I am Kyle's self-indulgence

I was searching for speeches that I can download and play for my Public Communications students when I found American Rhetoric's Online Speech Bank. They have a host of recordings of some of the most famous, infamous, and most important speeches in American history (or at least since the invention of the phonograph). It's a wonderful resource for anyone interested in politics and history.

Some of the speeches are only available in streaming audio, but there are many available for download in mp3 format. Just selecting the ones I was interested in, I easily found over thirty hours of material. Most of them are recorded in low bitrates, which means they don't even take up much space on my iPod. Here are a few gems I'm particularly happy about finding:

Martin Luther King speaking against the Vietnam War. Most of King's speeches are not available for download, but I'm very happy this one is.

Robert F. Kennedy speaking the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. It's very moving to listen to the crowd's reaction upon hearing the news for the first time.

Barbara Lee opposing Congress's resolution to invade Afghanistan. She was the only person in Congress to take this unpopular stand. I admire her resolve as well as her reasons for doing this.

And just for kicks:
Michael Moore's Oscar acceptance speech. It's interesting to hear how much he was booed considering what we know now and how public opinion has shifted.