The internet continues to bring wonderous offerings. Take podcasts, which you can download for free from iTunes. LASN editor Stephen Kelly recently learned that more than 100 universities worldwide are making class lectures available for free in the form of audio and video podcasts. He happened to hear this useful bit of information while listening to the five-minute ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Just to try it out, Stephen, who has for many year enjoyed the French language, listened to a lecture in French by Thomas Pavel, an author and professor of French literature, podcast from the venerable Coll???????oege de France (founded in 1530). He could have jumped back on this side of the Atlantic in seconds and listened in on a Duke University law lecture, or grappled with a Stanford podcast on quantum physics, or started a beginning chemistry course at Berkeley, or boned up on the latest thinking on business from the esteemed Wharton School. There are also tons of individual lectures on myriad topics for just about any interest. This is truly amazing!

Dan Colman, director of Stanford University’s continuing studies program, has created the Open Culture weblog, a listing of free course offerings at U.S. and foreign universities. Visit oculture.com.