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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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.