These are the public-domain voices we tried for Space and Time's station IDs. Each card plays the original archive recording, then a clone of that voice (made locally with the open-source Chatterbox model) saying two test lines.
The 39 marked voices were picked for the station. 36 of them made the final cut.
William Anders · Apollo 8 Highlights (NASA audio) · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Frank Borman · Apollo 8 Highlights (NASA audio) · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Lyndon B. Johnson · Apollo 8 Highlights (NASA audio) · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Speaker identity inferred from catalogue data
Donald K. 'Deke' Slayton · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference (NASA audio) · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
John H. Glenn Jr. · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
L. Gordon Cooper Jr. · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
T. Keith Glennan, NASA Administrator · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Dr. George M. Low, Acting NASA Administrator · Apollo 14 post-flight press conference (NASA audio, file 899-AAO) · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Unidentified NASA narrator · NASA Special Report 224 / Space Story 1022-1025 · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Speaker not identified
Unidentified narrator · Highlights 1965: A Progress Report (Part I) · Public domain: NASA-sponsored film.
Speaker not identified
Ronald Reagan · Wings for This Man (US Army Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit) · Public domain: US Army Air Forces film (federal work).
Noisy original
James Stewart · Winning Your Wings (US Army Air Forces) · Public domain: US Army Air Forces film (federal work).
Walter Huston or Anthony Veiller · Why We Fight: Prelude to War (War Dept) · Public domain: US War Department film (federal work).
Narrator is Walter Huston or Anthony Veiller; not verified
Robert Middleton · Duck and Cover (Federal Civil Defense Administration) · Public domain: US FCDA film (federal work).
Speaker identity from filmographies; not verified
Carlton Moss · The Negro Soldier (US War Department) · Public domain: US War Department film (federal work).
Speaker identity from film credits; not verified
Reed Hadley · Operation Ivy (US Dept of Energy/Defense test film) · Public domain: US DoD/AEC film (federal work).
Speaker identity believed, not verified
Willis Conover · VOA Jazz - Willis Conover (Hungary special) · Public domain: Voice of America broadcast (federal work).
Noisy original
Helen Reddy · Accomplished Women (USIA film, NARA) · Public domain: US Information Agency film (federal work).
Shirley Chisholm · Accomplished Women (USIA film, NARA) · Public domain: US Information Agency film (federal work).
Speaker identity uncertain: this clip may be Nikki Giovanni
Eleanor Roosevelt · Eleanor Roosevelt Speech on Human Rights (FDR Library video 309) · Public domain: FDR Presidential Library (National Archives) holding, marked public domain (CC0) on the Internet Archive.
Michael Collins · Apollo 11 Pre-Flight Press Conference (NASA film) · Public domain: NASA film (federal work).
Speaker identity inferred from catalogue data
Alan B. Shepard · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Walter M. Schirra Jr. · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
M. Scott Carpenter · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Robert R. Gilruth · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace II · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Brig. Gen. Don Flickinger USAF · First Seven Astronauts Press Conference · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Sally Ride · NASA Special Report 224 / Space Story 1022-1025 · Public domain: US federal government work (NASA).
Katharine Hepburn · Women in Defense (Office for Emergency Management film) · Public domain: US federal government film (NARA/Library holdings, IA lists CC0/PD).
Speaker identity from catalogue description; not verified; Noisy original
Clark Gable · Combat America (US Army Air Forces) Part II · Public domain: US Army Air Forces film (federal work).
Noisy original
John Huston · The Battle of San Pietro (US Army Signal Corps) · Public domain: US Army film (federal work).
Unidentified host · Science in Action: Aero Medicine (Part I) · Public domain: prelinger Archives.
Speaker not identified
Katharine Graham · Accomplished Women (USIA film, NARA) · Public domain: US Information Agency film (federal work).
Dr. Virginia Apgar · Accomplished Women (USIA film, NARA) · Public domain: US Information Agency film (federal work).
Speaker identity inferred from catalogue data
Nikki Giovanni · Accomplished Women (USIA film, NARA) · Public domain: US Information Agency film (federal work).
Speaker identity uncertain: this clip may be Shirley Chisholm
Porfirio Diaz · El Presidente Diaz al Señor Edison · Public domain: recording from 1909.
Attributed to Porfirio Diaz; the voice may be a reader
Rev. Calvin P. Dixon · The prodigal son · Public domain: published 1925, public domain from 1 Jan 2026 under the Music Modernization Act.
Dwight D. Eisenhower · Dwight D. Eisenhower Speech, January 17, 1961 · Public domain: speech by a sitting US President (US federal work).
Eleonora Olson · Sognekjaerring · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1918.
William E. Gladstone · The phonograph's salutation · Public domain: recording from 1888 (cylinder).
Harry Wagstaff Gribble · In a shoe store · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1923.
Raymond Hitchcock · Mr. Hitchcock's curtain speech · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1914.
Garrett A. Hobart · Words of welcome · Public domain: recording from 1898.
Speaker attribution unverified
John F. Kennedy · John F. Kennedy Speech, September 12, 1962 · Public domain: speech by a sitting US President (US federal work).
Gen. Nelson A. Miles · Visit of General Nelson A. Miles · Public domain: recording from 1914.
Sir Ernest Shackleton · My South Polar expedition · Public domain: recording from 1910 (cylinder).
G. H. Snazelle · A Whistling Yarn · Public domain: recording from 1913.
E. H. Sothern · Hamlet-Hamlet's Speech to the Players · Public domain: recording from 1921.
Theodore Roosevelt · The right of the people to rule · Public domain: recording from 1912.
Harry S. Truman · Address Of Harry S. Truman At His First Official Appearance Before Congress As President, 04-16-1945 · Public domain: speech by a sitting US President (US federal work).
Frank Lenord · "Voice trial" - Kinetophone actor audition · Public domain: recording from 1913.
Bob Lett · "Voice trial" - Kinetophone actor audition · Public domain: recording from 1913.
John Wanamaker · Tolstoy's plower story · Public domain: recording from 1908.
Sara Cone Bryant · Epaminondas · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1917.
Ellis Parker Butler · Mrs. Dugan's discovery · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1915.
Marie Cahill · Neighbors · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1924.
Cal Stewart · Uncle Josh in a cafeteria · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1919.
Andrew Carnegie · Andrew Carnegie · Public domain: recording from 1914.
Thomas A. Edison · The liver complaint story · Public domain: recording from 1906.
James M. Curley · Address of Welcome to Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, (Boston, July 17, 1924) · Public domain: published 1924, public domain from 2025 under the Music Modernization Act.
Dame Ellen Terry · Merchant of Venice-Mercy Speech · Public domain: 1911 disc, public domain under the Music Modernization Act.
Georgene Faulkner · Goldilocks and the three bears · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1912.
Franklin D. Roosevelt · FDR fireside chat · Public domain: speech by a sitting US President (US federal work).
Adeline Francis · Little Red Riding Hood · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1917.
Gilbert Girard · Santa Claus visits the children · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1921.
Edgar A. Guest · Ma and the auto · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1921.
Warren G. Harding · Address at Hoboken on return for burial of 5,212 American soldiers, sailors, marines, and nurses, May 23, 1921 · Public domain: speech by a sitting US President (US federal work).
Warren G. Harding · LEAGUE OF NATIONS · Public domain: 1920 disc, public domain under the Music Modernization Act.
Jerome Murphy · ROBERT EMMET'S SPEECH FROM THE BOOK · Public domain: published 1923, public domain from 2024 under the Music Modernization Act.
Josephus Daniels · Sec. of Navy Daniels. Edison Lab. Oct. 10, 1914 · Public domain: recording from 1914.
Frank Kennedy · Schultz at the Paris Exposition · Public domain: recording from 1900.
Sir Harry Lauder · Granny's laddie (one of the boys who went) · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1918.
Lyn Harding · reading Gunga Din Kipling · Public domain: recording from 1911.
Edwin Markham · Lincoln, the great commoner · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1916.
Ellis Meredith · Mr. Dooley's address to the Suffragists · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1914.
Florence Nightingale · Voice of Florence Nightingale 1890 · Public domain: 1890 cylinder, more than 135 years old.
Pauline Potter · Tom Thumb · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1914.
Chic Sale · Mr. Lem Underdunk's sleigh riding party · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1917.
Sir Arthur Sullivan · After dinner toast at Little Menlo · Public domain: recording from 1888 (cylinder).
William H. Taft · President Taft on a protective tariff · Public domain: 1912 campaign speech; recording public domain by age.
Siegfried Von Schultz · "Voice trial" - Kinetophone actor audition · Public domain: recording from 1913.
Will Rogers · Will Rogers talks to the bankers · Public domain: Library of Congress recording from 1923.
Woodrow Wilson · Woodrow Wilson on labor · Public domain: 1912 campaign speech; recording public domain by age.