The idea for this column was generated by an email from Barbara, a reader who requested a list of New Age radio stations she could connect with on the Internet. Within a day or two or receiving Barbara's request, another reader, Mark, sent an email suggesting that I review the Laura Lee Radio Show out of Seattle and Art Bell's program. Obviously, there is growing interest in Internet radio. So, here is a short, but comprehensive guide to what's out there right now.

First, a few ground rules. You'll need applications like Real Audio and/or Windows Media Player in order to use the streaming audio features at the radio sites. Usually there will be a link where you can download the applications for free. Next, the quality of your listening experience will depend on a number of variables including the speed of your connection and the amount of overall traffic on the Net. The Art Bell site, in fact, includes a link to Knowledgebase.net that tries to answer questions about stops and starts related to buffering, computer freeze-ups, and a host of other issues.

When everything is working smoothly, the Internet radio experience is great. You can tune in to a live show or the archive of a past show and listen while you browse other sites or work on computer projects. When it doesn't work... Well, you know how that goes in the world of computers.

The Guide

A.M. With Art Bell (www.artbell.com): Art Bell's Coast to Coast program is probably the granddaddy of all alternative or New Age radio shows. Its web site is well-developed and it is the only one that seems to address the problems of streaming audio through a link to an in-depth help section. You can use the site to find out about upcoming programs or to find out how to order tapes of past programs. There is no free audio streaming at this site—not even sample clips. A new subscription service allows you to listen to any Art Bell Show from the last 60 days.

ConsciousPla.net (www.ConsciousPla.net): This site was reviewed in an earlier Cyberweave column. ConsciousPla.net is a guide to Life-Enhancing Media. Some of the sites in this column are also listed at ConsciousPla.net. Other sites like Earth & Sky Radio and World Radio Network don't fit into the New Age/Spirituality category, but broadcast a wealth of valuable information. The site also has a section called "Conscious.TV."

HarmonyNet Media Group (http://www.harmonynetradio.com): HarmonyNet specializes in online radio interviews that introduce listeners to the leading personalities of the New Thought and Awareness worlds. Providing a variety of 'on demand' programming, these insightful interviews are available when the listener is ready to hear them. The site features The Great A-Ha Café with Georgi Streetman, Radio Positive.com with the "Z" Man, Healing a Family with Patrick Michaels, Wake Up Laughing with Swami Beyondananda, Psychic Highway with Sonia Choquette, and Coaching Works with Curious George Copsey and Melanie Keveles. HarmonyNet's goal for 2002 is to have 100 million listeners. Their reasoning goes like this: "All things are possible with sufficient visualization, activation, and intention, wouldn't you say? We've already done it with 10 million, so we've figured out how to do it with 100 Million. It will be a wild ride."

The Infinite Mind (http://www.theinfinitemind.com): The Infinite Mind is a weekly public radio show focusing on the art and science of the human mind and spirit, behavior, and mental health. It is heard in over 150 public radio markets in the US and Canada. In Chicago, selected shows are aired on WBEZ-91.5 FM. Programs feature a full spectrum of issues involving the human mind. Guests include leading researchers on the mind and the brain, psychiatrists, psychologists, policy experts, advocates, clinicians, celebrities, authors, musicians and journalists. Program archives are available for on-line listening. One interesting archived show, for example, is entitled "Parapsychology: Science and Psychics." The show features Dr. Judith Orloff, a psychiatrist who openly uses intuition in her practice and author of Second Sight. It also features a basic overview of parapsychology by Dr. Charles Tart from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, director of research for the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

Laura Lee Online (www.lauralee.com): This site features programs from Conversation for Exploration with Laura Lee out of Seattle. The home page has a box with the headline "NOW PLAYING." On February 3rd, for example, the featured shows were "James Redfield & Michael Murphy: Consciousness Evolving and Tolly Burkan: Testing Your Inner Mojo." The shows repeat at the top of every other hour. Laura Lee Online has been on the web since 1995. According to Laura, her show serves as a "forum to meet the researchers of tomorrow today, and get the cutting edge while it's still sharp." The site also features Weekly Enews, a Chat Room, a Bulletin Board, and an Audio On Demand section that allows you to listen to hundreds of hours of interviews from the show's audio archives.

New Dimensions Radio (http://www.newdimensions.org/indexhome.html): If Art Bell's Coast to Coast is the grandpa of alternative radio, then New Dimensions is a grandma. New Dimensions is dedicated to presenting a diversity of views from many traditions and cultures, and strives to impart practical knowledge and perennial wisdom. There is some free listening at the site. For example, during the January 21 – 27 time period, you could tune in to "Ethics, Energy, Economics and Equity for Everyone with Anita Roddick." However, this is another site that is promoting a subscription service. By joining their Listening Club, you get exclusive access to over 300 programs. Before you subscribe, however, make sure you can actually connect to their programs. Maybe I was just experiencing Superbowl Sunday bandwidth problems, but I had trouble connecting when I tried to sample the programs in their Audio Excerpts section.

Sound & Spirit Series (http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/pri/spirit/index.html): Sound & Spirit is a weekly series of hour-long radio programs exploring the human spirit through music and ideas. It blends classical, traditional, and world music with myth and history, stories and poetry, and commentary from composers, theologians and writers, The goal is to provide insight into various aspects of the human experience. Sound & Spirit is hosted by Ellen Kushner and produced by WGBH Radio Boston for Public Radio International. The series can be heard on some public radio stations. But if you're in Chicago you're out of luck. The only Illinois stations carrying the program are in Macomb, Warsaw, Pittsfield, and Springfield. This is why Internet radio can be so important. The site's On the Web section gives you a list of stations, dates and times that allow you to listen via streaming audio online. Links to the stations are provided.

The Thomas Pecora Show (www.thomaspecora.com): Many folks in Chicago are familiar with the Thomas Pecora Show. Pecora's guests have included Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Wallace Black Elk, Jean Houston, and Gregg Braden. You can also tune in to selected interviews at the web site. When I visited the site in early February, the Current Guest Interview Archive was with Master Stephen Co, senior disciple of Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui, an authority and founder of "Pranic Healings."

Wisdom Media (http://www.wisdommedia.com/): The Wisdom Media site not only features streaming audio, but also streaming video. Their WISDOM® Television and WISDOM® Radio divisions provide 24/7 programming on the Net. Programming can also be accessed via C-band satellite systems and via Sirius Satellite Radio, a new subscription radio service that provides CD quality sound anywhere in the United States. The Wisdom Media homepage gives you a list of what is currently airing. On Sunday afternoon, February 3rd, for example, the radio selections included "Classic New Dimensions," "Jill and Friends," and "Carolyn Craft's Inner Wisdom." Past programs are archived. The site features a complete listing of Wisdom Media programming. You can customize the schedule for your time zone. There is also a free WISDOM® Newsletter that you can subscribe to.

There's the guide. I think it's pretty complete. However, if I've missed anything, let me know. I'll review it in a future column.

Do you have a favorite spiritual or personal growth Web site that you'd like me to review? Please drop me an e-mail at Monty764@aol.com. And remember, I also want to hear your story about how the Internet and the World Wide Web have impacted your journey toward self-realization. A short e-mail questionnaire is available by contacting Monty764@aol.com. Just fill it out and e-mail it back. Your contribution will help me complete my Spirituality & the Internet Research Project and, in turn. Will help others who are undertaking a similar pilgrimage.