Mind Webs: 49 hours Worth of Speculative Fiction Radio
|
Mind Webs CD Cover |
Here’s an online treasure trove of audio files brought to you by the Internet Archive of the 1970s radio series Mind Webs. The show featured the greatest speculative fiction stories from top-notch authors of the day. You can find a summary of plotlines here. I’ve been listening to the shows for weeks in my car now, and enjoying them immensely.
Some of my personal favorites:
Harry Harrison’s The Ever Branching Tree, about an elementary school field trip back in time to observe evolution as it happens.
Robert Silverberg’s wonderfully satirical and observant When We Went to See the End of the World, which is even more relevant as a commentary on today’s world than the one it was written for 30 years ago.
Brian W. Aldiss’ The Night That All Time Broke Loose involves an alternate reality where “time gas” allows people to cause various elements of their surrounding reality, their dinner, home decor, even bodies, to travel back in time, dialing them to desired states. It seems like a miracle technology, until a gas line breaks at the time gas plant and starts de-evolving everything.
I just had dinner with Michael Hanson last night and his lovely wife Rosie. We talked about the popularity of the Mind Webs program. I know from listening to these stories that if you like SF you enjoy these productions.
Comment by Ellen Roemer — August 15, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
Ellen, do you know Mr Hanson? Will you be seeing him again? I ask because I’d very much like to know if this shows exist on original tapes/cartridges/caddies and if he is free to offer them legally to the pubic if they do exist.
Or do the rights of the show remain with WHA radio? Can someone find out if the origin shows still exist and if they can be offered to someone like the ZBS Foundation? I know that WHA’s Canticle for Leibowitz (clean audio from the original masters – not off radio recordings) was offered for and it was produced by WHA at the same time as Mindwebs. I bought the show for 40 bucks from ZBS.
I’d buy the mindwebs series if the audio was from clean master tapes.
I’d wecome any nisight into this matter – I hope you know Mr Hanson well enough to broach the matter.
Happy New year!
Comment by gaffo — January 1, 2009 @ 11:25 pm
If you are overly concerned about staying 100% legal, you’ll never get the best copy of things.
Comment by ClintJCL — January 2, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
I just happened to be listening to winamp shout cast radio shows and they played a few Mind Webs and I was immediately hooked on them. Micheal Hanson also recorded a book by one of my favorite authors and I just love his voice. I went on google and looked up Mind webs and discovered this website. I love having access to all of them to listen to in the comfort of my own home.
Comment by Ni-Ya — February 10, 2009 @ 11:02 am
I found out about this show a few years ago and I have become a rabid listener since my first exposure. I honestly listen to one show a night before I go to bed or on a lazy afternoon.
I find the music and the readings to be simply amazing. No other audio drama has ever appealed to me.
The half dramatized style of Mindwebs is, in my own option, amazing.
The story choices are just perfect. Sublime even. Couple that with the great and often surreal musical scores and you have something very rare and exceptional.
Some people have told me up to 300 shows exist and the internet archive only has 140.
I would pay a insane amount of money to get my hands on ALL the episodes.
I contacted WHA radio and told me they get about one request a month for the shows. Sadly, they said they can not broadcast the shows or sell them due to the copyrights.
Back in the day, I do not think anyone cared if you read someones short story on a public radio station.
WHA also hinted that they do not have tapes of the shows anymore.
Sad that the trickle of 140 badly recorded shows is all we will ever hear of something very so unique.
Comment by David — April 16, 2009 @ 12:19 am
Crap. I only just found Mind Webs again online, and now all I get is a message that reads, “The item is not available due to issues with the item’s content,” whatever that means. I only had a chance to listen to one episode before it vanished on me. As a kid in the nineties, I used to lie in bed Sunday nights and listen to Mind Webs when it came on at eleven P.M. on WHAD, right after Old Time Radio Night and before Joe Frank: In the Dark. I would love to be able to relive that experience. If this is a copyright thing, I still don’t get what the point is in depriving people of the chance to listen to this show, since it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be accessible any other way. What’s the point in keeping it buried forever?
Comment by Dave B. — July 12, 2009 @ 3:29 am
Yeah, I had the same experience as Dave. Doea anyone know why MindWebs was removed from the Internet Archive? Will it be back up?
Comment by Seth G. — July 21, 2009 @ 9:37 am
Back again after trying to do a search on mindwebs and seeing they are now gone! I emailed the guy who had the newest-last 40 shows last year, and though he never emailed me back about a week later his shows did show up on the interneet archive. Assuming I may have set the event in action that allowed the extra 40 shows or so to be uploaded to the archive, I hope that action did not lead to some lawyer shmuck getting all copyright holy and to the removel of the series.
or maybe just a simple e-mail to WHA was enough to get the holy rollers to end the show.
I’m glad I copied all the sons of bitches (i.e. just in case!! for I suspected this might happen) last March.
close one ;-/.
…………..
about time for any copies of Nighfall to start dissapearing now.
Comment by gaffo — August 9, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
Mindwebs rocks! I think they disappeared from Archive.org because though the shows were “public domain”, the stories which they contained weren’t.
I would really love to see Mr. Hansen and Wisconsin Public Radio re-release the series as Itunes downloads, as lossless FLAC downloads, or as good old-fashioned CD’s. The authors would probably love to have the added income from the royalties, and I would love to have something other than the now-extinct 50th-generation cassette dubs from archive.org.
Comment by C.S. Lewiston — September 3, 2009 @ 1:52 am
From a discusion I saw elsewhere it would apear it was Christopher Priest who had the show removed, as he became instantly retroactively but hurt that someone used a story he never would have given permission for more then 20 years ago .
I hate that guy and have no intention of EVER reading ANYTHING he has written .
Comment by David — September 3, 2009 @ 6:51 pm
I saw that rant of his a couple of years ago – and it was back dated a couple from that time (so aka 2003 or so). He was being an arse because his lame story about a race/cold war (I forget the name of the stoty – not very good) was posted on the net and the websties webhost had commented upon it and the show Mindwebs.
Anyway – ya Priest remains an asshole (I read his bullshit rant at that site too – years ago) – but I don’t think he had anything to do with the show going away. He had 4 years to move on it!!
no, this was by another – one that just recently stumbled upon the show 6 months ago and got his panties in a bunch over it.
I don’t think it was an author (they are bigger than that(excluding the nobody petty shit Chris Priest) I think it was a suit, maybe from one of the original publishing houses of the short stories.
If Archive.org had any balls they’d post who and why.
but they dont……..so…………….?
Comment by gaffo — September 4, 2009 @ 11:44 pm
I remember listening to WPR at 11:30 pm on Sunday nights in the nineties and listening to this program as well. It was awesome, and I am fortunate to have 146 shows stored on my computer, but I know there were many more, and I would really like to hear the rest.
As with some of the other posters on this site, I too, can not understand the copywrite situation either. I can not understand how anyone is being hurt or damaged by allowing people to listen to stories that were recorded and written decades ago. In each show, they credit the name of the story and the author, and when and where it was published, which I think is fair enough. And some of the stories that are told are rare and hard to find anyways, that I don’t think anyone would have chanced over them without the help of this program.
Sadly, it seems only copywrite holders and big businesses get their interests served in today’s world since they have all the money to begin with for lobbying such ridiculous terms. Seriously, why protect works (up to what is it now, 100 years or more?) for so long? 25 years should be the limit. If we make it longer, our children (wait, scratch that… our GRAND-children) will never get an opportunity to find these pieces of work, because they will be so long forgotten that someone will probably just delete these works permanently without ever realizing how good they were. A true loss in deed.
The removal of the archive.org copies of these works is just another fine example of over zealous copywrite holders who hurt their position more than strength their profits. Say no to copywrite extensions! Say yes to copywrite reform!
Seriously, you can’t buy this stuff anywhere… if you could, then maybe I’d understand the copywrite argument, but simply denying people the satisfaction, wisdom, and awe of these stories seems utterly pointless to me.
Comment by Robert — January 6, 2010 @ 4:54 am
I have info re the originalreels/cassettes/and cds.
Really. And thanks for your interest and comments.
Many magnificent technicians deserve appreciation as you may very well realize. Couldn’t have been done w/o them. Thanks also to my public radio mentors, friends, acquaintices and administrators who helped make MINDWEBS possible.
–Best Regards, Michael
Comment by Michael Hanson — February 5, 2010 @ 9:45 pm
Mr. Hanson -
First, I’d like to thank you for your wonderful program. Like Dave and Seth above, when I was a kid, I would listen to Old Time Radio Night and then stay up for Mindwebs. Mindwebs was my introduction to Science and Speculative Fiction, and has had a profound effect on my tastes in literature. (And, arguably, my personality; if you are what you read.) If it is at all possible to aquire all or most of the episodes, I would gladly pay for them, or trade you my most treasured possesions and first born. Please feel free to contact me at elyndonperry@gmail.com. Thank you.
Comment by Elias Perry — February 10, 2010 @ 6:21 pm
I agree with the previous post. I would gleefully pay for a box set of CDs or the ability to purchase MP3 versions of this wonderful program. Thank you for such a wonderful creation!
Comment by ideonexus — February 10, 2010 @ 6:35 pm
I third the post to Mr Hanson. Mindwebs is a jewel and we will not see its like again. Please find a way to allow people to enjoy it again.
I would pay a lot of money to get to listen to those shows again. So many hours of entertainment.
Comment by James P — March 14, 2010 @ 2:11 am
Need a fourth vote? Even for seasoned OTR fans Mindwebs offers an absolutely unique listening experience. Great readings of some of the best speculative fiction with a kind of jazzy beatnik soundtrack. Yes, I’ll pay, give me back Mindwebs!
Comment by Seth G. — March 17, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
Please find a way to get this out. People need to hear this. It has not aged. It is timeless. Experimental and at times moving.
Anyone can read into a microphone but mindwebs is unique.
We will NOT see its like again.
Comment by Franco G — May 26, 2010 @ 7:30 pm
Mindweb : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
Here is the website fromArchive.org which has 900 mb of Mind Webs.
It is:
http://www.archive.org/details/Mindweb_53
Just make sure you select the right link, to not select the verb .mp3 zip file cause its only 6 megs. The .other normal file type that is not verb says 900 mb! I am a totally blind person using a speech program and it was difficult to figure out what was up till I used trial and error! NOw I have a bunch of reading to do!! Peace out!
Comment by Maxwell — June 5, 2010 @ 3:06 am
Awesome! Awesome!!! AWESOME!!! Thank You!!! Everyone click on the above link and download 0.9 Gigs of MINDWEBS!!! YAY!!! Thank you!!!
Comment by ideonexus — June 7, 2010 @ 7:15 pm
I, Also! Me, Too! Thank you so much. I’ve been checking the archives every few months for more Mindwebs to appear and they finally have. However this was accomplished, my gratitude to all concerned!!!
Comment by davboz — June 19, 2010 @ 10:27 pm
Mr. Hanson,
Many thanks to you and your staff for producing the refreshingly unique and entertaining MINDWEBS! Please add me to the list of folks who would gladly pay for episodes created from the original reels/cassettes/and cds.
Comment by Randy Cottingham — June 23, 2010 @ 12:03 am