Archived Shows:

Frequently asked questions:

How do I listen to Ogg Vorbis files?
In windows WinAmp will play both the archived files and the live stream.  If the live stream does not start by clicking on the link,  you can open it directly in Winamp by clicking on "File", then "Play URL...", and pasting the following into the "Enter URL..." box: http://bigelow-springs.net:8000/airamerica.ogg.m3u

In Linux, many players support Ogg Vorbis, including XMMS.  If you try and open the stream and your browser does not know what to do with the file, you can manually select XMMS, which is usually found in /usr/bin.  You can also directly open the stream by opening the following URL in XMMS:
http://bigelow-springs.net:8000/airamerica.ogg.m3u

I'm told ITunes supports the archive files (but not the stream) on Macs, but I have no way of testing this. I'm told:
"Get the latest version (1.0d7) of the opensource ogg decoder from sourceforge:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=41359
Installation on Mac OS X is easy: Just drop the decoder into /Library/QuickTime and start up iTunes or QuickTime Player."

Torrent version of files
These are "torrent" files. Torrents will often download much faster than regular files, because you will be downloading from multiple sources (see the BitTorrent webpage for details).

You will need a BitTorrent client program to download torrent files. You can download free BitTorrent clients for many operating systems here

Please leave your BitTorrent program open after you are done downloading, so you can contribute to others gettng the file.

Automatic Download Using RSS and Torrents
You can automatically download your favorite shows using the RSS feed, a bittorrent client, and a program to tie the two together. For an explanation of how it works see this Salon article.

I have tested this using the bittorrent client Azureus, with the RSSFeed plugin. If you have are using other bittorrent/RSS tools, please tell me if they work.

Configuration information:
RSS Feed URL - http://bigelow-springs.net/airamerica/rss.php
Example Filter (Assuming the filter searches the "Title") - Al Franken
Do not reload the RSS more than once every 30 minutes (i.e., "Obey TTL") or I will ban you.

How does it all work?
The stream and archive are generated by Icecast2/Ices2 controlled by a Python script, fed a live stream by Real Audio, on a Debian Linux server, with a Apache/PHP frontend.   If you are interested in obtaining these scripts (for your own use, or to tell me how to fix them) don't hesitate to contact me.

Why did I create this resource?
Practical Reasons:
I am a big fan of talk radio, but I cannot listen to Real Audio streams on the Linux box I use most of the day.  Getting Real Audio/Helix to work on a Linux box is a royal pain.  Most people are not going to want to spend the hours necessary to get it working.  My hope would be that Air America also start streaming using at least something as well supported as Shoutcast, if not Ogg Vorbis.

Philosophical Reasons:
Proprietary audio formats encumbered by burdensome licences are not something we should support/use when possible.  In the long run, we are all better off when the foundation tools we use are open source.  The fact that Real Audio is so hard to use (on any platform)  is partly because others are not free to tweak/debug it due to the licensing.

Contact: server@bigelow-springs.net