Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll be reading the opening to the 1883 novel by American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle, "Robin Hood". Consisting of a series of episodes in the story of the English outlaw Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, the novel helped solidify the image of a heroic Robin Hood, which had begun in earlier works such as Walter Scott's 1819 novel "Ivanhoe".Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read some of the folklore of the Cherokee people from the 1900 book "Myths of the Cherokee" by James Mooney. Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years with the Cherokee. He became a self-taught expert on American tribes by his own studies and his careful observation during long residences with different groups.Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the opening two chapters of 1859’s "A Tale of Two Cities", written by Charles Dickens. It is a historical novel, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in Paris and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie, whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. It has become Dickens’ best known work of historical fiction.Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read "Queen Zixi of Ix", or "The Story of the Magic Cloak", a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and published in 1905. The events of the book alternate between Noland and Ix, two neighboring regions to the Land of Oz, and Baum himself commented this was the best book he had written. The book was made into the 1914 film "The Magic Cloak of Oz". Although no part of the book's story takes place in the Land of Oz, by the time the movie was made, it had become clear that the Oz franchise was Baum's most popular creation.Support the show

Tonight, we'll be reading a couple famous speeches by President John F. Kennedy: His 1961 inauguration speech and his 1962 moon speech. The youngest president elected in United States history, he was the first man born in the 20th century to hold that office. His speeches inspired the nation to reach for the stars.Support the show

Tonight, we'll be reading the opening to the 1911 novel titled “Me-Smith” written by Caroline Lockhart. Lockhart was a journalist, a newspaper owner, and a ranch owner along with writing novels set in her adopted home of Cody, Montana. The Caroline Lockhart Ranch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.In 2018, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame inducted her. Me-Smith was her first novel.Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the classic tale "Beauty and the Beast", taken from the Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, published in 1889. The original story of Beauty and the Beast was written by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, within the culture of the aristocratic salons of the 1700s. It is thought that it has roots even longer ago, in the tale of "Cupid and Psyche", the ancient chronicle from the Latin novel "Metamorphoses".Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read a section of the book “Mushrooms: How to Grow Them” called “Mushroom Growing in the Paris Caves”, written by William Falconer and published in 1892. The famous architecture of Paris was built using the limestone extracted from underneath the city. The resulting catacombs were also used to grow the Paris mushroom, a variety of the button variety. Legend has it that mushroom farming in these caves started when some deserters of Napoleon’s army, along with their horses, discovered that mushrooms naturally flourished on the mixture of limestone and horse manure within.Support the show

Tonight, as the final episode of our October classic horror series, we’ll be reading the opening to "The Dunwich Horror", written in 1928 by H.P. Lovecraft. It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in central Massachusetts. It is considered one of the core stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.Support the show

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll be reading the next section of the classic children’s story "Heidi", published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. It is a novel about the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care in the Swiss Alps. Heidi is one of the best-selling books ever written and is among the best-known works of Swiss literature. We left off at the end of chapter 2, with Heidi’s first night at grandfather’s house on the mountaintop. Heidi and Grandfather get along better than would be expected, given his reputation as a surly recluse. Heidi falls to sleep in her new hay loft bedroom, dreaming of the two captivating goats she met that day.Support the show