In April 1938, an Oklahoma bank robber was arrested for carrying an unregistered sawed-off shotgun across state lines. The robber, Jack Miller, put forward a novel defense: that a law banning him from carrying that gun violated his Second Amendment rights. For most of U.S. history, the Second Amendment was one of the sleepier ones. […]
From public radio producer, Nate DiMeo, comes The Memory Palace, a finalist for the 2016 Peabody Award and one of iTunes Best Podcast of 2015. Short, surprising stories of the past, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hysterical, often a little bit of both. “The most potent pieces of audio being produced today.” – The AvClub thememorypalace.us The […]
Climate change, political unrest, random violence: modern society can often feel like what the filmmaker Werner Herzog calls “a thin layer of ice on top of an ocean of chaos and darkness.” In the United States, polls indicate that many people believe law and order is the only thing protecting us from the savagery of […]
They say “everything old becomes new again.” Today, that’s baggy jeans, shag haircuts, 90s music, TV sitcoms – the latest version of finding comfort in nostalgia and familiarity in what came before. We constantly look for safety in the permanence of the past, or at least, what we think the past was. But, when it […]
Ethan Miller/Getty Images Ethan Miller/Getty Images We live in divided times, when the answer to the question ‘what is reality?’ depends on who you ask. Almost all the information we take in is to some extent edited and curated, and the line between entertainment and reality has become increasingly blurred. Nowhere is that more obvious […]
Episode 120 (The Prairie Chicken in Wisconsin: Highlights of a Study of Counts, Behavior, Turnover, Movement, and Habitat) The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music We move between three different pieces from Camille Saint-Saens’: Suite, Op. 90: II Menuet, and two from Carnival of… Source […]
Our society is saturated in apologies. They’re scripted, they’re public, and they often feel less than sincere. Political, corporate, celebrity apologies – they can all feel performed. It’s not even always clear who they’re for. So what purpose do these apologies serve? Because real apologies are not just PR stunts. Not just a way to […]
Sometimes, the most dangerous and powerful thing a person can do is to stand up not against their enemies, but against their friends. As the United States heads into what will likely be another bitter and divided election year, there will be more and more pressure to stand with our in-groups rather than our consciences. […]
A 19th-century engraving of Cpt. Miles Standish and his men observing the ‘immoral’ behavior of the Maypole festivities of 1628 at Merrymount. ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images A 19th-century engraving of Cpt. Miles Standish and his men observing the ‘immoral’ behavior of the Maypole […]
Episode 120 (The Prairie Chicken in Wisconsin: Highlights of a Study of Counts, Behavior, Turnover, Movement, and Habitat) The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Music We move between three different pieces from Camille Saint-Saens’: Suite, Op. 90: II Menuet, and two from Carnival of… Source […]