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Music

• Joy, by Jeffrey Cantu-Ledesma
• The Cradle by Frederico Albanese

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Music

• Swiming by Explosions in the Sky
• Walking Song by Kevin Volans and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble
• I Walk on Guilded Splinters by Johnny Jenkins
• Seduction by the Balanescu Quartet
• Lunette by Les Baxter and Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman
• Running Around by Buddy Ross
• September by Giles Lamb

Notes

• This episode was pieced together from a ton of little fragments but I wanted to steer folks to a couple of resources in particular: this excellent article from a few years back in the Toronto Star by Katie Daubs, and this documentary from filmmaker, Amy Nicholson, that primarily uses the Zipper as a way to talk about changes at Coney Island but has some great details from Harold Chance and his sons. 

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Music

• Pollen and Photosynteses by H. Takehashi
• Ediacaran Moonrise by Barry Walker, Jr.
• To the Cellar from Krzysztof Komeda’s wonderful score to The Fearless Vampire Killers.
• Blue Sutura from Piero Piccioni’s score to Il medico della mutua.
• 3-Sized PF and Let’s Go Crazy!, both by Takahiro Kido
• Emerald Ash by Golden Brown
• Merry-Go-Round by Domenique Dumont
• Aquel Senor by the mighty, Frankie Reyes
• Tesko Me Ja Zaboravit Tebe by Banko Mataja

Notes

• You can read the article by Katherin Parkin here.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Blithe Field does RD 1
• O Venezia, Venuga, Venusia by Nino Rota
• Carthage by Hayden Perdido
• Nice Breeze, Isn’t It? from Simon Rackham
• Mystere by amiina
• Blithe Field also does Racing Backward
• as well as Prelude

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• The Return by Library Tapes
• Erased Duet by Valgeir Sigurdossen
• 3-sized PF by Takahiro Kido
• Vals Efter Lasser I Lyby by Lofoton Cello Duo

Notes

• Totally recommend Bruce Levine’s Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice.
• I encourage you to check out the Thaddeus Stevens Society.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Dance PM from Horishi Yoshimura
• Amor – C.B. Rework by Clark
• Here’s What You’re Missin by Bing and Ruth
• Meredith Monk’s Ellis Island as played by Bruce Brubaker
• Alto Paraiso by Aukai
• Opening from Nathaniel Bartlett
• Rivers That you Cannot See by North Americans
• First of the Tide by Erland Cooper featuring Benge

Notes

• The episode old episode I mention in the credits as a companion to this one is here.
• Most of the biographical details in this were found in the official biography written for the National Academy of Sciences by his Uranium-hunting colleague, George Tilton, and a terrific, entertaining oral history interview.
• Also, if you’ve left episode in the mode where you’d just like to know some more, I came across this old Mental Floss article by Lucas Reilly that I thought did a particularly good job of weaving a lot of the back story (some of which I’d covered before in the Midgely episode linked above) into Patterson’s story. Just wanted to shine a light on it.

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Music

• Fragment I by Library Tapes
• Don’t Forget to Breathe Eh by Kelpe
• Here I Am, Two Warships by Spirituals
• Elfe by Dario Lessing
• Jahrzeit from American Contemporary Music Ensemble
• Alarm Will Sound’s version of Jynweythek ylow
• 2400 by Martyn Hynes

Notes

• I found a couple of books particularly useful if you want to learn more about Barbara Johns. Richard Kluger’s classic Simple Justice and a really lovely book for younger readers called The Girl From the Tar Paper School by Teri Kanefield.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Time Beat by Ray Cathode
• Rabbits of the Void by Tomaga
• Weightless by the Neil Cowley Trio
• Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams I: Racing Through the Stars by The Lark Quartet
• Switchcraft by Chilly Gonzalez
• Sky Breaking, Clouds Falling by Mason Lindahl

Notes

• There’s a ton written about The Crash at Crush but the one I’d recommend is Train Crash at Crush, Texas: America’s Deadliest Publicity Stunt, by Mike Cox

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• How to be Invisible, by Thruppence.
• Motion by Peter Sandberg.
• Art Blakey’s magical, Come out and See Me Tonight
• And, of course, So What, from Kind of Blue

Notes

• I relied a lot on this extensive oral history interview from The Smithsonian.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Midnight Moon from Annalisa Tornfelt and Gideon Fraudmann’s album, Spring Breakup: Songs for Alaska.
• A couple of numbers from Marcelo Zarvos’ wonderful score to the wonderful, Please Give.
• A remarkable piece of music called Spectacle of Ritual by Kali Malone
• And another called Pauvre Simon from Sylvain Chauveau

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Mother’s Love by The Vernon Spring
• Avinu Malkenu by Lofoten Cello Duo
• Vakenatt by Daniel Herskedal
• Computer Love by Balenescu Quartet
• Sunshine on Fish Skin by Girls in Airports
• Cabiria e el ragioniere from Nino Rota’s score to Nights of Cabiria

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Pollen by H.Takahashi and, later, Photosynthese.
• The New York Herald Tribune by Martial Solal
• Trying Something Again, Again by Lullatone
• Wiffle Ball from Joel P. West’s score for Short Term 12
• The title theme to Cani Arrabbiati
• Increase by David Lang and Alarm Will Sound
• Nijuichi by Sylvain Chaveau
• Occam II for Violin by Eliane Radigue
• Drunken Aviator by the (great, truly) Ida.
• Eyes Closed and Travelling by Peter Broderick

Notes

• If you are looking to read more about Betty, I’d suggest Rosanne Montillo’s terrific book, Fire on the Track.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Wasser by H.Takahashi

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music:

• Flowering Jasmine as performed by Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Batica.
• Kaspburger by Clogs
• #20 (Lichen) by Berndan Eder Ensemble
• Fall Again by Duval Timothy, Lil Silva and Melanie Faye.
• Wurzer by H.Takahashi
• Bone Collector by Julian Lage and Chris Etheridge
• Titan’s Island by Ancient Oceans

Notes:

• My favorite account (among many) of Richard Etheridge and the story of the Pea Island Surfmen is Fire on the Beach by David Wright and David Zoby.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music:

• Suite from A Hatful of Rain from the GOAT, Bernard Herrmann
• Sexfaldur from amiina
• Piano 1 from Emily Sprague
• Earring from Julia Wolfe and Lisa Moore
• The Squirrel, from Herrmann’s score to The Three Worlds of Gulliver
• All in Circles by Shida Shinabi
• Them by Nils Frahm

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music:

• Rosee by Piano Novel
• Eyes Closed and Traveling by Peter Broderick
• Future Waves by Uther Moads
• Go Home by h. hunt
• Juneau from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians score to Wildlike

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• The Last Days of Summer by Maria Avnos.
• Broad Channel (Solo Piano) by Bing & Ruth
• Homesickness (v. 1) by the phenomenal Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou

Notes

• Here she is with Steve Harvey.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

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.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Metaphysical Waltz by Shirley Meyer Blankenship
• …morphs into Jock O’Hazeldean by Cynthia Boener
• There’s Dominique Dumont’s La bataille de neige
• The Squimp from the Chico Hamilton Quintet
• Fruit of Dreams by Les Baxter
• Rags to Riches by Tony Bennett

Notes

• Best place to go if you want to learn a lot about Todd Storz is The Birth of Top 40 Radio: The Storz’ Stations Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s by Richard Fatherly and David MacFarland.
• For a loving history of the whole era, you’d probably enjoy Ben Fong Torres’ The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Sarah in Bath from Komeda’s great score to The Fearless Vampire Killers
• David Goes Hunting from Larry Groupe’s great score to Straw Dogs
• When It’s Time to Go by Buddy Fo and His Group (great name for a backing band, btw)
• Completely Gone from Ludwig Gorannson’s score to Everything, Everything
• Peri Banu vid sjon (Version) by DUNGEN
• Debut by Christopher Ferreira

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Waltz for Sky by Muriel Botsdorp
• A Gathering to Lead me When You’re Gone by Brian McBride
• #20 (Lichen) by Brendan Eder Ensemble
• Electronium Movie Score by Raymond Scott
• Someday We’ll Linger in the Sun by Gaelynn Lea
• #32 (Harp) by Nearly Oratorio

Notes

• By far the most fun and helpful thing I read for this episode was Michael O’Malley’s, Keeping Watch: A History of American Time.

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Memory Waltz from Bernard Herrmann’s score to The Snows of Kilimanjaro
• Pink Champagne from Harry Warren’s score to An Affair to Remember
• Jonalah from the Chico Hamilton Quintet
• Brouillard, version 2 from Delerue’s Jules et Jim score
• Living by Sebastian Plano

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A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Spiderwebs of Clouds by Olivia Belli

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This episode contains a full reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Masque of the Red Death.” Use your discretion before listening. It is both one of the more macabre stories from Poe and it is hitting harder than usual during these peculiar times.

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We hear a couple from Alabaster DePlume’s To Cy & Lee album, Whisky Story Time and Not My Ask.

Bibio’s CAPEL BETHANIA.

The Sage, by the Chico Hamilton Quintet.

The Last Tears of a Deceased by Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou.

Too Small for Eyes by Mothers.

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• Ruth and Sylvie from Daniel Hart’s score to Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

• The Walk from Bernard Hermann’s score to Tender is the Night
• Reflector by Bing and Ruth
• Requiem from Nico Mulhy’s score to How to Talk to Girls at Parties
• Under Siege from Warren Ellis’ score to Mustang
• Spaces in Time from Per Nargard and the Stavenger Symphony
• Theme de l’eau from Hikaru Hayashi’s score to The Naked Island
• Bus Ride from the score to Wildlike
• Duke Ellington playing Single Petal from a Rose

Notes

• There’s quite a bit written about Isaac Israel Hayes. You can find his own account of his trip to find the non-existant, open polar sea here.
• I owe the Detroit newspaper quote to this excellent article by Albin Kowaleweski.

The post A Strange Land appeared first on the memory palace.

Stay safe, be well, wash your hands.

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A note on shownotes. In a perfect world, you go into each episode of the Memory Palace knowing nothing about what’s coming. It’s pretentious, sure, but that’s the intention. So, if you don’t want any spoilers or anything, you can click play without reading ahead.

Music

• We hear For Johann by Vikingur Olaffson.
• And Futo by Shida Shahabi.

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We hear The Icelandic Society of Phallogy from Rob Simonsen score to The Final Member.
And one of my favorite songs, Every Day a Sunrise, A Summer from The Telegraph Melts.

Notes

I read and enjoyed The Golden Age of the Newspaper by George Douglas.
I first learned about Moses Yale Beach and the pigeon reporters in an aside in one of the fantastic stories in Banvard’s Folly by Paul Collins, a book you should purchase right now.

The post The Newest News appeared first on the memory palace.

• Field of Reeds by Leo Svirsky.
• Stellify by Federico Albanese.
• Opening by Nathanial Bartlett.
• Turning 16 by Ben Sollee.

Notes

• I strongly recommend checking out Annelise Orlick’s Common Sense and a Little Fire, an exhilarating history of Pauline Newman, Rose Schneiderman and other women at the center of the labor movement in the 20th Century.

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Music

• Philharmonics (Piano Sessions), from Agnes Obel.
• Pre-Barok by Mica Levi and Oliver Coates.
• Space in Between by Federico Albanese.
• Warm Canto by Mal Waldron.
• Blink by Hiroshi Yoshimura.

Notes

• There are two lovely books I relied on heavily for this story: Something to Prove: A Biography of Ann Lowe, Forgotten Designer by Julia Dockery Smith.
• And Rosemary Read’s The Threads of Time, Fabric of History.

The post The House of Lowe appeared first on the memory palace.

• Artifices from Chapelier Fou.
• A smidge of Equality Under the Law from John Williams score to Lincoln.
• I Can See Your Tracks (Instrumental) from Laura Veirs.
• Bone Collector by Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge
• Some of Increase by David Lang
• Serenade for Alto Saxophone and Strings: IV Stella’s Dance by David Liptak
• Johnny Griffin’s version of Woody’n You
• Last Days of Summer by Maria Avos

Notes

• This story started by reading The War Lovers: Lodge, Hearst, Roosevelt and the Rush to Empire, Evan Thomas’ history of the Spanish American War.
• Doris Kearns Goodwin adds more in The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys.
• Lodge’s memoir is here.
• Robert Grant’s is here.
• Henry Adams’ is here.

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Music

• Cul-de-Sac from Krzysztof Komeda’s Knife in the Water.
• The Mistral Noir by Daniel Herskedal.
• Trakors by 1900.
• Eloy by Deaf Center.
• Leaping Dance from the Netherlands Wind Ensemble
• And Facing the Obstacles from Rob Simonson’s score to the Final Member.

Notes

• This episode relied heavily on the work and research of Professor Gabriel Rosenberg of Duke, using his article, “No Scrubs: Livestock Breeding, State Power, and Eugenic Knowledge in the Early 20th Century United States” as a guide and jumping off point for other research.

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MUSIC

• Amalgamation Waltz 1839 by Joep Beveng
• Now by Goldmund
• Wander On from Joel P West’s score to Band of Robbers.
• Tomato Day by Kelpe.

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• Waveland by Noam Pikelny.

Notes

• I relied a lot on the extensive articles on the Monticello historic home’s site maintained by the University of Virginia.
• As well as Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance by Damon Lee Fowler.

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Music

• Still Space by Satoshi Ashikawa.

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• Inside River, Pt. 1 by Akira Kosuemura. .
• Sonata for Solo Cello 1: Dialogo by Ligeti, performed by Miklos Perenyi.
• All the Land Ablaze by Laura Cannell
• Frost Trees from Lalo Schiffren’s score to The Fox.
• And Finding the Flag from Georges Delarue’s score to The Day of the Dolphin.

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• We start with 666 from the score to The Omen.
• Transition to Fremd by Lambert.
• Go to Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett.
• Hear some of Leonard Berstein’s score to Rebel Without a Cause.
• Hit Denmark by the Portland Cello Project
• And hear some of Musette’s On the Green Tape.

Notes

• Bobby’s story is covered in a lot of histories of one hit wonders and novelty tunes. But, if you want to really dig in, you should read, Monster Mash: Half Dead in Hollywood, his autobiography.

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• We start with The Dane by Nihls Frahm.
• Move in and out of Reading a Wave by Arp
• Which mixes briefly with Stephen Gosling and Blair Macmillan playing John Adams’ Hallelujah Junction.
• We also here Umitaro Abe play Reperages Pour Piano.
• And Brambles play Such Owls as You.

Notes

• There’s a pretty comprehensive book on Bayocean by Bert and Margie Webber called Bayocean: the Oregon Town That Fell Into the Sea
• There’s also a terrific website that appears to be regularly updating that’s filled with all sorts of stories and resources about Bayocean.

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• We start with the Opening of Craig Armstrong’s score to Far From the Madding Crowd.
• Glass Houses no. 13 from Ann Southam.
• Earring from Julia Wolf.
• Occam II for Violin from Eliane Radigue.
• Rearranging Furniture from Gabriel Yared’s score to By the Sea.
• A bit of Movement II from Martynov, “Come in!” by Vladimir Martynov.

Notes

• Plenty written about the Willie D.. I found Roger Branfill-Cook’s Torpedo: the Most Revolutionary Weapon in Naval History to be particularly useful.
• I also enjoyed stumbling upon this day-by-day breakdown of F.D.R.’s Presidency.

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• We hear Vaggvisa by Henrik Lindstrand.
• Then Kestrel, off the album by the same name from Caoimhin O Raghallaigh.
• Ljuva mekaniska jag by 1900.
• A loop from When it’s Time to Go, by Buddy Fo & his Group.
• A bit of Movement II from Martynov, “Come in!” by Vladimir Martynov.
• Making Love in the Apartment from Krysztof Komeda’s score to Rosemary’s Baby.
• And the Mistral Noir, from Daniel Herkedal.

Notes

• There’s a lot written about Kelly and his times, none more enjoyable than Bill Bryson’s in One Summer: America, 1927.
• The best academic book that touches on Kelly and his times is Dance Marathons: Performing American Culture in the 1920s and 30s, by Carol Martin.

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• Absence by Matti Bye.

Notes

• There are a number of excellent books about Viola Liuzzo. I found Selma and the Liuzzo Murder Trials by James P. Turner particularly fascinating.

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• On-ness by Tom Rogerson and Brian Eno.
• My Mamma Pinned a Rose on Me by Esmerine.
• Some of Eloy by Deaf Center.
• Saturday Evening by Tomasz Benarczyk
• Solitary Living by The Flashbulb
• A Minor by Kid606

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• Duet for Ghosts by Ed Harcourt tops and tails this one.
• We here the top of Pomeriggio Zenzero from Paulo Conte.
• Some of Thankful by Bill Frissell.
• And Ingo Metzmacher’s 6th Study for Player Piano

Notes

• The most comprehensive thing I read on George Melendez Wright is from this supplementary piece to the Burns National Parks documentary, by Susan Shumaker.

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• We hear both Baracolle and Ice World from Saloli’s album, The Deep End.
• We hear Ensemble Recherche do Morton Feldman’s Something Wild in the City
• As well as De Wolfe Music do Moonbird.
• Harry Kalahiki does that Ukelele version of Claire de Lune
• We get a snipped of Eartheater’s Peripheral
• And E Ruscha V’s The Hostess

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• We hear Concierto Para Piano Y Orquesta En Sol Mayor – Adagio Assi as played by Martha Argerich.

Notes

• Jacob S. Robinson’s Journal of the Santa Fe Expedition Under Colonel Doliphan in 1846.
• Hampton Sides’ fantastic Blood and Thunder.

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• We start off with a touch of Hills in the Rain, by Simon Rackham.
• Go to a bit of Narkopop 1 by Gas.
• Then gaze in wonder to Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite: Sunrise, as performed by the Cincinatti Pops Orchestra
• We listen to two versions of Trying Something Again, Again by our friends in Lullatone.
• And go out on Jaybird, by Charlie Parr

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• We start off with Chez Thomas, by Charles Delarue
• Go to The Graceful Ghost, one of William Bolcom’s 3 Ghost Rags.
• Then Krzysztof Komeda’s Ballet Edude II
• A touch of Ellington playing A Single Petal on a Rose.
• Then Concerto no. 5 en la minuer: Allegro ma non molto, as performed by Wilhelm Friedeman Bach and Brigitte Haudbebourg frames…
• Philharmonics – Piano Sessions found on the Deluxe Edition of Agnes Obel’s Philharmonics album.
• Then we go to Nathaniel Johnson’s gorgeous, Penelope’s Theme from the score to the delightful film, The Brothers Bloom.
• Sneeuwland by Oskar Schuster.
• Judith by Jacob David.

Notes

• I read a bunch of articles on Jackie, but if you’re looking for one-stop-shopping that can send you off in other research avenues, I’d probably suggest this article by Zack Harold in Lapham’s Quarterly.

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• First up is Requiem from Nico Muhly’s score to How to Talk to Girls at Parties.
• November by Colleen.
• Edward Hong’s arrangement of Sleep from the Smoke and Mirrors Percussion Ensemble.
• The solo version of Broad Channel by Bing & Ruth
• Won’t Be a Thing to Become by Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld

Notes

• Here’s Shane DuBay and Carl Fuldner’s study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, including Fuldner’s remarkable photographs.

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• Blink from Hiroshi Yoshimura
• Which comes in and out of Bjolukor Tonlisterakoli Reykjanesbaejar’s version of Sigur Ros’ Hoppipolla.
• Love Token by Elena Kats-Chernin, performed by Tamara Anna Cislowska
• And Joanna Brouk playing Maggi’s Flute – Lifting Off

Notes

• There’s a ton out there about the sixty starlings, the most comprehensive comes from Stephen Marche’s book, How Shakespeare Changed Everything.
• I also found Kim Todd’s Tinkering with Eden, particularly useful.

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• Sarah in Bath from Krysztof Komeda’s score to the Fearless Vampire Killers.
• Adagio for Glass Harmonica, K617a as performed by Vienna Glass Armonia Duo.
• Mr. Death Angel Flanders from John Barry’s score to Boom!
• And a bit of Imaginary Building from Elana Katz-Cherwin and Tamara-Anna Cislowska

Notes

• There’s a great American Heritage article on the history of Delmonico’s.
• There’s a nice write up on the Swan Dinner in American Phoenix: The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, by Sarah S. Kilborne
• Society as I Have Found It, Ward McAllister’s memoir of the Gilded Age is appropriately bonkers.

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• Only in the Dark by Ben Lukas Boysen
• Dream House III: After Dust by Mary Ellen Childs and Ethel
• Cello Gonzalez by Chilly Gonzalez

Notes

• A Brief History of Teratology to the Early 20th Century by Mark V. Barrow
• Environment and Birth Defects by James G. Wilson
• Six Principals of Teratology by James G. Wilson

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• We start off with an absolute banger from my old friends in Lightning Bolt, their track King Kandy.
• Then an old favorite, Blues to Elvin from the unstoppable, Coltrane Plays the Blues.
• We move to Everything is an Illusion by Kaada
• Hear Rolling by Collectress
• And finish out on The Dog by Group Listening.

Notes

• I read quite a bit for this one but nothing was more helpful (or more charming) than Save Womens Lives History of Washing Machines by Lee Maxwell, who bills himself on the cover as “Collector of Old and Unusual Washing Machines.” God bless Lee and his patient wife.

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Music

• We hear both Easter and The Attachment by Michael Price.
• Some of DNA by Akira Kosemura.
• Piano & Violoncello 1 by Irena and Voltech Havel.
• Zucht 2 by Machinefabriek
• The Walk from the score to Tender is the Night.
• Rendez-vous from Allesandro Cicognini’s score to The Indiscretion of an American Wife.

The post The Dress in the Closet appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start with the very English, Voluntary No. 4 in b-flat Minor, by Margaret Phillips.
• Hear Nero’s Nocturne from Chilly Gonzales.
• Some of The Stars vs. Creatures by Colleen.
• Abide with Me from the Thelonious Monk Septet off his Monk’s Music album.
• Walzer fur Robert by Anne Muller off of Erased Tapes Volume 5.
• Evening at Eight by Keith Kenniff.
• and Berceuse by Alexandra Streliski.

The post Antidisestablishmentarianism appeared first on the memory palace.

• We hear Waltz from the score to Angels & Insects.
• Movements IV and II from David Liptak’s Serenade for Alto Sax and Strings.
• A bit of Violin Solo no. 1 from Peter Broderick.
• Some of Zucht 2 from Machienfabrik.
• A bit of Origami Tulips from Lullatone.
• Unseen Forces from Justin Walter.
• Midnight Moon from Annalisa Tornfelt and Gideon Freudman
• Ida Lupino from Paul Bley’s Changes album from 1965.
• And Lost Fur (Reprise) from the score to Where the Wild Things Are.

Notes

• Many of my favorite things I read for this piece were contemporary newspaper tributes upon her death in 1911. They’re easy to find.
• By far the most useful thing I read was Lenore Skomal’s The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter: The Remarkable True Story of American Heroine, Ida Lewis. It’s very well researched and highly readable.

The post Ida Lewis appeared first on the memory palace.

• The music on this one comes from High Aura’d, a project from my old friend, John Kolodij. The main drone piece is All the Spirits that Dance. The beginning and end were composed specifically for this episode.

Notes

• I read a lot of articles from a lot of sources on this one, but the linchpin here is Jeffrey Lockwood’s book that, to my mind, convincingly solves the mystery of the vanishing locusts.

The post Lost Locusts appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start with Penguins from Michael Hurley.
• Hit Lullaby (the 1st) by the legendary, Lauren Connors, twice.
• Hear Gentle Threat, from Chilly Gonzalez.
• Equality Under the Law from John Williams’ Lincoln score.
• Start talking Philadelphia with Sun Ra’s Arkestra doing The Lady with the Golden Stockings.
• Maggi’s Flute – Lifting Off, by Joanna Brouk
• In an 18th Century Drawing Room from Raymond Scott.
• And Evelop from Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

The post Independence Hall 2: The Legend of Walter Knott appeared first on the memory palace.

• The Bundt Diaries from Ludwig Goransson’s score to Everything, Everything.
• Kola (Lighthouse Version) by Amiina.
• Snow Canon by Group Listening.
• The Morning After by the Chico Hamilton Quintet. (Man, I just watched The Sweet Smell of Success recently; the Chico Hamilton Quintet makes the best, sustained appearance in a great, great movie).
• Colleen’s Geometria del Universo.
• Bug’s Walk by Peter Storby Jutbring.
• Touch Me & Die by Kara-Lis Coverdale
• The Last Tears of a Deceased by the inimitable Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou.

A Correction: 

• I misspeak in the episode: Disneyland was celebrating its 30th Anniversary.

The post Uplift appeared first on the memory palace.

• Drunken Aviator by Ida.
• Back to Paris by Cyril Morin.

Notes 

• There’s a great resource of old ads and articles, including the one referenced in the piece here.
• The definitive work on this subject is Help Me to Find My People by Heather Andrea Williams.

The post Patience appeared first on the memory palace.

• White Light by Chihei Hatekeyama
• Between the Trees by Akira Kosemura
• Clockwork Toccatta, Op. 68 from Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet.
• End of Summer Part 3 by Hildur Gudnadottir and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
• A Gathering to Lead Me When You’re Gone by Brian McBride

Notes

• While the most comprehensive and useful thing I read for this piece was The Year Without a Summer: 1816 and the Volcano that Darkened the World and Changed history by William and Nicholas Klingaman, my favorite thing was this video of a news report on the work of Vermont historian, Howard Coffin.

The post No Summer appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start with Waveland by Norm Pikelny.
• Then a smidge of N.Y.C. from the original Broadway cast recording of Annie.
• The Stars vs. Creatures by Colleen.
• Wiese by Roedelius & Arnold Kasar.
• Then there’s some chaos built out of Missing Piece from the score to Broken City, Fog Tropes by Ingram Marshall, Spindrift by Colin Stetson, and Longing for a Frozen Sky by Ernst Reijseger.
• That heads into Wake by Aaron Martin & Machinfabriek.
• Galaxies Like Grains of Sand by Hampshire & Foat.
• Finishing on Minuet for Cheap Piano by Winged Victory for the Sullen

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• We hear Ferris Wheel by Gabor Szabo from one of his better late sixties records.
• Herman’s Malt from Jeff Russo’s score to Fargo Season 2.
• David Goes Hunting from Larry Groupe’s score to Straw Dogs.
• Double Portrait by Double Edge from the album, U.S. Choice.
• A snippet of Idea of Order at Kyson Point from an album Brian Eno did with Tom Rogerson.
• Bicycles and Flasks by Dan Romer.
• A bit of Il Tamoure dei Bambini from Piero Umiliani’s score to Le Isole Dell’amore
• A Naga Swaram-Snake Charmers Melody from Folk Music of India
• Finishes out on Completely Gone from Ludwig Goransson’s score to Everything Everything.

The post Snakes! appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start off with Theme de Simon from Georges Delerue.
• Go to Alpine Sketch from Christian Loffler’s Young Alaska.
• Hear some of Three Dances: II Pavane arranged for the Chromos Tuba Quartet.
• The Plum Blossom from Yusuf Lateef’s great Eastern Sounds record.
• Juve & Fandor by amiina.
• The Unquestioned Answer by Laura Spiegel.
• Etude by Joep Beving.
• Rainfall by David Darling and Michael Jones.

The post Junk Room appeared first on the memory palace.

• We hear Valentine My Funny by Nils Frahm and F.S. Blumm from the album Tag Eins Tag Zwei.

Notes

• This idea came to me a long time ago while researching an old episode. I read an extraordinary article from the 1890s that hung with me, particularly the notion of folks writing in to try to become sideshow attractions.

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• We start with Facing the Obstacles, from Robert Simonson’s score to The Final Member.
• Nice Breeze Isn’t It? by Simon Rackham
• The Things Left Unsaid, by Caleb Burhans.
• View from a Balcony by Isorinne.
• 1979 by Deru.
• The Julianna Barwick remix of This Will Destroy You’s The Puritan.

Notes

• I found this article by Chelsea Lenhart particularly useful.
• As I did this one by Edward Lawler, Jr.
• And this one by Kathryn Gehred.
• As well as W.E.B. DuBois’ The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study.
• Fritz Herschfield’s George Washington and Slavery, A Documentary Study. 

The post Hercules appeared first on the memory palace.

• We hit two sections from Bernard Herrmann’s score to Tender is the Night: The Embrace and The Breakdown.
• A bit of Sambolero by Luiz Bonfa.
• Labyrinth II by Caitlin Aurelia Smith.
• Walter Meets the Beaver from Marcel Zavros’ score to The Beaver.
• Two tracks, “1” & “2” from AAESPO’s album, Layers.
• Maria Arvos’ Last Days of Summer.
• And Time Times Three by Palm.

Notes

• The most comprehensive article I encountered on Doug Davis is here.
• I found this biographical essay on Otto Schnering particularly useful.
• The Oxford Companion to American Food & Drink, edited by Andrew F. Smith.

The post The Nickel Candy Bar appeared first on the memory palace.

• We move between three different pieces from Camille Saint-Saens’: Suite, Op. 90: II Menuet, and two from Carnival of the Animals:Aviary and the Cuckoo in the Heart of the Woods.
• We hit Juneau from Danny Bensi and Sander Jurriaans’ score to Wildlike.
• And The Waltz from their score to 5 to 7.
• And there’s a total gem from George Mukabi called Dila Ni Dila in there too.

Notes

• Do yourself a favor and read Frances Hamerstrom’s autobiography, My Double Life: Memoirs of a Naturalist.
• Do your kids a favor and Jeannine Atkins take on Frances in her book Girls Who Looked Under Rocks.
• And then watch Frances teach David Letterman how to cook a snake.

The post The Prairie Chicken in Wisconsin: Highlights of a Study of Counts, Behavior, Turnover, Movement, and Habitat appeared first on the memory palace.

• Sad Seine by Lambert.
• Titan’s Island by Ancient Ocean
• Flowering Jasmine as performed by Georgs Pelicis and Gidon Kremer
• Malpensa by Julia Kent

Notes

• I first came upon the Calhoun bit while re-reading Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism by Barbara Weisberg.
• Which us, among other places to J.H. Fowler’s New Testament “miracles” and Modern “miracles” 
• And to the delightfully named, The Ordeal of Life: Graphically Illustrated in the Experiences of Fifteen Hundred Individuals Promiscuously Drawn from All Nations, Religions, Classes, & Conditions of Men Alphabetically Arranged and Given Psychometrically, Through the Mediumship of John C. Grinnell, In the Presence of the Compiler, Thomas R. Hazard. 

The post John C. Calhoun from the Opposite Side of the Line that Divides the Living from the Dead appeared first on the memory palace.

• Musica Seqenza play Schreza Infida
• Frederico Durand plas Lluvia de Estrellas
• The Martin Hayes Quintet plays The Boy in the Gap
• East Forest by Provenance
• There’s a bit of Madame Ovary from Bensi and Jurriaans and Christine
• It finishes on Three Dances: II. Pavane from Chromo Tuba Quartet

Notes

• Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday by James W. Baker and Peter J. Gomes sent me first down a Charlotte Mitchell rabbit hole.
• History of Plymouth, Norfolk, and Barnstable Counties, Massachusetts by Elroy S. Thompson
• History of the Town of Lakeville, 1852-1952 by Gladys De Maranville (which you probably own all ready but, here it is anyway).
• Indian History, Genealogy, Pertaining to the Good Sachem, Massasoit and his Descendants by Ebenezer Weaver Pierce.
• The great, The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity, by Jill Lepore.
• Massasoit of the Wamponoags: With Commentary on the Indian Character, by Alvin Gardner Weeks
• “Baby Pilgrims, Sturdy Forefathers, and One Hundred Percent Americanism: the Mayflower Tercentenary of 1920,” by Christine Arnold-Lourie in the Massachusetts Historical Review.
• “The Daughter of a King,” by Mike Maddigan in Southcoast Today.
• “The Last of the Wamponoags,” by Charles T. Scott in New England Magazine, vol. 33.
• I also looked at a number of news paper articles, most found at Newspapers.com through the expected search terms.

The post On the Shores of Assawompset appeared first on the memory palace.

• Up Niek Mountain by Peter Broderick
• El cascabel de plata by Federico Durand
• We hear just a little bit of imgs/ r by Kara-Lis Coverdale
• Dissolving Clouds by Biosphere
• Nebula by Julianna Barwick
• Only in the Dark by Ben Lukas Boysen

Notes

• Bittersweet: Diabetes, Insulin, & the Transformation of Illness by Chris Feudtner
• Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of A Medical Miracle by Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg
• I’d also recommend searching the New York Times archive for Elizabeth Hughes and Diabetes. It’s remarkable to go back and watch the story unfold.

The post Elizabeth appeared first on the memory palace.

• Afkald by Bremer/McCoy
• Peace by Oliver Coates.
• Day One Four by F.S. Blumm and Nils Frahm
• Displacement by Rafael Anton Irisarri

Notes

• Some sources for this one were The Glory and the Dream by William Manchester.
• Herbert Hoover: A Life by Glen Jeansonne
• Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of The Presidency, by Charles Rappleye
• The Life of Herbert Hoover, Humanitarian, by George H. Nash

The post Hoover appeared first on the memory palace.

• Sunrise Through the Dusty Nebula by Hannah Peel
• Keep by Nils Frahm
• Horizon Variations by Max Richter
• She cycles through: Where or When by Hal Kemp & His Orchestra, Smarty (You Know it All) by Fats Waller, Dear Mr. Gable: You Made Me Love You by Judy Garland, Hellhounds on My Trail by Robert Johnson, and The Big Apple by Tommy Dorsey and his Clambake Seven.
• Future Waves by Uther Moads.
• And Vapour Trail by Ride, forever.

The post A Brief Eulogy for a Commercial Radio Station appeared first on the memory palace.

• Memory as Mist by C. Diab
• Low Sudden by Daniel Lanois and Rocco DaLuca
• Beyond Romance by Lubomyr Melnyk

Notes

• By far the most comprehensive resource I found was Florida’s Hurricane History by Jay Barnes. If you’re looking to learn more, I’d definitely start there.

The post Sometimes the Rain Just Doesn’t Stop appeared first on the memory palace.

Nate DiMeo was the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Artist in Residence for 2016/2017. He produced 8 episodes inspired by the collection and by the museum itself. This is the eigth episode of that residency.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Elizabeth Aubert. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Artwork Discussed

• Hiawatha, Edmonia Lewis, 1868.
• Minnehaha, Edmonia Lewis, 1868.

Music

• L’oree Du Bois, by Sylvain Chauvau.

The post Two Small Sculptures (The Met Residency Episode 8) appeared first on the memory palace.

This very special re-run has all sorts of Brazil-related bonus content, including a full episode of Helen Zaltzman’s, The Allusionist. Subscribe to that fine podcast, here.

The post Orbes Cintilantes – A special summer episode appeared first on the memory palace.

Nate DiMeo was the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Artist in Residence for 2016/2017. He produced eight pieces inspired by the collection and by the museum itself. This is the seventh episode of that residency.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Elizabeth Aubert. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Artwork Discussed

• The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art.

Music

• The music in this piece was composed and performed by Mary Lattimore.

The post A Scavenger Hunt (The Met Residency Episode 7) appeared first on the memory palace.

• Max Och’s Ain’t Nobody High Raga.
• Frog’s Eyes by Evan Ziporyn
• Cooped up at Home with a Fever and a Tape Loop, by Lullatone
• Medieval Waters, from Carter Burwell’s score to In Bruges.
• Frost Trees, from Lalo Schifrin’s score to The Fox

Notes

• By far my favorite and the most thorough examination of the Pow Wow I came across was actually Disney Historian Todd James Pierce’s three (!) part series about the incident on his podcast Disney History Institute.

The post The Taking of Tom Sawyer’s Island appeared first on the memory palace.

• The most comprehensive book about Rose has to be Ann Blackman’s Wild Rose: The True Story of a Confederate Spy.
• I also found an old book, Rebel Rose: Life of Rose O’Neale Greenhow, Confederate Spy, by Ishbel Rossparticularly useful (if pretty rah-rah Confederacy, which gets kind of intense).
• Rose’s memoir is very readable, too.

Music

• Marnie, from Bernard Hermann’s score
• Don’t Worry, by Zoe Keating
• Debut, by Christopher Ferreira
• El cascabel de plata, by Federico Durand
• Technology, by Gareth Dickson
• Longest Road, by Gaussian Curve
• Troubles, by Sylvain Chauvau
• Compesicion en Rojo, by Bernardo Bonezzi

The post Cipher, or Greenhow Girls appeared first on the memory palace.

Nate DiMeo is the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Artist in Residence for 2016/2017. He is producing ten pieces inspired by the collection and by the museum itself. This is the sixth episode of that residency.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Elizabeth Aubert. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Special thanks to Jimmy LaValle and Mark Kozelek.

The Art Discussed

• Gallery 719, the Alexandria Ballroom.

Music 

• The piece features excerpts of two, instrumental outtakes from Ceiling Gazing from Mark Kozelek and Jimmy LaValle’s album, Perils from the Sea.
• California Dawn and Mountain Path from WMD.
• An instrumental version of Retune by The Range.

The post If You Have to be a Floor (The Met Residency Episode 6) appeared first on the memory palace.

• We hear a bunch of Ryland, by Julian Lage off his World’s Fair LP.
• We hear the Flamingos do Where or When.
• We hear Chilly Gonzalez’ Salon Salloon
• And finish out on Small Memory by Jon Hopkins

Notes

• There’s a bunch out there about the Camel Corps. You’ll have fun Googling around. But some of the best details in here, including the remarkable thing about the Red Ghost, comes from this article from a 1961 issue of American Heritage. 

The post Lost Camels appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start out with some of Pound for Pound from The Bad Plus
• Go to Waltz by Mother Falcon
• Into the Light by Marisa Anderson
• With Everything that Breathes by Greg Haines
• Day One Four by F.S. Blum and Nils Frahm
• Andrew Cyrille, Jimmy Lyons, and Jeanne Lee do Nuba
• And then Davis S. Ware does Mikuro’s Blues, which I’ve loved for a long time.

The post The Year Hank Greenberg Hit 58 Home Runs appeared first on the memory palace.

• We open with Mary Lattimore’s Jimmy V. I love Mary Lattimore.
• We hit Hatian guitarist Frantz Casseus’ Lullaby from 1954 a few times.
• We hear Drifting, by Matthew Robert Cooper.
• And A Fool Persists by Infinite Body.
• The two piano things are Open Window – For Piano by Yuichiro Fujimoto, and Pale by Akira Kosemura.
• We also hear Gareth Dickson’s Friday Night Fever for a bit.

Notes

• I learned about Ynes while flipping idly through the 1974 edition of Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary (volume II, G-O, incidentally), “prepared under the Auspices of Radcliffe College,” as it says on the frontispiece.
• By far the most comprehensive thing I read was biography for young readers called Ynes Mexia: Botanist and Adventurer by Durlynn Anema.

The post Roots and Branches and Wind-Borne Seeds appeared first on the memory palace.

• We hear three pieces of Matthew Robert Cooper’s score to Some Days Are Better Than Others: Expectation, Drifting, and Katrina Outtake.

Notes

• If you want the story of the construction of the actual Washington Monument, you could check out John Steele Gordon’s book.

The post A Washington Monument appeared first on the memory palace.

• This piece has two selections from Saunder Jurriens and Danny Bensi’s score to Christine, Yes But and Back to Work.

Notes

• This very good article in the Museum of Hoaxes gives a nice overview and links out to the original article.
• Hampton Sides In the Kingdom of Ice has a nice telling of the story with a lot of background on the editor of the Herald.

The post Amok appeared first on the memory palace.

Nate DiMeo is the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Artist in Residence for 2016/2017. He is producing ten pieces inspired by the collection and by the museum itself. This is the second episode of that residency.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Elyssa Dudley and research Assistance from Andrea Milne. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Special thanks to Amelia Peck at The Met.

The Art Discussed
* Prince Demah Barnes’ Portrait of William Duguid.
* Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800

Music
* Kyu and Njuichi from Sylvain Chauvau’s score to Umarete Wa Mita Keredo.
* Moonbow by aAirial.
* Gisella by K. Leimer from A Period of Review.
* Here’s What You’re Missin and And Then it Rained from Bing & Ruth’s album City Lake.

The post A Portrait (The Met Residency Episode 4) appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start and end with Daniel Berenboim playing Lizt’s 6 Consolations, S. 172: No. 3 in D flat minor.
• We hit up Yes But, from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriens’ score to Christine.
• We return to the official Memory Palace love theme of William Henry Harrison, The Gentle Softness, Lalo Schiffrin’s score to The Last Dragon
• We cruise on the U.S.S. Princeton to Dispute by Yann Tiersen.
• Twist comes to Missing Pieces from the Broken City score.

Notes

• I read quite a bit about the Tylers, but really, one needs only to read “and Tyler Too,” by Robert Seager II.

The post The Rose of Long Island appeared first on the memory palace.

• We start with (and later return to) And Grace by David Darling.
• Robert Farnon and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. Suite II: The Wind which turns into Niggun for Solo Bassoon by Philippe Hersant.
• Then we hit Neon Lights by Kraftwerk from The Man Machine.
• And The Gentle Softness, the love theme to Enter The Dragon from Lalo Schifrin’s score.
• And hit up our friends Lullatone at the end with Origami Tulips.

The post The Presidency of William Henry Harrison, or Back in the Saddle appeared first on the memory palace.

• I first heard about Hazel Scott while reading Rad American Women from A to Z to my daughter. It’s a wonderful book. You should buy it for any kid in your life.
• I read a lot about Hazel, but Karen Chilton’s biography, Hazel Scott: A Pioneering Jazz Pianist from Cafe Society to HUAC was essential.

Music

• Starts with Christope Beck and DeadMono’s theme to Charlie Countryman.
• Prelude for HS by Hakon Stene.
• Tezeta (Nostalgia) from Malatu Astatke, from Ethiopiques vol. 4, one of my favorite pieces of music in the world.
• Marian Lapansky plays Camille Saint-Saens “Le Sygne.”
• Which fights with Piero Umiliani’s Danza Primitiva.
• Warren Ellis rounds it out with his Lale’s Theme from his terrific score to Mustang (which you should totally see).
• The Hazel Scott pieces can be found here and here.

The post Promise appeared first on the memory palace.

• I relied most heavily on The Crusades of Cesar Chavez by Miriam Pawell.
• Enjoyed Jaques Levy’s oral history, Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa
• I read a lot of the local accounts on Newspapers.com and was informed particularly by the coverage in the Fresno Bee.

Music

• Starts with Affinity by Gavin Luke.
• Moves into Little Dume by Christian Naujoks.
• Finish of with Call from Julianna Barwick.

The post Peregrinar appeared first on the memory palace.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu and research Assistance from Andrea Milne. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Art Discussed
* John Vanderlyn’s Panoramic View of the Gardens of Versailles.

Music
* Falling Asleep with a Book on Your Chest and Brass Practice by Lullatone.
* Moonbow by aAirial.
* Pauvre Simon, L’approach Du Nuage, and The Tunnel from Sylvain Chauvau’s album Nuage.
* So Long to Scream from Joshua Moshier’s score to Good Enough.

The post Full Circle (The Met Residency Episode 3) appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* We start off and finish with Kola, Lighthouse Version by amiina.
* We hear their Leather and Lace as well.
* There’s Mountain Path, by WMD.
* We hear Prelude for Piano and Malaria by Worrytrain.
* We also hear Manny Returns Home from Bernard Hermann’s score to The Wrong Man.
* And Krolock on Sledge from the fantastic score to The Fearless Vampire Killers.

The post Under our Feet appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* We hear a segment of Holding Pattern, by Loscii.
* Secrets you Could Sift, by Mr. Maps.
* And Requiem on Frankfort Ave, by Eluvium.

The post In Line appeared first on the memory palace.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

* Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), John Singer Sargent, 1883-1884
* Tomb Effigy of Elizabeth Boott Duveneck, Frank Duveneck, 1891
* One bottle, any bottle.

Music
* We hear “Pools of Grey,” by Jeff Eden Fair and Starr Parodi.
* Then “>”Ruth & Sylvie,” by Daniel Hart.
* And “>”Lost in Space,” by Max Richter.
* “>Wien, by Labradford plays beneath the credits.

Special thanks to Gabe Hilfer at Full Pursuit Media.
and to Thayer Tolles, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, and Ariana Baurley at the Met for their help episode.

The post The Met Residency Episode 2: One Bottle, Any Bottle appeared first on the memory palace.

This residency is made possible by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chester Dale Fund.

This episode is written and produced and stuff by Nate DiMeo with engineering assistance from Kathy Tu and research assistance from Andrea Milne. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager, Live Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Art Discussed
If you can’t be at the museum to listen to this episode, you might want to take a look at:
* Dance in a Subterranean Longhouse at Clearlake, California, Jules Tavernier, 1878.
* The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak, Albert Bierstadt, 1868
* Washington Crossing the Delaware Emmanuel Leutze, 1851

Music
* We hear, “>”Prelude for a Single Snowflake Under Streetlight, Falling Like a Star,” “The View from a Foggy Window, or Your Head in the Clouds with a Fever,” and “Origami Guitar,” from Lullatone.
* We hear, “>”Entering Darwin,” “On the Atlantic Ocean,” “Popcorn and Life,” “Shut up World,” and “Turning Sixteen” from Ben Sollee.
* “>Wien, by Labradford plays beneath the credits.

Special thanks to Gabe Hilfer of Full Pursuit Media.
and to Dr. Elizabeth Kornhauser and Ariana Baurley at the Met.

Further Reading
* Chronicling the West for Harper’s: Coast to Coast with Frezeny & Tavernier by Claudine Chalmers.
* Jules Tavernier Artist and Adventurer from Scott A. Shields, Alfred C. Harrison, Jr. and Claudine Chalmers.

The post The Met Residency Episode 1: Recent Acquisition appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* This one features two appearances by X-Ray, by Youth Lagoon.
* One from September, by Giles Lamb.
* And a long one by Red Dawn, by Enzo.

The post Canali appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* Lots of Washington Phillips.
* Starts with As Old Roads, by Goldmund.
* Don’t Worry, by (Memory Palace favorite) Zoe Keating.
* 1979 by Deru.

The post Haunting appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* Elevator Song by Keaton Henson (feat. Ren Ford)
* Waves by Abby Gundersen

The post Numbers appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* First up is Solitude, from (delightfully named) Janis Crunch.
* Then we’ve got Like a Bell to a Southerly Wind, by Chequerboard.
* Modular Body #7 by Machinefabriek.
* After Catalunya by Ephemetry and Richard J. Birkin.
* Finishing up on The Old Favourite by The Gloaming.

The post Local Channels appeared first on the memory palace.

Music
* Start off with Lacrymae, from Melodium.
* Go to a chopped up Fables, by Girls in Airports.
* Finish off with the eternal Sunflower River Blues by John Fahey.

The post Oil, Water appeared first on the memory palace.

Music:
* We start with Hush-Maker by Moon Ate the Dark.
* Roll on with Freudian Slippers by Chilly Gonzales.
* Hear Bibio’s Cherry Blossom Road a couple of times.
* Hit up Nice Dream by radio.string.quartet.vienna
* Hear Don Redman and his Orchestra play Blue Eyed Baby from Memphis.
* The centerpiece of the middle section is Snow Again by Lambert.
* We hear a couple of pieces by Dan Romer: An Old Fashioned Man and End of the World.
* We finish up on Lullatone’s Falling Asleep With a Book on Your Chest.

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Music
* We start with Water in Your Hands by Tommy Guerrero.
* Hit Anne Muller’s Walzer fur Robert a couple of times.
* Gaussian Curve does Talk to the Church.
* We get a loop of Updraught from Zoe Keating.
* We finish on Transient Life in Twilight by James Blackshaw

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Notes
* The bulk of the non-technical details from this one comes from Charles Duke’s highly readable memoir, Moonwalker: The True Story of an Astronaut Who Found That the Moon Wasn’t High Enough to Satisfy his Desire for Success. He’s a wonderful story teller and an amiable literary companion. I’ll also note that the end of the book, the last few chapters or so, are really a wonderful, clear-eyed, deeply felt story of how, first, Dottie’s faith, and then Charles’ set the course of the rest of their lives. If that’s the sort of thing that interests you, I really do recommend the book.

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* Up top, looped, is the first bit of the great, Foreign Fields, by Kacy Hill.
* Then we hear some of Sun Will Set, by Zoe Keating.
* The song on the radio is Sonny Thompson’s Long Gone, as heard on the Mellow Blues album.

Notes
* You can read all of the 1948 Green Book (and the rest of the Green Books) at the New York Public Library’s fantastic digital collection.

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NOTES
* The classic text on Charlie Faust is Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times:the Story of the Early Days of Baseball as Told by the Men Who Played It, one of the key texts of early baseball history, first published in 1966.
* The definitive resource on Faust is Gabriel Schecter, who’s written his biography for SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, and a monograph called Victory Faust: The Rube Who Saved McGraw’s Giants.
* I also want to point you to Rob Neyer’s lovely piece on visiting Faust’s grave.

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Music
* We hear a snippet of Runaway by Ólafur Arnalds up top.
* Then Debut by Christopher Ferreira.
* A bit of Saturday Evening from Tomasz Bednarczyk
* Ralph Van Raat plays John Adams’ China Gates.
* The recurring flute piece is Wasser-Wunder from Tibor Szemző and Group 180
* Deadmau5 plays Invidia.
* Lawrence English plays Watching it Unfold.
* The radio snippet is a bit of a cheat. It’s from the World Series from that year. Only broadcast I could find from ’54.

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Music
* We start off (and end) with You by Nils Frahm.
* We’ve got Krolock on the Sledge from Komeda’s great, great score to The Fearless Vampire Hunters.
* Jett Rink Theme from Dimitri Tiomkin’s score to Giant.
* A little loop of Bandshell, from Thomas Newman’s Little Children score.
* And Opening, the vibes pieces, by Nathan Bartlett (making a return appearance).
* Oh! And Meet the Neighbors from Marcelo Zarvo’s score to the lovely, Please Give. Which has become the go to soundtrack for “Some borderline scam artist has a crazy idea,” here on the Memory Palace.

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Music
*The first bit is a loop from the opening of a song called I. Permafrost by a long-defunct band called Jerseyturnpike made up of a husband/wife duo from San Francisco. Years ago, I went to their wedding in New Jersey. There was a bounce house. It was beautiful.
* The piece finishes up with the on-the-nose, This is Home, from Joel P. West’s soundtrack to the terrific film, Short Term 12.

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Music
* First up is Lacrymae by Melodium.
* Then we mix in Every Mournful Breath by Slow Meadow
* Meeting the Neighbors from Marcelo Zarvos’ score to the delightful, Please Give, makes a return appearance.
* There’s Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood,” as performed by Smoke and Mirrors Percussion Ensemble.
* Yes, that’s Immigrant Song, from Zeppelin III.
* There’s a bit of Frost Trees from Lalo Schifrin’s extraordinary score to The Fox, from 1967.
* End credits, as always, is Wien, by La Bradford. Buy their music, please.

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Notes
There’s a lot written about Robert Smalls, with a lot of contradictory information. I found Edward A. Miller’s Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress particularly useful to sorting it all out.
Some other sources I consulted while researching this piece:
* The Negro’s Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union by the Don, James McPherson
* From Slavery to Public Service: Robert Smalls, 1839-1915, by Okon Uya.
* And, for what it’s worth, Robert Smalls: The Boat Thief from RFK Jr.’s American Heroes Series is an enjoyable and surprisingly thorough version of the story for young readers, if you’re ever looking for that sort of thing.

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* We start off with Wien, by Labradford.
* The guys head out to the work site to Piano 3, from Jon Brion’s score to Synecdoche, New York.
* Then we hear a bit of Metamorphosis by Vladamir Ussachevsky before being bombarded with bits of Fast Pasture by Todd Reynolds.
* There’s a long stretch of Fog Tropes by Ingram Marshall
* Followed by Fragment I by Library Tapes
* Before ending on Berceuse, by Alexandra Sileski.

Notes
* This is a story I’ve been wanting to do forever. In fact, falling in love with the story of the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the things that sent me on a path to doing The Memory Palace at all. So, most of this stuff I just kind of already knew. But it was a particular pleasure to go back and read David McCullough’s masterful, lovely The Great Bridge. And to read a ton of contemporary accounts of its construction, particularly the New York Time’s piece where the reporter heads down into the Brooklyn Caisson.

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This piece is ideally consumed on site, in Gallery 742 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Written and Produced by Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace.

Musical score by Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf.

Executive Producer, Limor Tomer, General Manager of Concerts & Lectures, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Notes
* Some of the details in here originate from a fine piece that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in May of 1944. You can read it here.
* Other solid write ups:
From The Book of New York
The U.S.C.G.
The Fire-fighter’s Museum

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Notes
As per usual, I read a lot about the Audubons and the Bakewells.
I relied most upon the charming and smart, On the Road with John James Audubon by Mary Durant, and Carolyn DeLatte’s lovely, thoughtful book, Lucy Audubon: a Biography.
* Just a quick note: there’s a very enjoyable PBS/American Masters/Nature documentary about Audubon. It’s a fun and informative watch. But, I’ll say, you come out of that thinking that things were fundamentally swell between Lucy and John in a way that I’m not entirely sure is supported by the facts. Or jibes with, you know, human nature.

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Notes
* There’s no, proper, grown-up biography of Margaret Knight (as far as I’ve been able to locate). Though there are a handful of kid’s books of varying degrees of charm and accuracy. She does pop up in a fair amount of “Lady Inventors!!!” collections. I read a bunch of these, but I want to single out one for its rigor: Autumn Stanley’s Mothers and Daughters of Invention.

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Notes
* Several essays were very helpful in researching this. Among those were:
–http://pittmed.health.pitt.edu/jan_2001/butterflies.pdf
–http://www.thenation.com/article/secret-history-lead/
–http://www.wired.com/2013/01/looney-gas-and-lead-poisoning-a-short-sad-history/
* I found William J. Kovarik’s Dissertation, The Ethyl Controversy: How the News Media Set the Agenda for a Public Health Controversy over the use of Leaded Gasoline, 1924-1926, completely fascinating.
* I relied on a number of papers from the W.H.O. when researching the health effects of lead and ozone depletion.
* Here’s the New York Times original expose about the House of Butterflies.
* Finally, Thomas Midgely, IV’s biography of his grandfather, From the Periodic Table to Production: The Life of Thomas Midgely, Jr., inventor of Leaded Gasoline and Freon Refrigerants, is, while unsurprisingly hagiographic, both well-researched and highly readable.

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Notes
* I read a lot about Mary, but by far the most useful and most thorough works I came upon were: Sharon M. Harris’ Dr. Mary Walker: An American Radical and A Woman of Honor: Dr. Mary E. Walker and the Civil War, in which author Mercedes Graf does a great job walking the reader through Walker’s unpublished memoir.

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Notes
A selected bibliography.

* We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program, by Richard Paul and Steven Moss
* Voices of Contemporary and Historical Black Pioneers, Farmer & Shepard-Wynn, editors
* The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe
* Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Sciences, by Gulbert, Sawyer, and Fannin
* The All-American Boys, Walt Cunningham’s memoir.
* The Ebony article mentioned in the piece can be read here.

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Notes
* Hoo boy, have I read a ton of books about the space program, thanks to my stint on the writing staff of ABC’s Astronauts’ Wives Club last year. So, most of this piece is just stuff I now know. However: read numerous contemporary newspaper accounts.
* Also key was the lovely prologue to First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong, James R. Hanson’s solid (if a little hagiographic) bio.

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Music

* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth’s Modesty Blaise score.
* First up (and returning at the end) is Sandra’s Theme, from Heather McIntosh’s fantastic score to Compliance, a very good, very disturbing movie.
* We hit Frank Glazer leading Charles Ives’ Largo for Clarinet, Violin and Piano a couple of times, framing…
* Runaway from Olafur Arnalds.

Notes

*The key to researching this episode turned out to be an article in The Journal of Southern History from 2001 by Court Carnay called, “The Contested Image of Nathan Bedford Forrest.”.
* Also particularly useful was Nathan Bedford Forrest: a Biography, by Jack Hurst.
* As was Lynching in America: A History in Documents, compiled by Christopher Waldrep.
* Much of my information about the contents of the ceremony and speeches was gathered from this, the digitized journal and scrapbook of Charles Henry Niehaus, the sculptor of the monument. It’s an extraordinary resource.
* And let us all read Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All its Phases, by Ida B. Wells. And let’s put her on the $10 while we’re at it.

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Notes:

As you can tell with the story, there’re a lot of holes in the histories of Anita Corsini and Mkano. Here is a selected bibliography:

*I first stumbled upon their story while reading about Zazel, the human cannonball, in a book called Theatrical and Circus Life: or, Secrets of the Stage, Green-Room, and Sawdust, by John Joseph Jennings, published in 1892.
*I read many news articles. The one referenced in the New York Herald can be read here.
*I am particularly indebted to two excellent pieces of scholarship:
1. “Zulus Abroad: Cultural Representations and Education of Zulus in America, 1880-1945,” by Robert Trent Vinson and Robert Edgar, published in the Journal of Southern African Studies in 2007.
2. “Beyond the Exhibit: Zulu Experiences in Britain and the United States, 1879-1884,” a graduate thesis of Erin Elizabeth Barbara Bell submitted to Carleton University in Ottawa in 2011.

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* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth’s Modesty Blaise score.
* Charlie on the ladder is scored with the Prologue to the fantastic score to the film Birth, by Alexandre Desplat
* It ends with Opus 30, by Dustin O’Hallaran.
* The upbeat, fair music is a piece called Love on Matthew Herbert’s contribution to the Life in a Day soundtrack.
* Don Stewart surveys the damage to 01 Ghosts I by NIN

Notes:
I read a ton about Charlie Hatfield, but nothing was as comprehensive and well-written and, frankly, enjoyable as this lovely article from this 1970 article from the Journal of San Diego History by Linda Freischlag.

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* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth’s Modesty Blaise score.
* The opening loop is from Mr. Knight from Coltrane Plays the Blues, which you should own.
* The violin piece is Occam II for Violin, a piece by Silvia Tarozzi, played by Pauline Oliveros.
* Next up is Mikuro’s Blues from the mighty David S. Ware’ mighty Go See the World.
* The amazing orchestral pieces is Triumph by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino from Fill the Heart- Shaped Cup
* Finally, there’s 13 Ghosts II by Nine Inch Nails from Ghosts I-IV

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* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth’s Modesty Blaise score.
* Then, we have the most obvious crickets/summer night song ever: the fantastic, perpetually delightful Green Arrow from Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, which has soundtracked many crickety summer nights for me over the years.
* The cops roll in to a loop of the very beginning of the epic Ptah, the El Daoud, the title track to Alice Coltrane’s album from 1970.
* Then we have a mix of two improvisations from Charles Cohen’s “Brother I Prove You Wrong”: Cloud Hands and The Boy and the Snake Dance.
* There’s a brief dip into Dorian, by Fang Island.
* The jaunty accordion, typewriter thing is Biking is Better on Wintergatan’s eponymous album.

Notes
I researched this one primarily through old newspapers. The easiest place to find a number of them is to read the excellent site, The Museum of Hoaxes’ page on this event. Also: if you’re in the Atlanta area and ever want to have yourself a day, you can see the actual monkey. It’s preserved in a jar at the Georgia Bureau of Investigations museum in Decatur Georgia.

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*Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth’s great, ridiculous Modesty Blaise score.
*The recurring piano theme is Les Marionettes by Zbigniew Preisner from his score to La Double Vie de Veronique (And, have you seen The Double Life of Veronique? Man, that’s good)
*Eugenia’s dreamy little theme is Just Saying by Jamie XX off of In Colour
*That organ track is called Organ Track by Nicolai Dunger from The Cloud is Learning
*Al Davis’ dance theme is Watusi Bounce from Bo Diddly’s Ride On/The Chess Masters
*Helen watches Eugenia on the lawn at the Grand Hotel to the tune of To a Wild Rose by Patricia Rossborough from the collection Dainty Debutantes: Female Novelty Pianists of the 1930’s (And, ugh. Dismissive much?)
*The Judge drones over one of Scott Watson’s Six Solos for the Beginning Tuba Player from his 2008 album, Stepping Stones for Tuba, vol. 1 (like I need to tell you that)
*The ending piece is Mike Andrews lovely Library Chant from his score to Miranda July’s lovely Me and You and Everyone we Know

Notes:
I first stumbled across this story in my torn up copy of New York: Confidential! Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer’s truly mucky, muck-raking guide to the city’s underbelly from 1951. I read a ton of old news paper articles about the case (the New York Times covered it extensively, if you want to go back and read those).

The two most useful books I came across in the process were Joshua Zeitz’ Flapper and Lewis Erenberg’s Steppin’ Out: New York Nightlife and the Transformation of American Culture, 1890-1930

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I’m a full-on Columbian Exhibition of 1893 nerd. Have a ticket to it framed on our dining room wall. For all of your Chicago World’s Fair fact-needs, The Devil in the White City is the place to go. For your heartbreak and beauty needs, go to Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware.

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Second song is “Berlin by Overnight” by Max Richter.

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I’ve read about the Booths in several places (you kind of can’t avoid them), but I think I fell for Edwin’s story during the visit Sarah Vowell takes to see his statue in Gramercy Park in “Assassination Vacation.”

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I read a lot about Jane for this but nothing was as useful as Ilene Stone’s lovely book, “Jane Froman: Missouri’s First Lady of Song.”

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Next up is actually “We Found Love (In a Hopeless Place),” slowed way the hell down. Next (and last) is “Snookered” by Dan Deacon. There’s also snippets of “We Dance” by Pavement and “Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen.

(I also did a remix of the episode. Because I run things; things don’t run I)

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Also something from Jon Brion’s Paranorman score. A song called “L.S.D. Partie” from Roland Vincent. And a song called “Free Man” from the Ethiopians.

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“We Write Threnodies, We Write with Explosions” by Storm and Stress (which is a great, great song).

Then a couple of different John Fahey pieces: “Improv in E Minor” and “Unknown Tango“

Then “JD002“, a pice of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s soundtrack to the Derrida doc. (There’s also a tiny tone from swiped from somewhere else on that soundtrack that get’s used over and over again throughout this episode, but I lost track of from where it was swiped).
A piece called “Time Hole” on the score to The Master that moves into a piece from the Lincoln score.

Then there’s a thing from “Sakamoto’s Babel score.”

Song at the end is “Prizewinning” by Julianna Barwick. That record is rad.

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“Happy Land,” off of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ score for The Proposition. (Which is a great western).

“Becalmed,” off of Brian Eno’s Another Green World. (Which is a great, great record).

“Charu’s Theme.” Which is from a Satayajit Ray movie and, I just realized, from The Darjeeling Limited score (which might be my favorite Wes Anderson movie. Deal with it).

Arthur R. Kelley’s “Five Moods for Two Bassoons” as played by Dong-Yun Kwon & someone else (but I don’t need to tell you that, bassoon fan).

“Malice Aforethought” off of Calexico’s soundtrack to a movie called The Guard, which I haven’t seen but I like to imagine is an indie-rock Paul Blart Mall Cop.

and finally: “Wolkenschatten, op. 136: I Tranquillo” by 2-Chainz muse, Gebreuder Ohrentaub from the album, Four Brothers (which also features a four tuba-version of Ebony and Ivory, the Ebony is represented by the brass keys of a tuba, the ivory is also represented by the brass keys on a tuba).

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The song I talk about is “A Girl’s Tool-Box,” by a band called Tattle-Tale. It was Jen Wood (who’s got a bunch of solo records) and Madigan Shive in a cello punk band thing called Bonfire Madigan that I saw a few times back in the day. There’s a version of the song on their Kill Rock Stars full-length but it’s faster and kind of indie-popped out in a way that is perfectly acceptable but kind of bummed me out when I heard it, having thought I’d found the song I’d been looking for. You can google around and found the cassette version on your own, if that’s the way you want to play it.

Score wise:

It’s “Bible Silver Corner” from Rodan’s album, Rusty, which was about all I listened to for months on end in 1994.

Some version of Debussy’s Sarabande II (or II. Sarabande, I don’t know how those things go) comes next and circles back for a sec at the end.

A piece called “Arm Drawing” from the 500 Days of Summer score (chopped up and looped and whatnot) does a lot of the heavy lifting.

The opening theme of Please Give, the (very good) Nicole Holofcener movie has become the memory palace’s unofficial theme for anytime PT Barnum shows up in a story.

OH: the thing under the intro is “Old New Bicycle” by Helvetia. It’s often the music under show intros.

There’s also a snippet of Beatles in there that I don’t know if anyone else will actually be able to hear.

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Music: Two pieces here. Both straight out of a favorite summer of mine, maybe 1999. First (and last): “Another Sunday” by Tara Jane O’Neil and second, “Every Day a Sunrise, a Summer Every Year” by Telegraph Melts.

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Music: Just two tracks this time. A loop from “In the Devil’s Territory” by Sufjan Stevens. Then “You’d be so Nice to Come Home to,” off of Nina Simone’s Live in Newport album. Incidentally, this track is one of my very, very favorite things that exists in the world. Also, it’s the second time i’ve used it in an episode. First time was the first one. A long time ago.

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Notes: This episode was originally commissioned for the fine, fine design and architecture podcast, 99% Invisible. Hear a shorter version (and discover more about said fine, fine podcast, here). Also note: 99% Invisible is produced by my friend, Roman Mars. Until he was modestly internet-famous, Roman’s image was nearly impossible to Google-image as you’d just get a bunch of Roman statuary.

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The Footnotes: I read a bunch about Joice Heth but, it turns out, I really only needed to read one thing: The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum’s America by a dude named Benjamin Reiss. It’s pretty kick-ass.

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The Footnotes: Since this episode was a total bear, I read a lot about and by Sidis while trying to wrestle it into submission. There’s a perfectly readable, proper biography called The Prodigy that’s out of print but probably at your local library. Turns out the Sidis fanatics (and they are legion) think the author is pretty harsh on W.J., but, you know, sure. To dive right into the deep end: run, don’t walk, to Sidis.net, a lovingly curated compendium of most things Sidis. Scans of many of his books and articles. Links to outside articles. It’s not one stop shopping, but it’s like the directory at the mall. Don’t be scared off by the fact that the web-design looks like someone clicked on the “Crazy Conspiracy Theory” template. It’s really well put together.

The Ephemera: If you do read some of his actual writings, Sidis comes off rather well. However singular and odd his interests and, I suppose, obsessions, are he writes clearly (he’s not raving) and he’s often kind of funny in a super-dorky way. “Notes on the Collection of Transfers” is unreadable. But that’s only because no one can care about transfers as much as the author does. I defy you to. But, that said, Sidis comes off like a genial, almost charming tour guide to the world’s most boring museum. It’s hard not to like the guy.

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A version of this story was originally commissioned for an exhibit at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in 2009. (Note, if you have a museum and want some audio that isn’t super boring, drop me a line).

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There’s a lot written about Weyman. The most fun things to read are the original newspaper accounts (there’s a fun one from the Milwaukee Sentinal on google books; you can find his obituary on NYtimes.com). But the most comprehensive thing I read was from a New Yorker profile from 1968 (which, incidentally, spends pages on literally psychoanalyzing Weyman).

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There’s plenty of great stuff written about the Fox sisters, including a book-length take (Talking to the Dead, by Barbara Weisberg) which appears to be all that. I’ll recommend a dynamite book called Occult America: The Secret History of how Mysticism Shaped Our Nation, which despite its hyperventilating, Dan Browny spoooooooky conspiracy title, is great and readable and scholarly at the same time. Great context. And, this is sort of an standing order: go to the NYTimes’ pre-1981 archive. There are some vintage stories about the Fox Sisters there.

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I’ve read a lot about the ’04 Olympics (in order to write this article for Slate). I’ll recommend two things: a book about the anthropological exhibits called Anthropology Goes to the Fair. But most fun is a first hand account by one of Hick’s coaches that’s available in all of its absurdity here .

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There’s a ton about Jones’ body (incidentally, this is the story I’ve gotten the most “I knew this story, but I like how you told it” sorts of emails about). For some reason, I was particularly charmed by a webpage straight out of Portsmouth, NH (R.I.P Yoken’s). They’ve got pictures of the preserved, dead Jones there too.

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You can read the original articles in their entirety in several places online. (Why not go to the museum of hoaxes website to find it? it’s a fun site). The articles, incidentally, are wonderful. Really a work of genius of a particularly lovely sort.

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You can read lots and lots about Minik Wallace. (So much so that I felt a little lame about doing it). There’s even a quite good American Experience documentary. However, special commendation has to go out to Kenn Harper, a First Nations author (I believe) from up Canada Way, who not only wrote the (seemingly) definitive Give Me My Father’s Body: The Life of MInik, the New York Eskimo” and was the guy who got Minik’s father Qisuk’s bones repatriated. Amazing.

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I love this story. I think my version’s pretty good, but the I love the story of John R. Brinkley. So much good stuff had to be left out to keep this podcast tight. There was a big biography that came out a few years ago called Charlatan that is very comprehensive. But I’d like to give a special shout out to a book called “Border Radio: Quacks, Yodelers, Pitchmen, Psychics and Other Amazing Broadcasters of the American Airwaves.” Hell, I’ll even give it an Amazon link. Because it is good (and tells all about Brinkley and the other people who followed his lead and broadcast from Mexico) and because one of its co-authors, a guy named Bill Crawford, gave me one of the best days I had in the last several years when he and a friend/colleague drove me down from Austin, past Brinkley’s Mansion in Del Rio, and down across the border to Acuna (where I interviewed the blind, current manager of a station that descended from Brinkley’s). Then back later that day through the high desert where we came up around this bend and I looked out and saw herds of animals grazing at sunset and learned that they were all Indian and African gazelles and Ibix and whatnot brought in to be hunted–turns out only native Texas animals are included in seasonal hunting laws. After which, I no longer mess with Texas.

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There is obviously tons and tons written about Poe and his death. The single most useful thing I found, however, was this sort of literature survey put out by an outfit called the Edgar Allan Poe Historical Society. m.

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The Hoover Dam is rad. The sculpture is rad. The star map is super rad. And super ridiculous. Go see it. If it’s been awhile since you’ve gone to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s website, here’s an article about the sculpture.

This piece was premiered (if you will) as a live reading at Issue 2 of Pop Up Magazine in San Francisco. It was very fun.

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Couple of notes: first, this escape inspired the movie The Great Escape. They of course, made it an allied escape. And, having produced this episode, I can relate: not only does no one want to sit through an hour and a half about clever Nazis, I found it a little weird empathizing (for the purposes of writing the podcast) with homesick members of the Third Reich–but I just love the thing about the river. I love that they screw themselves. Other thing: the captain in the story was eventually caught in Phoenix, though he lived successfully on the lam for some time. The kicker, however, is if you drank a St. Pauli beer back in the heyday of their questionable/skeezy “you never forget your first girl” ad campaigns with the buxom german barmaid, you helped pay Captain Wattenberg’s salary. He was the head of the St. Pauli brewery for decades.

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Accounts of Sam’s life vary pretty wildly and can be pretty tricky to sort out. One of the best accounts (it’s gotta be the most comprehensive), it seems, is Paul E. Johnson’s book, Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper.

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You can read about Acoustic Kitty (yes, that’s actually what they called the project) all over the place–there were lots of news articles when the files were declassified several years ago. However, my favorite thing on the web is an actual declassified document. Even after the cat dies and the mission’s a total failure, the scientists clearly feel pretty awesome: despite being “convinced that the program would not lend itself to [their] highly specialized needs,” they declare victory in the quest to train a cat to go short distances, even if they can’t control to where, and proclaim it “a remarkable scientific achievement.” To which I say: way to go. You spent millions of 1966 dollars. Sliced open live animals. Inserted wires and microphones and zapped them with electrical charges and now they can go short distances. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

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Best thing I read about Walker? A book called “Fillibusters and Financiers: The Story of William Walker and His Associates” by Walter Oscar Scroggs, written in 1916. Thank you Google Books.

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I ran across the Ellen Craft story twice recently, most powerfully in James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom (which turns out to be a good audio book, incidentally).

The post The Messrs. Craft appeared first on the memory palace.

I’m a full-on Columbian Exhibition of 1893 nerd. Have a ticket to it framed on our dining room wall. For all of your Chicago World’s Fair fact-needs, The Devil in the White City is the place to go. For your heartbreak and beauty needs, go to Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware.

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I’ve loved this story for years and years. I was spurred into doing it for the podcast after flipping through David Milner’s book, Perfecting Sound Forever.

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I’ve read about the Booths in several places (you kind of can’t avoid them), but I think I fell for Edwin’s story during the visit Sarah Vowell takes to see his statue in Gramercy Park in “Assassination Vacation.”

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