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the memory palace

the memory palace

From award-winning public radio producer, Nate DiMeo, comes The Memory Palace. Short, surprising stories of the past, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hysterical, always super-great. For history buffs, fans of public radio shows like This American Life,

Nate DiMeo

319 episodesEN

Show overview

the memory palace has been publishing since 2008, and across the 18 years since has built a catalogue of 319 episodes. That works out to roughly 80 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a monthly cadence.

Episodes typically run ten to twenty minutes — most land between 10 min and 17 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language History show.

The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 weeks ago, with 8 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2016, with 27 episodes published. Published by Nate DiMeo.

Episodes
319
Running
2008–2026 · 18y
Median length
13 min
Cadence
Monthly

From the publisher

the memory palace

Latest Episodes

View all 319 episodes

Episode 243: The Brothers Switzer

May 1, 202612 min

A Story and a Song (A Memory Palace/Song Exploder Crossover Event)

Apr 10, 202629 min

Episode 242: The Handwriter

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. Music Drywall from Johann Johannson's score to Sicario. Castle Song by Green-House Tea by Resevoir La Valse du Progres by Delphine Dora Arrival by Domenique Dumont Sarah in Bath from Kryzystof Komeda's score to Fearless Vampire Killers Thread of Light by Golden Retriever In Some Spirit World by Geotic Notes This one was pulled together with tiny threads of information, much provided by the NCRA's website itself. You can find links to three fascinating (really!) studies on the brains of transcribers here, here, & here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 22, 202616 min

Episode 122: Hercules

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. This episode originally dropped in 2018. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mar 7, 202612 min

Episode 241: Stay Gold

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. Music Marisa Anderson plays He is Without His Guns Bing & Ruth play Broad Channel (Solo Piano) Greg Haines plays Peter's Advice NotesYou can listen to the full recording here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 23, 202612 min

Episode 240: Islanders

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. Music Unseen Forces by Justin Walter Peperomia Seedling by Green-House Ebb Tide by Houston & Dorsey Little Miss Echo by Raymond Scott Stellify by Francesco Albanese Chain Home by Rogerson and Eno Luna by Digitonal Caroline Shaw plays The Orangery from Plan & Elevation NotesThe place to start with all of this is here. It'll lead you out to the Bishop Museum's work, the lovely documentary produced by Hawai'ian Public Television, everywhere where you'd want to go. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Feb 6, 202620 min

Pinch hitting!

With Nate surprisingly sidelined, his friends and fellow Radiotopians at This Day save (This) day. Here's the show description: In our new series "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we're headed to January 1920 and the first night of Prohibition. Hide your booze! Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the long road to prohibition, going back decades, and the political forces that led to the ban of alcohol.Join our America250 newsletter community! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now.This Day is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jan 16, 202642 min

Public Domain Theater 2026

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. Starting off the year with a new tradition: the first annual Public Domain Theater, in which Nate reads an important work of American literature that entered the public domain on January 1st of a given year. First up, the first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jan 3, 20263h 27m

Nate's Favorite Episode of the Year: Emma and the Trail

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 Sincerely Yours by LLLL Across the Other Side by Infinite Scale Sunset by Resavoir Mammoth by Golden Brown Unassigned by Vernon Spring Swimming by Explosions in the Sky Pure (Ride the World) by The Brendan Eder Ensemble Le Tunnel by Sylvain Chauveau Floating Away by Lullatone NotesThere's a ton written about Emma Rowena Gatewood but so much of it, including this story, owes a huge debt to Ben Montgomery's book, Grandma Gatewood's Walk, which excavated the story of her life with her husband. Besides that, it is wonderfully written. Totally recommend it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dec 18, 202519 min

Episode 239: Blank Pages

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. Music The Lady With the Golden Stockings from the Sun Ra Arkestra The Sage from the Chico Hamilton Quintet Falling in Love with a New York Pigeon by Birb Bocherini's fourth quintet as performed by the Ensemble of St. Martin of the Fields From a Dream by Oregon Jaybird from the great Charlie Parr Pool of Love by Les Baxter And House Tuner Theme from Will Bates' gorgeous score to The Sound of Silence. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dec 6, 202518 min

From The Memory Palace Audiobook: Fine New England Granite

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House.Buy the audiobook wherever you get audiobooks (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. Audio excerpted courtesy of Random House Audio from THE MEMORY PALACE by Nate DiMeo, read by a full cast. Excerpt read by Nate DiMeo, © 2024 Nate DiMeo, ℗ 2024 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 26, 202517 min

Episode 238: The Crypt of Thornwell Jacobs

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. Music Kara-Lis Coverdale's A480 Palimpsest from Will Bate's score to The Sound of Silence Harriett Smith and Robert Martin Meet in the Rain from Isobel Waller Bridge's score to Emma. The Play from Dan Romer's score to (the terrific) Station Eleven. Cutting Branches from a Temporary Shelter from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Sustainable from H. Takahashi. Notes There's a particularly good article by Colin Dickey about Jacobs and The Crypt in American Scholar. You can read all 1100 pages of Jacobs' autobiography here, if you haven't already. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 6, 202521 min

A Teach-In for History

On Sunday, October 26th, 2025, Nate DiMeo of this here show, The Memory Palace, and his friends and colleagues at his fellow Radiotopia show, This Day, will be holding a good, old-fashioned teach-in in defense of history and museums currently targeted by the Trump Administration. Readings and lectures from sun-up to sundown on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Learn more here. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Oct 23, 202515 min

Episode 237: Vigil

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. Music On-ness by Tom Rogerson and Eno. Etude by Joep Beving Ebb Tide by Houston & Dorsey Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Oct 2, 202512 min

Episode 133: Antidisestablishmentarianism

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. This episode was originally released in October of 2018.Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sep 19, 202514 min

Episode 236: The Times

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. Music A couple by C. Diab: Tiny Umbrellas and Crypsis The beginning of Cats Cradle (Iris) by Hannah Epperson Dawning and Wind by Shida Shihabi A couple from Ceeys: Neighbour II and Union Notes I really enjoyed reading both Lew Irwin's Deadly Times: the 1910 Bombing of the L.A. Times and America's Forgotten Decade of Terror, and Bread and Hyacinths: the Rise and Fall of Utopian Los Angeles, by Lionel Rolfe As an, at this point, long-time Angeleno, I highly recommend visiting the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sep 7, 202513 min

Summer Reading: Two Transcendent Poems About Public Transportation

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. While Nate takes a little summer break, he reads you two poems. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Aug 21, 202518 min

Episode 235: The Girls, their Teachers, their Parents

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. Music Joy, by Jeffrey Cantu-Ledesma The Cradle by Frederico Albanese Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Aug 7, 202514 min

Episode 234: Looking for Parking, Late Winter, 1996

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. Notes Go to adoptastation.org and pitch in. Listen to the incredible documentaries by Lloyd Newman, LeAlan Jones, and David Isay, at David's (Corporation for Public Broadcasting funded) Storycorps.org Music Herbert's Story from Mark Orton's score to Nebraska. Kyu from Sylvain Chaveau Smygkatt by Shida Shahabi Roedelius plays Rolling Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jul 26, 202513 min

Episode 233: Nan + Warren

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 Jobs, Winter Memory, and Slow Flood by Dark Dark Dark Carla et Roger aux sports l'hiver from the score to Le bel age by Georges Delareau Mt Baker by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith All Creatures will Drink Joy by American Cream Band Every High (Piano Solo) by Kyson Vals Efter Lasse I Lyby by Lofoten Cello Duo NotesYou can read The President's Daughter here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jul 3, 202522 min
©Nate DiMeo