The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

6 folders of MP3s at 32kbps

In "The Wordy Shipmates," a meditation on the Puritans who colonized Massachusetts, author and radio personality Sarah Vowell lays out her familiar template - serious research delivered with irreverence. She opens with a sermon delivered in 1630 by Reverend John Cotton in Southampton, England, where 700 people are gathered to set sail for New England aboard the Arabella. Among this throng is John Winthrop, whose writings will shortly become the centerpiece of the book. Vowell writes of Cotton that "here is the smartest man in England," adding, "Getting him to bless the send-off .ñ.ñ. would be like scoring Nelson Mandela to deliver the commencement address at the neighbor kid's eight grade graduation."