I don’t know if many people listen to podcasts as often as I do, but I stumbled upon one last night that I realized I had to talk about. Growing up with Star Trek: The Next Generation on at home all the time, I grew attached to LeVar Burton’s voice. When I discovered Reading Rainbow (it happened in that order for me) I was excited to hear him again. Fast forward decades, and I just discovered his podcast, “LeVar Burton Reads.” More on that below:
LeVar Burton Reads
I found the podcast quite on accident. A favorite pastime of mine is to watch or listen to interviews with famous authors. Stephen King usually does a great interview, so I searched for his name on Spotify. After sifting through a number of podcasts where people discuss his work, and even feature him as a guest, what do I see but LeVar Burton’s face!
As I’m typing this, the most recent episode of the podcast is of him reading “Afterlife” by Stephen King. While the story is far more vulgar than something you would hear read on Reading Rainbow, the premise is similar. Like the title of the podcast says, LeVar Burton Reads. It’s a gift I wish I had discovered earlier. There’s background music, tone effects, and more to really immerse you in the story. You even get a bit of insight from Burton at the end of the episode. It’s a real treat if you find yourself wishing you could read more short stories, but you don’t know where to start.
Short Story Reading Podcast
My idea behind recording “Nate Reads the Classics” videos is similar, although it’s a no-budget passion project. With “LeVar Burton Reads,” Burton and Stitcher (the company producing the podcast) are buying licenses to read the short stories, adding mood music and sound effects to create something incredible.
The variety of stories he reads is incredible too. Spotify has the podcast going all the way back to June 2017, with multiple episodes per month. Episodes usually hover between the half hour and full hour mark. If you don’t have money to buy an audiobook, this is one way to get some expertly read narrative pumping out of your bluetooth speaker or headphones for free.
The Future of “Nate Reads the Classics”
I’m inspired by LeVar Burton. It’s hard not to be. I am working on some projects that will improve the quality of my livestreams. While I streamed only to Facebook before, I will be switching to Twitch to build a bigger audience. I will still only be reading stories from the public domain, because I don’t have licensing money. It will still be a humble production, unless my book finds more support (hint hint). Speaking of…
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The Phyronian Chronicle 
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