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 fifth 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. The Art Discussed * The Temple of Dendur. Music * As Much as Possible by Bing & Ruth. * Parcel by Melanie Velarde. * Field Hymn by Syrinx. * Wawa by the Ocean by Mary Lattimore. * Turning 16 and Trading Flags by Ben Sollee. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm SPOILERS BELOW Notes * Much of what I read about Florence was pulled from old newspaper articles. * The biography in Notable American Women: Volume 5 does a nice, thorough job with Florence story. * I first stumbled on Florence Chadwick in a photo in a restaurant in Santa Barbara and was struck by, as the photo suggested, she went on a world tour, swimming local channels. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. SPOILERS BELOW Notes 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Notes 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As counter-programming to the clamor and nonsense of these last days before the American Presidential election, here is Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" in its entirety. Really. VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE New episode next week. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Notes * This episode came by special request from my daughter, who heard about Waterhouse Hawkins in her second grade classroom. She came home and said, “Dad, I think I’ve got a good Memory Palace story for you.” * She and I found a great kids book called The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, by Barbara Kerley. * Grownup readers might want to check out All in the Bones by Valerie Bramwell and Robert Peek. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more and donate to help keep this show and the other Radiotopia shows thrive at Radiotopia.fm Notes * There are a gajillion things that you can and should read about this period. I'm almost loathe to tell you where to begin. So: some of the details for this story were found in this remarkable article by Claude Sitton. Music * We hear a segment of Holding Pattern, by Loscii. * Secrets you Could Sift, by Mr. Maps. * And Requiem on Frankfort Ave, by Eluvium. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 Kathy Tu. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager of Concerts & Lectures, 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 Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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 first 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 Kathy Tu and research assistance from Andrea Milne. Its Executive Producer is Limor Tomer, General Manager of Concerts & Lectures, 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 Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. Notes * I’ve read a bunch about the canals over the years, but the most fun I’ve had was going through the New York Times’ archive and just searching for Canals and Mars and reading article by article through the years, watching the debates, seeing conjecture reported as news, and then watching it all unravel. * For more on Lowell, I recommend Percival Lowell: the Culture and Science of Boston Brahmin, by David Strauss. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. Notes * Like anyone else, I became fascinated by Washington Phillip’s story through the music. So, go buy the music. * I backed into the research on this one when I should’ve just started at the source: Michael Corcoran’s amazing excavation of Phillips’ real story, as originally printed in Texas Monthly. There’s a lot of stuff that links out from his site. Music * Lots of Washington Phillips. * Starts with As Old Roads, by Goldmund. * Don’t Worry, by (Memory Palace favorite) Zoe Keating. * 1979 by Deru. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. Note * Here’s a link to watch an excerpt of the CBS news break. * One of my favorite things I came across while reading up on the lottery was this site, which includes a remarkable page where folks send in their personal stories of their draft experience. Music * Elevator Song by Keaton Henson (feat. Ren Ford) * Waves by Abby Gundersen Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. MusicMusic in this one is track 6 in Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I then a track called “Ashley” from Yo La Tengo’s soundtrack to Junebug. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm SPOILERS BELOW Notes * Much of what I read about Florence was pulled from old newspaper articles. * The biography in Notable American Women: Volume 5 does a nice, thorough job with Florence story. * I first stumbled on Florence Chadwick in a photo in a restaurant in Santa Barbara and was struck by, as the photo suggested, she went on a world tour, swimming local channels. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm SPOILERS BELOW Notes *Great stuff in the Cleveland Plain Dealer from waaaaaay back to fire #1, if you want to dive in. * Found Jonathan Joseph Wlasiuk’s dissertation, Refining Nature (etc.) quite helpful in sorting out the early days of the Rockefeller refineries. * If you want to know more about the complicated relationship of Cleveland and the ’69 fire and the passage of the Clean Water Act, seek out Jonathan H. Adler’s article (and R.E.M. nod), Fables of the Cuyahoga: Reconstructing a History of Environmental Protection. * I also want to shout out The Killer in the Attic, and More True Tales of Crime and Disaster from Cleveland’s Past, by John Stark Bellamy II, which does a great job with the river fires. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm Notes and Reading: * I came to this story the old fashioned way (for me): I saw Su Lin at the Field Museum and needed to know more. That led me inevitably to Vicki Croke’s The Lady and the Panda from 2006. It’s a terrific read. If you have any interest at all in learning more about Ruth Harkness, that’s the place to go. I’ve got a few quibbles here and there, but, for real, it’s delightful. * Quentin Young’s (slightly strange and contested) version of events is told inChasing the Panda by Michael Kiefer. * If you’ve got a few hundred bucks (or a library with more liberal lending policies with old books than mine), why not read Ruth’s own book, The Baby Giant Panda? * If you’re interested in zoos writ large, I’m a fan of Animal Attractions: Nature on Display in American Zoos by Elizabeth Hansen. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm Notes and Reading: * Most of the specific history of the White Horse was learned from "Sanctuary: the Inside Story of the Nation's Second Oldest Gay Bar" by David Olson, reprinted in its entirety on the White Horse's website. * "Gayola: Police Professionalization and the Politics of San Francisco's Gay Bars, 1950-1968," by Christopher Agee. * June Thomas' series on the past, present, and future of the gay bar from Slate a few years back. * Various articles written on the occasion of the White Horse's 80th anniversary, including this one from SFGATE.Com * Michael Bronski's A Queer History of the United States. * Radically Gay, a collection of Harry Hay's writing. * Incidentally, I watched this interview with Harry Hay from 1996 about gay life in SF in the 30's multiple times because it's amazing. 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. SPOILERS BELOW Music * First up is The Homeless Wanderer from Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou off of the Emahoy (Piano Solo) album, number 21 in the unimpeachable Ethiopiques series. * Then we get some of To the Right the Enemy, to the Left the Sea from Simon Rakham. * We finish with Stellify by Francesco Albanese. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Music * 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia. In Toronto? Chicago? Milwaukee? Minneapolis? Come see a live Memory Palace show. For Mothers' Day, this episode is a re-mixed version of a story originally released as Episode 10, in 2009. Back with new episodes next time out. The two piano pieces that bookend the piece are by Max Richter from his “24 Postcards in Full Color” record. The one in the middle is “Maybelle” by Ida. It popped up on shuffle the other day and stunned me. I hadn’t heard it in years. It’s really lovely. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Do you live in Toronto? Chicago? Milwaukee? Minneapolis? How about L.A.? Come see the Memory Palace live this May. SPOILERS BELOW Music * We hear Portrait Gallery from Luke Howard. * A smidgen of Julia Kent's lovely Dorval. * The incomparable Moondog's Gloving It pops up a couple times (as it tends to do around these parts). * Denmark by the Portland Cello Project rolls out for quite awhile. * John Lewis and Sacha Distel play the title track from their Afternoon in Paris album. * We hear To, from Zach Cooper's Styles Upon Styles. * There's a bit of Eine Kleine Gamelan Music from The Gamelan Son of Lion (seriously). * Ends on P, by Labradford. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Do you live in Toronto? Chicago? Milwaukee? Minneapolis? How about L.A.? Come see the Memory Palace live this May. SPOILERS BELOW A Selected Bibliography * Dr. Sam: An American Tragedy by Jack Harrison Pollack * Summer of Shadows: a Murder a Pennant Race and the Twilight of the Best Location in the Nation, by Jonathan Knight, a very readable popular history book that pulls off a maybe-ill-advised trick of balancing the story of the Sheppard case with the Indians 1954 season surprisingly well. * Endure and Conquer, Sam Sheppard and F. Lee Bailey's version of things, written in 1966. Agenda aside, it's a fascinating read. Especially his account of the prison years. * Murder, Culture, and Injustice: Four Sensational Cases in American History, by Walter Hixson. * "Dr. Sam Sheppard The Ex-Convict who Revolutionized Professional Wrestling," from The Wrestler, May, 1970. * The bulk of the details from the last section of story are pulled from contemporary newspaper articles from the Mansfield News-Journal, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the Dover Daily Reporter, The Escanaba Daily Press, the Detroit Free Press, the Nashville Tennessean, The Tyrone Daily Herald, and The Washington Post 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Notes Research for this story was largely culled from contemporary newspaper accounts. Check back for a list. 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 Bandstand, 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Notes * I first came the story of Ross, North Dakota, while reading Muslims in America: A Short History, by Edward E. Curtis. * The full WPA interview with Mary Juma (and another member of the Ross community) can be found in Curtis’ The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States. * A contemporary account of the Ross community can be found here. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Notes Nearly all the research for this one comes straight out of the highly-readable, Cap’n George Fred, G.F. Tilton’s 1925 autobiography. I got my copy at a used bookstore for $11. It’s easy to find on eBay and Amazon and whatnot. Totally money well spent. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Music * Julia Rovinsky plays Phillip Glass’ Metamorphosis I, from her album Dusk. * There’s an excerpt from Paul Drescher’s “Casa Vecchia,” from the Mirrors: Other Fire album. * There’s a chunk of Jose Gonzalez’ “Instrumental” from his Stay in the ShadeEP. * “Manny Returns Home” from Bernard Hermann’s score to The Wrong Man. * Branka Parlic plays Philip Glass’ “Mad Rush.” Twice. * “Quiet Fan for SK,” by P.G. Six. * Things get heavy to “Particles of the Universe (Heartbeats)” from Dan Romer and Ben Zeitlin’s score to Beasts of the Southern Wild. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Music * 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A special episode of the Memory Palace commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to coincide with the opening of Rockefeller-Worsham Dressing Room in Gallery 742 of The American Wing and with Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age, an exhibition open now through May 1st, 2016. 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.](thememorypalace.us) Musical score by Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf. Executive Producer, Limor Tomer, General Manager of Concerts & Lectures, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Music* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score.* First up is one of my very favorite recordings of all time: Andromeda from Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath. One of the finest bands ever assembled. * The sailors get grumpy to Sito from Pierre Favre and the European Chamber Ensemble. (The end drum loop comes from that piece too). * The guys run off to save the day to Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor doing the Green Groves of Erin.* That turns into, In Threes by Loscil. 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Music * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score. * They first meet to a piece called Brouillard (version 1) from Georges Delaure's extraordinary score to Jules et Jim. (A second version comes in later when J.J. Audubon is living the high life in England). * We also hear Waltz by Mother Falcon. * I go back to the Marcelo Zarvos/Please Give well when the Scotsman arrives at their store. Note: it's the go-to soundtrack for "People Arriving at One's Store With A Life Changing Proposition" here at the Memory Palace. Also: go watch Please Give. * The little piano piece is from Nathan Johnson's score to The Day I Saw Your Heart. * Lucy and John titter like plovers to Andrew Cyrille's dope, skittering drums on Nuba 1. * The especially sad bit, right before the end is Dream 3 (in the Midst of my Life), from Max Richter's giant, From Sleep album. * A couple times, including the ending, we hear "the Lark Ascending" from Ralph Vaughn Willliams. It is beautiful. You should buy it. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's fundraiser time! Do you enjoy the Memory Palace? Do you want to support independent media? Then support the home of the Memory Palace, Radiotopia. Click here and become a sustaining supporter and help keep us going for a long time to come! Music* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score.* First bit is called Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears by A Winged Victory for the Sullen from their self-titled album. * A brief bit of Occam II for Violin by Silvia Tarrozi scores the shuttle accident (non-NASA category). * We've got Eloy by Deaf Center. * Finish out with Call from Julianna Barwick's album Pacing. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's fundraiser time! Do you enjoy the Memory Palace? Do you want to support independent media? Then support the home of the Memory Palace, Radiotopia. Click here and become a sustaining supporter and help keep us going for a long time to come! Music* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score.* First up is "Adultere bourgeoise," a piece from Paul Misraki's score to A Double tour.* Then we've got a piece called "Night Time Talk" by Stephen J. Anderson. * We hit For the Trees by Matmos a couple of times (the bit after: "the facts were these," or whatever I say)* Frank Durr's theme is P from that first LaBradford album, all those years ago. * The score for the House of Butterflies is called Fragment II by Library Tapes. It comes back again toward the end.* We also hear Invidia, by Deadmaus. That's the one we finish on. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's fundraiser time! Do you enjoy the Memory Palace? Do you want to support independent media? Then support the home of the Memory Palace, Radiotopia. Click here and become a sustaining supporter and help keep us going for a long time to come! Music*Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score.*The piece opens with Rainfall, by David Darling and Michael Jones. *Her brief love story is scored by Nathan Johnson's Penelope's Theme from his score to The Brothers Bloom.*When she lands her first gig, we start Garde a Vue, and roll into Le Roi de coeur, from Chantal Martineau.* The vibraphone piece is "Opening" by Nathaniel Bartlett. * The recurring violin piece is called Geometria del Universo by the one-named Colleen. * It ends on Romain's First Love, again by Georges Delarue, from his fantastic score to Promise at Dawn. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The finale of the 2015 Summer Season. Music * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score. * There's Branches, by Keith Kenniff * Then The Big Ocean, from Ben Sollee's score to Maidentrip. * Then End of the World from Dan Romer's score to Beasts of the Southern Wild. * There's The Sage, pulling once more from the dope-as-hell self-titled album from the Chico Hamilton Quintet. * There's a loop pulled from Worm is Green's song, Brand New Day * There's The Light, from my pal Jimmy's wonderful project, The Album Leaf. Go buy their albums. * The piece at the end is the theme to Charlie Countryman from Christophe Beck's score. * Oh: stuff gets heavy to Ghosts I from Nine Inch Nails. * And finally (though out of order), playing over the fall-out from JFK's death is Now by Goldmund. 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, a… Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 9 of the 2015 Summer Season. Music * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score. * There're too pieces from Per Storby Jutbring's album, Dance of the Diaper Fairy. Snowbound, up top, and the title track at the end. 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, readily available on * Also key was the lovely prologue to First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong, James R. Hanson's solid (if a little hagiographic) bio. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 8 of the 2015 Summer Season 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 7 of the 2015 Summer Season. Music * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score. * First up (and returning a bit later) is Mr. Reincarnation from Alexander Desplat's dope-as-hell score to the fairly dope movie, Birth. * There's Lost Fur, Reprise from Carter Burwell's Where the Wild Things Are score. * Then there's a Charles Ives piece called Remembrance, played by Yesaroun' Duo, Eric Hewitt and Samuel Z. Soloman. * Then we hit Another Lifetime, dipping back in the Birth Score well. * Finish up with Kierling/Doubt from Max Richters 24 Postcards in Full Color. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 6 of the 2015 Summer Season. Music * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score. * First up, A Nice Day from a truly wonderful album, The Original Chico Hamilton Quintet Complete Studio Recordings. * Then there's Ohnono/Kiwembo, Andrew Bird's contribution to Tradi-Mods Vs. Rockers - Alternative Takes on Congotronics, Vol. 1 (which is a great rabbit hole to go down). * Anita gets introduced to Hay Tantos Muertos, by Marissa Nadler. * Then falls in love to Hymn of Silence by Silencio * Then there're two pieces from Nathan Johnson's score to The Day I Saw Your Heart. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 5 of the 2015 Summer Season. Music * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score. * The main mountain theme is Mort D'Eurydice, by Pierre Favre as played by the European Chamber Ensemble. * There's a second string-y snippet of another by them called, Sito. * We learn about beavers to Stereo Music for Acoustic Guitar, Buchla Music Box 100 (etc.)...Pt. 2 from Keith Fullerton Whitman's old Multiples album. * The soft men are embodied by 3-Sized PF by Takahiro Kido from his Fairy Tale album. * I roll out some more Miguel Atwood-Ferguson with Arioso from Red Hot & Bach to track the tall tales of the west. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 4 of the 2015 Summer Season. Music * 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Episode 3 of the Summer Season. Music * 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Music * 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The music: *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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices