the memory palace

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the memory palace

15 MAY

Episode 232: Oh, Herbert Morrison

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. On June 13th, 2025, I'll do a special, one-night-only live show at the Tribeca Audio Festival in New York City, joined by two of the audiobook's readers: Carrie Coon and Lili Taylor! www.thememorypalace.us/events. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music Pale by Akira Koresuma The Things Left Unsaid by Caleb Burhans VIII. Juliet by Matthew Bourne Dream House III: After Dust from Mary Ellen Child's beautiful album, Ethel. Here I Am, Two Warships, by Spirituals Notes You can listen to the whole, original recording here, and an enhanced, speed corrected version, here. One of the best places to learn about Herb's life is this documentary. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

23 min
1 MAY

Episode 231: On Dexter Avenue

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. During mid-May, 2025, I'm doing a Midwestern book tour, with stops in Minneapolis, Cincinatti, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Find out more at www.thememorypalace.us/events. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music That Moment by Antonymes Nocturne by Sololi Watching it Unfold by Lawrence English Notes You can access the self-produced history of the Sophie Bibb Chapter of the UDC here. The Alabama Encyclopedia site does a nice job with some of this stuff. You might want to check out Caroline Janney's book, Burying the Dead but Not the Past: Ladies' Mermorial Associations and the Lost Cause. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

18 min
17 APR

Episode 230: Helen Hulick Takes the Stand

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. During mid-April, 2025, I'm doing a southern book tour, with stops in San Antonio, Houston, Gainesville, Montgomery, New Orleans, and Oxford. Find out more at www.thememorypalace.us/events. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music Hallway Rug and a bit of Watering Plants by Omni Gardens Dripping Icicles from Lalo Schiffrin's great score to The Fox. Girl Talk by the Howard Roberts Quartet Jules et Therese from the score to Jules et Jim Franz Waxman's main title theme to Woman of the Year Your Love from the legend, Frankie Knuckles Then we go back and forth between Joe Morello's Timeless and Lara Downes playing Leonard Bernstein's Big Stuff. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

16 min
3 APR

Episode 229: Teammates

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. During mid-April, 2025, I'm doing a southern book tour, with stops in San Antonio, Houston, Gainesville, Montgomery, New Orleans, and Oxford. Find out more at www.thememorypalace.us/events. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music La Copla from Atahualpa Yupanqui Yes, Brick by Brick and Waende by Caeys Space in Between by Federico Albanese Kieke by Shida Shihabi Notes My favorite work on Mays is James Hirsch's glorious biography, Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend. I also recommend John Klima's Willie's Boys, about the Black Baron's 1948 season. If you're looking to get more context for the city during those years, I'd recommend Diane McWhorter's history, Carry Me Home. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

16 min
20 MAR

Episode 228: Free Time

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music Two from Lambert: Fremd and The Open Plantasia from Mort Garson's amazing, ridiculous album of the same name. Two from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans' score to Christine: Paranoia and Newsroom. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

12 min
11 MAR

Episode 227: A Brief Note Written After Learning the National Parks Service Removed the word Transgender from Stonewall'

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music Pockets of Light by Ludomyr Melnyk All in Circles and Janvie by Shida Shahabi Between Trees by Akria Kosemura Notes There are a million things to read about Stonewall, but the thing that I feel like deepened my understanding enough was The New York Public Library's The Stonewall Reader. Particularly the audiobook. Couldn't recommend it enough. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

13 min
24 FEB

Episode 176: The Air and the Sea and the Land

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Order Eliza McGraw's wonderful new book, Astride: Women, Horses and a Partnership that Changed America. This episode originally aired in February of 2021. Music Unsayable by Brambles. Kola - Lighthouse Version by amiina A Nearer Sun by the Westerlies Duet, a Steve Reich composition, performed by Daniel Hope. Reading a Wave by Arp April by Kanazu Tomoyuki Latent Sonata by Brian McBride Notes The oral history mentioned in this episode is available through the Smithsonian Instittion’’s archives. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

22 min
7 FEB

Episode 226: A Wild One

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Order Eliza McGraw's wonderful new book, Astride: Women, Horses and a Partnership that Changed America. Music Hallogallo from Neu!, basically one of the best songs there is. Notes There is a lot written about Bessie, including some wonderful children's books. The best thing I read about her was in Ann Farrar (a journalist and biker herself)'s book Hear Me Roar: Women, Motorcycles, and the Rapture of the Road. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

12 min

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DOCUMENTARY
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MUSIC
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SOCIAL SCIENCES
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PERSONAL JOURNALS