Narrations (A-J)

All narrated stories are freely available, but you need to be a member of the site to access that feature.  Once you log-on, an audio icon will be visible at the top of each chapter.  Click on the icon, then follow the audio navigation prompts.

Our goal is to ultimately record every story on the web site. Narrated versions of the following stories are currently online.

Assassination of Jesse James - How did Jesse James become one of America's most notorious outlaws? What was his state of Missouri like during the Civil War? And . . . what is the story of his assassination by Bob Ford?


Assassination of John F. Kennedy - November 22, 1963 remains a dark time in American history. On that day, in Dallas, President Kennedy was fatally shot. With evidence from the Warren Commission, and other primary sources, learn the story.


Auschwitz: Place of Horrors - In 1944, while flying reconnaissance missions over an I.G. Farben plant, American pilots took pictures of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Using modern technology to interpret the pictures, the CIA has declared them "unique in the world." Find out why.


Baseball: Early Days and Baseball Cards - During the Civil War, Union prisoners in Confederate prison camps played the game of basefall. After the war, the game quickly became America's "favorite past time." How did that happen? Why were African-Americans forced to "play ball" in their own league for so many decades? And . . . what are the beginnings of baseball cards?


Beowulf - The story of Beowulf is Britain's national epic. How could that be when the poem is about Scandinavian warriors and monsters? See the original manuscript, watch a performance in the original Anglo-Saxon (Old English) language, learn about life in the Dark Ages and take a virtual trip to places where events originated and the tale was told.


Blow - Carlos Lehder had a plan to flood America with cocaine. George Jung helped to carry out that plan. But . . . what is cocaine? And . . . how does it work in the human body?


Charlotte's Web - Learn the background of the beloved story by E.B. White - and a few things about spiders along the way.


Chicago - What was it about Chicago, in the 1920s, that allowed murderers to go free? Step back in time to meet the real people involved in this story: Beulah Annan (the actual Roxie Hart), Belva Gaertner (the true Velma Kelley) and W.W. O'Brien (the genuine Billy Flynn).


Children in War:  Background of Lion, Witch and Wardrobe -  During the first year of World War II, British parents sent about 800,000 school children into the countryside. They wanted to spare them the anguish of the London Blitz. Four children ended up in the care of C.S. Lewis. Living in Oxford, with the professor and his brother Warnie, those children became the inspiration for the Pevensie children in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Susan. (See, especially, chapter 4 of this story.)


C.S. Lewis: Chronicles of Narnia Creator -  When he was four years old, C.S. (Clives Staples) Lewis decided he would change his first name to "Jack." That is what his family and friends - like J.R.R. Tolkien - called him. Who was he? Although his was the second-most recognized BBC voice during World War Two - after Churchill's - few of his radio broadcasts have survived. What did he sound like? In this story about the famous writer, learn some things you may not know - and - listen to a few rare audio clips.


Erin Brockovich - A formerly unemployed, single-mother-of-three (working in a California law firm) wanted to know why medical records were in a real estate file. What she found out led to a record-breaking settlement for people living near the PG&E plant in Hinkley, California.


Gladiator - Commodus, the Roman emperor, was widely despised when he took power in Rome. Without the intellect of his father, Marcus Aurelius, the new ruler descended into madness. Those closest to him finally plotted to end his reign. Step-back, into the age of gladiators, to find out more.


Great Fire - It wasn't just the city of Chicago which burned on October 8-9, 1871. So did Peshtigo, Wisconsin (with a greater loss of life) and Holland, Michigan. What caused these cities to burn at exactly the same time?


Hindenburg: Dramatic Air Disaster - Thunderstorms still rumbled in the atmosphere as the Hindenburg attempted to land at Lakehurst Air Naval Station. Then, without warning, the Zeppelin was a raging ball of fire. What happened? Why did letters from the original investigation remain unpublished for so many years?


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - What do nuclear bombs, Area 51, Nazca lines, crystal skulls and the Iguazu Falls have in common? Indiana Jones ... and the fourth installment of his escapades.


Jefferson, Thomas - Who was Thomas Jefferson, one of America's most controversial founding fathers? Learn about his background, and examine his handwritten draft of the Declaration of Independence.

NARRATIONS  K - Z