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the memory palace

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Jul 22, 2023 • 25min

Episode 79: Artist in Landscape

This show is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. This episode was originally released in November, 2015. 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
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Jun 12, 2023 • 13min

Episode 90: A White Horse

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 and independent media, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. This episode was originally released in 2016 in the days after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. It is re-released every year on the anniversary of the incident. 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. 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
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Jun 3, 2023 • 19min

Episode 205: Alice Ramsay

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Apr 10, 2023 • 12min

Episode 204: Wolves

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Music In My Heaven All Faucets Have Fountains by yes/and A snippet of Runaway from Olafur Arnauld’s score to Gimme Shelter Spectral Canon from Conlon Nancarrow from James Tenney The Hourglass by Ben Crosland. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Mar 10, 2023 • 14min

episode 76: Mary Walker Would Wear what she Wanted

This episode was originally released in 2015. Proceeds from this episode are being donated to the Transgender Law Center. 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. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Feb 17, 2023 • 12min

Episode 67: Every Night Ever

This episode was originally released in summer of 2015. 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. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 28, 2023 • 16min

Episode 148: Safe Passage

This episode was originally released in September of 2019. Music 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. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 17, 2023 • 12min

Episode 94: Numbers (rebroadcast)

This episode was originally released in August 2016 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
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Dec 26, 2022 • 23min

Nate's episode of the year 2022: In France or in Heaven

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Dec 16, 2022 • 11min

Episode 203: The News from Thar

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Music Mongali as played by the mighty Tabu Ley Rochereu 2nd Season by Takahiro Kido Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite: 5 Cloudburst as performed by the Detroit Symphony Nero’s Nocturne by Chilly Gonzalez. Man, that guy is great. You should buy his music. Opening Titles from Jeff Grace’s score to In the Valley of Violence Morris Visits Dr. Pratt from John Barry’s score to The Wrong Box Gift from Masakatsu Takagi’s score to The Boy and the Beast Nurse Janet from Ludwig Goransson’s score to Everything, Everythin Notes My favorite resources on frontier press stuff is by Barbara Cloud, The Coming of the Frontier Press, How the West was Really Won. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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