Thomas Dolby on being like Austin Powers (spoken word)

Starting in the early 1990s, Thomas Dolby spent more than a decade out of the music business, building his company Beatnik from a MIDI synthesizer and web audio firm into the world’s leading provider of polyphonic mobile phone ringtones. Now he’s back recording and touring, and says he’s like the Austin Powers of the music industry, unfrozen and amazed at the new opportunities. He spoke (13 MB MP3 file) in November 2006 in Seattle, and I recorded him there. This is the full 42-minute version; an eight-minute edited version appears in episode #28 of Inside Home Recording, the podcast I co-host. Licensed for you to share and reuse, as long as you give me and Thomas Dolby credit.

Writing and editing in the new tech world (spoken word)

In October 2006 I spoke to the Editors' Association of Canada about writing and editing (15 MB MP3 file) for websites, email, podcasts, and other new-technology media, which is what I do for a living and as a hobby. I also talked a bit about how search engines work, what “Web 2.0” is, and so on. Licensed for you to share and reuse, as long as you give me credit.