Way back in January, one of the first Auricle articles was Alternative Sources of Learning in which I highlighted the BBC as an increasingly relevant source of high quality learning resources. So it's good to see that the BBC have finally begun to waiver in their support for the proprietary RealPlayer format. You can hear the 2004 series of Reith Lectures in downloadable digital-rights-management-free MP3 format. But there's more, so read on. There are five 45 minute lectures in the series The Climate of Fear by Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright, Wole Soyinka, who was imprisoned in Nigeria for his opposition to dictatorship.
Full transcripts of the lectures are also available online. What's even more commendable is that the lectures are linked to further background reading material and public discussion forums provided by the UK Open University's Open2.net.
The first lecture 'The Changing Mask of Fear' provides a new perspective on why, with air travel, for some people, it's sometimes best to have cabin luggage only.
