As a balm for the self-isolation woes of bibliophiles the world over, LeVar Burton announced this week that he’ll be doing Twitter livestreams of his podcast LeVar Burton Reads every other weekday. First on the menu: the works of Neil Gaiman.
The author was one of many who offered up their stories when Burton asked Twitter to suggest reading selections for the live-stream. While the former Reading Rainbow host originally planned to “avoid legal complications” by sticking to short stories in the public domain, Gaiman gave him “blanket permission” to use any of his stories.
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Drowned Country
In order to avoid legal complications, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole searching through volumes of short stories in the public domain for appropriate content for families and have come up empty.
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) March 24, 2020
In the meantime if you’re an adult craving some story time, check out the podcast. https://t.co/FPEoARNWz3
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) March 24, 2020
You good Sir, are my hero! Sending love to you and yours during these turbulent times. 🙏🏾💜
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) March 25, 2020
Others who replied included Cory Doctorow, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ellen Klages, Ari Marmell, Diane Duane, Vylar Kaftan, and many more.
As Burton announced, the LeVar Burton Reads Twitter live-streams will begin on Friday, April 3, with “a selection” of Gaiman’s works. Although the host did not reveal which short stories he’ll read, he did specify that Fridays he’ll be reading adult fiction with the livestream beginning at at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET. Monday readings will feature children’s fiction at 9 am PT/12 pm ET, and Wednesdays will be for young adult stories at 3 pm PT/6 pm ET.
Burton has yet to announce a line-up of authors for future live-streams.
