as "Discussing the impacts our food choices have on ourselves, our communities and our planet." Worth checking out!

--"As in golf, so too in life." Someone famous said that -- oh wait a minute, it was me. Well, it's true nonetheless. For the hopeless duffer in your family, try out the Golf Psychology podcast right now!

--The Masked Downloader is instinctively attracted to anything with the word "lazy" in the title, because I know I'll be able to relate. So check out The Lazy Environmentalist, a weekly show that focuses on easy ways the everyday person can make their lives a little greener.

RE-POST: Harry Potter Podcasts

With the last Harry Potter novel a mere day or so from being released, here's a re-post of a roundup of Harry Potter podcasts we did last month:

We're assuming that obsessive Harry Potter fans already know about such things, but just in case you don't, here's a few Potter podcasts to get you revved up for the seventh and final book, The Deathly Hallows, due out July 21. Did we mention we like jumping on bandwagons? Yeah, we did.

MuggleCast The heavyweight champion Potter podcast.

PotterCast Another popular choice.

Harry Potter 2006 Podcast Tour (Kid-oriented podcasts from Scholastic Books)

Harry Potter Podcast Graveyard (Heh, well, just kidding. Sort of. Here's a listing of well over 100 HPP's from Podcast Alley, many of which seem to have died out in 2006 or earlier, but archives are still available for many if you're interested.)

Wednesday Quick Links: DVD Podcasts

Truth be told, The Masked Downloader is something of a DVD freak (in addition to being a free-and-legal MP3 freak first and foremost, of course!). In fact, I just bought myself a tiny portable DVD player so I can watch movies in bed -- no more pesky books with all those crazy "ideas" and long words! In celebration of the almighty DVD format, here's a roundup of some fun DVD review and news podcasts:

The DVD Weekly Podcast is, well, just what it sounds like! Reviews and talk from Don and Jarrod way up there in the Pacific Northwest.

Filmspotting (great title, by the way) is a podcast covering DVDs as well as new theatre releases.

Here's a cool podcast focusing on Australian DVDs.

RE-POST: Forensics & "Real" CSI Podcasts

Someone asked about this the other day -- we originally posted it back in June, but it's sort of buried in the archives, so we figured we'd re-up it: links to a few MP3 lectures and talks on the dark art of forensic pathology -- the real-life CSI.

First up is a fascinating talk from forensic pathologist guru and media superstar Cyril Wecht. This is an excellent 83-minute talk he gave at the University of Alaska in Anchorage in May 2007 covering his long career as a pathologist, touching on everything from OJ Simpson to the JFK assassination. It's a big file (around 76 MB) but the sound quality is excellent. LINK

Up next we travel south to Mansfield University in Pennsylvania for Episode 3 of "Forensics: From The Lab To the Street," a 2006 series by Dr. Scott Davis, who heads up the school's forensics program. In this episode, Davis talks about lab work and critiques the various CSI shows, pointing out what's real and what isn't. He's an interesting, engaging guy, and it's a fun listen. Here is a direct link to the MP3 file -- you'll need to right-click to download (if you left-click you'll launch an audio stream). Here is a link to Mansfield's podcasting page -- scroll down a little to the archives and you'll find other episodes in the series, along with a boatload of podcasts on other subjects, all available for free download.

For those who prefer video (and don't mind downloading huge files), Stetson University's National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law offers four free downloads of lectures from forensics superstars Drs. Michael Baden and Henry Lee, along with a couple of others. LINK

The Naked Scientists' latest audio podcast focuses on the science of forensics -- the how's and why's. LINK

Dr Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist (and, incidentally, the wife of blogging superstar Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit) has her own blog and podcast. In this episode from January 2007, she interviews forensic anthropologist Bill Bass, who created the famous "Body Farm." LINK

Weekly Newsletter: Have you signed up?

Yesterday subscribers received the latest edition of the Masked Downloader's free electronic newsletter, The Weekly MP3 Freeloader, chock-full of links to even more free and legal MP3 goodness. It's created in PDF format so anyone can open and read it, regardless of your computer type. If you haven't subscribed yet, just send an e-mail to info@mp3e-book.com and write "Subscribe" in the subject line, and we'll sign you up! It's that simple!

Weekend List: Old Time Radio

One of the Masked Downloader's favorite things about the Internet is that it has single-handedly brought about a revival of old-time radio. Thousands and thousands of shows from the 1930s through the 1950s have been encoded in MP3 and distributed for everyone to enjoy. Radio was TV, the Internet and Playstation all wrapped into one -- it's hard for us modern folks to realize just how dominant a medium it was in the 1930s and 1940s, especially. Shows like "The Great Gildersleeve" and Jack Benny's program were the Seinfelds and Friends of their day -- even more so, really.

In any event, if you don't know a lot about OTR, or just want some good stuff to load onto your iPod before heading out the door, check out these sites, which offer a variety of OTR shows for free download (most OTR shows are believed to be in the public domain and are distributed freely):

Archive.org has a huuuuge selection of more than 1,000 old time radio broadcasts available for free download: sports, news, comedy, drama, mystery, etc. A vast treasure trove and highly recommended.

Boxcars711 is one of the best OTR podcasts out there, updated on a very regular basis and offering a huge variety of shows. A nice "sampler site" for those new to the genre, so you can figure out what you like.

The Radio Nostalgia Network also offers several OTR-themed podcasts, along with music-oriented shows.

Botar's Old Time Radio is a great 'cast to check out if you're interested in adventure-oriented shows like The Shadow and The Green Hornet, although you'll find a smattering of other genres too.

The British Old Time Radio Podcast lives up to its name, providing vintage replays of British shows from the early days of radio.

The Classic Radio and Movies Network is a hoot and a half. Not only does it offer up a great selection of vintage OTR, you can also download B-movies and serials from the early days of cinema. Prepare to spend some time browsing here.

ComicWeb Old Time Radio Programs is supposed to focus on OTR shows based on comic book characters, but there's a wide variety of shows here, really more of a general selection; worth checking out.

Dead For The Weekend

With a sunny July weekend just around the corner, and grooving off of yesterday's link to the Relix podcast, your friendly neighborhood Masked Downloader decided to round up some Grateful Dead podcasts. Alas, I shall be working all weekend, which makes this post ever so bittersweet...nothing says lazy Saturday like listening to a 24-minute version of Dark Star. Sigh. Pity the poor Masked Downloader. And check out these great 'casts!

The Dead Show, from KOPN 89.5 in Columbia, Missouri, is a fantastic weekly podcast (and a looong one, too -- this week's clocks in at around 1:45:00) highlighting memorable performances from the band's entire career. You can access the shows HERE or HERE.

Sunshine Daydream seems to be on a short hiatus -- there hasn't been a new show posted since late May -- but there are still plenty of podcasts in the archive worth downloading. Features music from the Dead and related bands (Jerry Garcia solo, Dylan, etc.).

The Music Never Stopped actually, uh, stopped about 18 months ago, but the archives of this one-hour Grateful Dead podcast are still available. Unfortunately, the only options are to stream via the Internet or download to your mobile phone (it won't let you direct download the MP3 file). Annoying, but I decided to stick it on here anyway, due to the huge volume of music that is apparently still available. I don't have a music-equipped mobile phone so I don't know if the download actually works.

And, of course, how can we forge the huuuuge resource of free Grateful Dead shows at Archive.org??

Thursday Quick Links: More Random Randomness!

The Masked Downloader comes bearing a big ol' gift basket of...well, just about everything. If you can find a pattern here, please e-mail and let me know what it is (aside from the fact that all of the selections are incredibly interesting and offer loads of free and legal MP3s, of course).

LONG NOW PROJECT: A fascinating Web site with a wide selection of high-quality lectures and presentations. From the web site: "The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996 to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide counterpoint to today's 'faster/cheaper' mind set and promote 'slower/better' thinking. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years. The term was
coined by one of our founding board members, Brian Eno. When Brian first moved to New York City he found that in New York here and now meant this room and this five minutes, as opposed to the larger here and longer now that he was used to in England. We have since adopted the term as the title of our foundation as we are trying to stretch out what people consider as now." Highly recommended.

TWELVE BYZANTINE RULERS: From the Web site: “This history lecture podcast covers the little known Byzantine Empire through the study of twelve of its greatest rulers. Mr. Lars Brownworth presents this series for free through this website and the podcast section of the iTunes store. Mr. Brownworth teaches History at The Stony Brook School on Long Island, New York. His passion for Byzantine history has taken him on travels from the furthest reaches of the Byzantine Empire right into Constantinople, (present day Istanbul) the very heart of Byzantium. He has traveled and studied Byzantine history extensively and produced this lecture series giving us this concise overview.”

W.M. KECK OBSERVATORY: Astronomers discuss discoveries associated with the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES & COMMERCE: A large number of free downloadable MP3 lectures from the British RSA on a wide variety of topics, from politics and cultural/social trends to human rights. Highly recommended.

OYEZ: Downloadable MP3s of Supreme Court arguments – hear the attorneys plead their cases and listen as the Justices ask questions and argue back and forth. A fascinating and important historical resource. The files are large but of very good quality. From the Web site: "The OYEZ Project is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices."

Nikki & Victor & Roman & Reva...

It's difficult being The Masked Downloader. There's work, and home, and then all the responsibility of keeping up this blog...well, it's enough to keep an anonymous MP3 superhero exhausted. I barely have enough time to watch Simpsons reruns every night before I go to bed. And keeping up with my favorite soaps? Forget about it. Luckily there's "Daytime Confidential," the incredibly frequent podcast that keeps you updated on what's going on with all the cool shows. Just read the recap of the latest podcast: "Jeva vs. Jammy and Reva sleeping with Jeffery on Guiding Light. What's Emily going to do, the demise of Cleo, and villainess rumors on As The World Turns, Felecia and Constantine on Bold and Beautiful, and Paul's daughter returns to the Young and the Restless." Stop. Just...stop. You had me at "Jeva vs. Jammy."

Groovin' with Relix

Relix, the music magazine devoted to Grateful Dead/Phish-inspired jam bands and related styles of music, has a nice podcast series going entitled Cold Turkey Radio, featuring interviews and exclusive performances from a number of artists popular on the jam band and open-air festival circuits. If you're in the mood for this type of music and don't want to dig out your old Grateful Dead bootleg tapes, Relix is the place to go. LINK

Tuesday Quick Links: Random, Random, Random!

The Masked Downloader could not think of a unifying theme for this motley collection of MP3 podcasts. It's really all over the place. I'm sorry. I'll try to work on my focus. I think it may be time for a new mask...

--Podcast Beyond is a new series for devotees of the Sony Playstation and PSP. It's a large file (about 50 MB) chock full of chatter about the latest Playstation happenings.

--BBC movie reviewer Mark Kermode makes Simon Cowell look like Mother Teresa. For some viciously funny (and very smart) reviews of the latest Hollywood movies, check out this page, where you can download his latest reviews. Warning: you'll probably get addicted.

--Good Dog! is a podcast that focuses on all aspects of dog training and behavior. A really well-done show with professional-level hosting and interviewing. The latest episode focuses on dog food safety in the wake of the tainted pet food scare. You can listen to the shows on the site, but no direct downloads are offered; you have to subscribe to the 'cast via iTunes.

--Psychjourney is a podcast series focusing on self-help, recovery, addiction and related issues. The subject matter is actually quite wide-open; just peruse through the latest episodes and you'll see what we mean.

--The latest episode of SciFi Dig is up, and Aaron tackles "The Spirit, Arrogant Bastard Ale, sunscreen, ABC's Caveman and the Babylon 5 episode Hunter, Prey." Well, what more could you ask for??

--A podcast of nothing but old radio episodes of Dragnet. Folks, it does not get much cooler than this -- listen to vintage Jack Webb perfecting his Joe Friday routine years before he made it to TV. Frankly, I enjoy the radio episodes much more than the mid-1960s incarnation, which by that time had become incredibly square, preachy and hokey. But the radio show -- ahhh, that's a different creature: tough, uncompromising, gritty. It was the NYPD Blue of its day, believe it or not. And yes, this is why they invented the Internet.

--I missed this one in my roundup of Buddhist podcasts a few days ago: a podcast series from the Windhorse Zen community. The latest podcast is a talk entitled "Mind Like Water," which sounds good to me. A very nicely done series, worth checking out if you liked my previous post.

Have you signed up yet?

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MD's Greatest Hits (So Far)

The Masked Downloader is flattered and more than a little shocked at the upsurge in traffic on the site over the past few weeks. What started out as a tiny little home for wayward MP3s seeking a little recognition and a new start in life has turned into a rather popular affair. I hope everyone is enjoying the links -- as always, we only link to free AND LEGAL downloads. And don't forget, you can subscribe to our free e-mail newsletter, The Weekly MP3 Freeloader, by dropping a line to info@mp3e-book.com and writing "Subscribe" in the subject line (that's all we need!).

With so many new visitors joining us, we thought we'd take a moment to highlight some of the most popular entries over the past few weeks, based on site-tracking statistics from Google. Think of these as the Masked Downloader's Greatest Hits:

Our massive list of paranormal podcasts features more than 60 links to programs delving into UFOs, ghosts, strange creatures and more.

Our even-more-massive annotated list of 80-plus comic book podcasts comes in a strong second.

July Fourth has come and gone, of course, but don't let that stop you from checking out our list of patriotic-themed MP3 downloads.

And here's our roundup of forensic-related podcasts, in honor of one of our favorite TV shows, CSI.

This is just a smattering of what's available on the site -- feel free to delve into the archives (you can navigate to previous posts by using the links on the right-hand side of this page).

And once again, welcome to the site -- thank you for your patronage!

The Catholic iPod

Continuing our series of religion-oriented lists of free MP3s, this time we focus on Catholicism...and as always, leave a comment or drop us a line at info@mp3e-book.com if we missed a particularly good site.

American Catholic Radio offers downloadable MP3s of its weekly catechetical program.

Star Quest Production Network (SQPN) offers a wide variety of downloadable Catholic podcasts.

Popular Catholic author Peter Kreeft, a master of apologetics and professor of philosophy at Boston College, offers free downloads of more than 30 of his lectures.

Catholic Planet has a huge list of links to free & legal MP3 downloads of modern Catholic music.

EWTN, the omnipresent Catholic cable TV channel, offers podcast subscriptions to several of its more popular programs (doesn't appear that direct downloads are available; you have to subscribe to the podcasts to actually get downloadable MP3 files).

Vatican Radio (yes, sometimes we stumble upon the blindingly obvious without any help) offers podcast subscriptions to the speeches of the Pope in multiple languages.

The American Catholic Truth Societ offers a huge archive of free downloadable MP3s from Archbishop Fulton Sheen's vintage "Life is Worth Living" program.

A huge collection of choral music and chants in MP3 format from the Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia.

Vocation.com offers free downloads of a few Catholic music albums and a Q&A series with Fr. Anthony Bannon.

The Catholic Forum podcast appears to be on a little hiatus, but there are plenty of downloadable shows in ths link to the archives. The Forum describes itself as "Providing information about the Catholic Faith, including true stories of converts and people returning to the Catholic Church."

A huge collection of downloadable MP3 talks from Fr. Frank Pavone, founder of the pro-life group Priests for Life.

The UK orthodox Catholic group Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice offers a huge library of downloable MP3 talks on a wide variety of Catholic subjects. You may want to check out the group's "About Us" page first to get an idea of where they're coming from theologically and ideologically.

Buddha on your iPod

The Masked Downloader is in a contemplative, Zen-like mood today, and decided to round up a few of the many Buddhist web sites offering free MP3s downloads of chants, Zen talks, lectures and more:

BuddhaNet and blog Integral Options Cafe offer a huge selection of downloadable Buddhist chants from a wide variety of regions and schools.

Dharma Punx, a youth-oriented Buddhist movement led by teacher and counselor Noah Levine, offers a huge number of free, downloadable MP3 talks on various Buddhist tenets. It's very much an MTV-generation style of teaching; think tattoos and piercings instead of flowing robes and gongs. If you're looking for an easygoing, plain-language introduction to basic Buddhist thought, this is a great place to start.

The Berzin Archives, which focus on various forms of Tibetan Buddhism, offer dozens of downloadble lectures on both basic and advanced Tibetan Buddhist thought.

Free Buddhist Audio is, well, just what it sounds like! A fantastic resource from the Western Buddhist Order.

The Allan Watts Podcast features recorded lectures from the late Zen philosopher and popularizer of Buddhism in the West.

The San Francisco Zen Center offers dozens of downloadable dharma talks.

A collection of talks by Buddhist nun the Venerable Robina Courtin.

More than 400 downloadable lectures from the Tse Chen Ling Buddhist Center in San Francisco.

The Jamyang Buddhist Center in London offers a library of downloadable MP3 talks.

The Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies has an extensive online library. Right-click on most links to download in MP3 format.

The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition offers a number of downloadble MP3 talks by the Dalai Lama and others.

Tuesday Quick Links: Sci-Fi & More

The Masked Downloader is taking the Fourth of July off -- after all, it's summer here in DC, and it gets very, very hot wearing this mask all the time. We need a little break. But before we go, a few eclectic picks for your iPod -- we found several of these over at trusty ol' SFF Audio:

Decoder Ring Theater is a modern-day tribute to classic old-time radio adventure serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Here you can download, absolutely free of charge, the latest all-original episodes of Red Panda Adventures, starring The Red Panda ("Canada's Greatest Superhero!") and his sidekick Kit Baxter, The Flying Squirrel! LINK

Lipstick Aliens is a podcast devoted to all things science fiction, hosted by Lynne & Cat. They mull over all the latest doings on sci-fi TV, movies and books...and the latest episode has an interview with legend Anne McCaffrey! LINK

Free audiobook pioneer Librivox has just released a full-length reading of one of Jules Verne's lesser known works: The Fur Country, an adventure novel set in the far Canadian north. Here's a description: "In 1859, officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company are given the mission to found a fort at 70 degrees north of the polar circle. At some point, an earthquake occurs, and from then on, laws of physics seem altered (a total eclipse happens to be only partial; tides are not perceived anymore). They eventually realise that they are not where they are supposed to be. (Summary from wikipedia)" You can download the entire book in one big zipped MP3 file, or download individual chapters in a variety of MP3 and OGG formats. If you've got a long drive ahead of you, this might help keep you awake! LINK

The British Science Fiction Podcast is presenting a rare vintage radio serial from 1953, "Journey Into Space - Operation Luna." They're up to episode 8 of the 12-episode arc, but you can download previous episodes, too. LINK

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The latest issue of our weekly subscriber-only e-newsletter, The Weekly MP3 Freeloader was just sent out this evening. In it, subscribers will find even more MP3 linkage goodness that we just didn't have room for on the blog. Well, OK, we had room, but we have to leave something for the newsletter! If you'd like to subscribe -- it's free of charge -- just send an e-mail to info@mp3e-book.com and we'll put you on the list!

We are now taking requests...

Just a reminder: if there's a topic you'd like us to investigate or see highlighted on the blog, just drop us a line at info@mp3e-book.com and we'll do our best to oblige!

U.S. Joint Forces Command

Keeping up with our military- and patriotism-related posts this week, here's a podcast series from the U.S. Joint Forces Command. Here you'll find audio stories on everything from the newest member of the All-Navy Volleyball Team to new research helping soldiers pinpoint the source of enemy fire. LINK

The Patriotic iPod (Re-post)

As July Fourth inches closer, we wanted to remind you to take a look at our special roundup of Independence Day-related podcasts. If you're planning to hit the open road or fly to a vacation destination, be sure and load up your iPod with some red-white-and-blue programs before you go! LINK

Freedom Journal: Iraq (VIDEO)

We want The Masked Downloader to be a nonpartisan site, so we don't take sides on political issues of the day. But when it comes to the Iraq War, almost everyone can agree that we'd like our troops to come home safely (exactly when is another question!) and for the Iraq people to enjoy some much-needed peace and protection from bloodshed. To get an idea of what's going on, check out this daily video podcast update of American forces' efforts in Iraq. Yes, it's from the U.S. Pentagon, but you'll likely get a view of the war you won't see anywhere else. LINK

Obscure Yet Fascinating Site O' The Day

The Oxford University Center for Hindu Studies offers dozens of MP3 lectures and seminars on nearly every conceivable subject related to Hinduism. Yeah, we know, we know -- we don't know anything about Hinduism either. That's the point! LINK

Argument of the Day: Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration is the political topic du jour in Washington these days. Here's a debate on the topic held at Princeton University in May, with Dan Griswold of the Cato Institute arguing with Mark Krikorian of National Review and the Center for Immigration Studies. LINK

Comic Book Podcast list updated

Thanks to everyone who contributed suggestions for our list of comic book podcasts last week. We updated the list with nearly 30 new 'casts, so we're up to more than 80! It's becoming a truly comprehensive list, thanks to you guys. Here's the link if you missed it the first time around. LINK

Byrdcast

The Cape May County Herald has a new audio podcast interview up with the legendary Roger McGuinn, co-founder of The Byrds. LINK