467: Talking Books at 90 - The First Recorded Voices (and the equipment used)

From the phonautograph to a smart speaker, today's Read On not only looks at the history of 90 years of RNIB Talking Books recording (and the equipment used), but goes back to the invention of recording as a whole. We hear the first recorded voices, about the format war between cylinder and disc, about the phonautograph, the phonograph, the graphophone and the gramophone, to single track magnetic tape, DAISY CDs and Alexa Skills and more in this 169 year trek through the history of recording the human voice.

In today's show we hear from 11 of the World Book Day books for 2026 which are available from RNIB, plus we listen back to two of our most popular children's authors, Julia Donaldson makes some illustrations in audio and the late great Michael Bond talks about the origins of Paddington.

A special (updated) documentary about the origins of the Talking Books service, recorded at the original locations around London, and featuring many voices from the past.Historian Matthew Rubery and Robert Kirkwood explore everything from the first Talking Book machines, some failed technology, how books were chosen and much more.

An all-star ensemble comes together to celebrate RNIB Talking Books 9th decade of bringing the joy of reading to blind and partially sighted people. A special recording of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice features some of the UK’s best-known actors and today we chat to four of them. Ben Willbond, Phil Dunster, Lisa George and Shazia Mirza talk about narrating Jane Austen and give us some great book recommendations.

A love themed show for Valentine's Day featuring Fiona Lucas on Always and Only You, Joanna Toye on The Little Penguin Bookshop, Rachel Greenlaw on The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells, and audio describer Liz Gutman on writing spicy AD for Bridgerton. Plus we find a handful of books on all sorts of love in the RNIB Library.

James Bartlett, Reading Services Manager at RNIB tells Robert Kirkwood about a new recording of Pride and Prejudice with many famous narrators, made to celebrate 90 years of Talking Books. We also hear the foreword by Julian Fellowes.Full book - https://audioboom.com/playlists/4635906-talking-books-at-90-pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen

Today we continue our deep dive into last year's Booker shortlist as Robert Kirkwood has a long chat with Susan Choi on her novel Flashlight. They chat about the significance of the title, the importance of historical research and even end up chatting about ashtrays from McDonalds and smoking in the office!

The year 2026 is National Year of Reading and this along with World Book Day 2026 on March 5, is a great chance for every child, including those with reading impairments and vision impairments, to enjoy and celebrate their love of reading and storytelling.To mark the occasion, leading sight loss charity, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is running a creative writing competition so children with vision impairments can express their creativity and love of books.The competition is open to any child or young person between the ages of 5-12 years with a vision impairment in the UK. The last date to submit entries is Monday 23 February 2026.We can’t wait to read your submission and wish you the very best of luck!For full details of how to enter the competition, email [email protected]

In today's episode Robert Kirkwood chats to Katie Kitamura about her novel Audition, an exhilarating, destabilising novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love.They chat about dimension shifts, narration and why the book was almost called Performance.Plus we find some new books in the RNIB Library.

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller is an atmospheric novel set during a famously freezing 1960s winter, exploring the minutiae of married life through the interior lives of two couples. Robert Kirkwood talks to Andrew about his inspiration for the novel, why it's not based on his parents and about his first time narrating one of his novels.