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the memory palace

the memory palace

Nate DiMeo

History

the memory palace

Episodes

Episode 122: Hercules

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
12min•Mar 7, 2026
Episode 241: Stay Gold

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 Notes You can listen to the full recording here.
12min•Feb 23, 2026
Episode 240: Islanders

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 Notes The 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.
20min•Feb 6, 2026
Pinch hitting!

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.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod Our 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
42min•Jan 16, 2026
Public Domain Theater 2026

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.
3h 27min•Jan 3, 2026
Nate's Favorite Episode of the Year: Emma and the Trail

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 Notes There'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.
19min•Dec 18, 2025
Episode 239: Blank Pages

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
18min•Dec 6, 2025
From The Memory Palace Audiobook: Fine New England Granite

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. 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.
17min•Nov 26, 2025
Episode 238: The Crypt of Thornwell Jacobs

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
21min•Nov 6, 2025
A Teach-In for History

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. 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
15min•Oct 23, 2025
Episode 237: Vigil

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
12min•Oct 2, 2025
Episode 133: Antidisestablishmentarianism

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
14min•Sep 19, 2025
Episode 236: The Times

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
13min•Sep 7, 2025
Summer Reading: Two Transcendent Poems About Public Transportation

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.
18min•Aug 21, 2025
Episode 235: The Girls, their Teachers, their Parents

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
14min•Aug 7, 2025
Episode 234: Looking for Parking, Late Winter, 1996

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
13min•Jul 26, 2025
Episode 233: Nan + Warren

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 Notes You can read The President's Daughter here.
22min•Jul 3, 2025
A White Horse

A White Horse

.The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. 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.
14min•Jun 12, 2025
Episode 232: Oh, Herbert Morrison

Episode 232: Oh, Herbert Morrison

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. On June 13th, 2025, I'll do a special, one-night-only live show at the Tribeca Audio Festival in New York City, joined by two of the audiobook's readers: Carrie Coon and Lili Taylor! The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music Pale by Akira Koresuma The Things Left Unsaid by Caleb Burhans VIII. Juliet by Matthew Bourne Dream House III: After Dust from Mary Ellen Child's beautiful album, Ethel. Here I Am, Two Warships, by Spirituals Notes You can listen to the whole, original recording here, and an enhanced, speed corrected version, here. One of the best places to learn about Herb's life is this documentary.
22min•May 15, 2025
Episode 231: On Dexter Avenue

Episode 231: On Dexter Avenue

Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. During mid-May, 2025, I'm doing a Midwestern book tour, with stops in Minneapolis, Cincinatti, Indianapolis, and Chicago. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. Music That Moment by Antonymes Nocturne by Sololi Watching it Unfold by Lawrence English Notes You can access the self-produced history of the Sophie Bibb Chapter of the UDC here. The Alabama Encyclopedia site does a nice job with some of this stuff. You might want to check out Caroline Janney's book, Burying the Dead but Not the Past: Ladies' Mermorial Associations and the Lost Cause.
17min•May 1, 2025
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