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Guess what, Mango?

What's that, Will?

So a lot of us listen to audiobooks these days, but something I learned just the other day,

did you know that they were created almost 100 years ago? That's right, Mango, audio books, 100 years ago. And they were originally produced specifically for blind people.

Wait, really? I thought audiobooks were invented like 20 years ago.

Nope. Actually, back in the early 20th century, the main way for blind people to access written text was Braille. But, you know,

Braille wasn't widely taught, so most folks didn't know it all that well. And after World War I,

there was this influx of soldiers coming home with vision impairment from various war injuries.

They didn't know how to read Braille either. So there was this sudden need for technology to help

them out. Now, conveniently around the same time,

there had been this huge advancement in phonograph technology. Early records only played

five minutes of sound per side, but now they could make records that could play up to 25 minutes

of sound per side. So an organization called the American Foundation for the Blind, worked with

the U.S. government, and other organizations, and they produced these spoken recordings of famous titles.

They called this new medium, Talking Books.

I love a straightforward name.

So what did they record first?

Well, the first talking books, which came out in 1934, included two Shakespeare plays, The Constitution,

you know, that's some good listening, and Washington's Farewell Address. But there were also

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