the memory palace - 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! www.thememorypalace.us/events.

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


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Bay Curious - A Ford Factory Changed Milpitas, Then it Became a Mall

The Great Mall of Milpitas wasn't always a mall; it used to be a massive Ford factory. Bay Curious listener Brandon Choy wanted to know more about its history. The San Jose Assembly Plant opened in 1955 after relocating from Ford's outdated Richmond location. The new factory put Milpitas on the map, transforming a sleepy agricultural town into a thriving city. The factory’s opening also sparked historic social change: the construction of one of the first planned integrated neighborhoods in America.


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This story was reported by Gabriela Glueck. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and everyone on Team KQED.

Everything Everywhere Daily - The Norman Conquest

On October 14, 1066, England changed forever. 

Forces from Normandy, France, defeated the English King and changed life in England forever. 

It affected everyone from the aristocracy down to the commoners, and it even trickled down to the very language spoken in the country itself. 

In fact, the events of 1066 can still be seen and felt today. 

Learn more about the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Bond market nightmares

In early April, the bond market gave people a scare. Investors began selling off their historically secure U.S. Treasuries in large quantities. It reportedly encouraged President Trump to pause his flurry of liberation day tariffs. These jitters offered a glimpse into what could go wrong for U.S. Treasuries if economic uncertainty gets worse. On today's show, we take a peek at some nightmare scenarios for the bond market.

Related episodes:
Who's advising Trump on trade (Apple / Spotify)
IRS information sharing, bonds bust, and a chorebot future (Apple / Spotify)
Bond vigilantes. Who they are, what they want, and how you'll know they're coming (Apple / Spotify)
Is the reign of the dollar over? (Apple / Spotify)

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NPR's Book of the Day - A new biography tells the twin stories of James Gandolfini and Tony Soprano

James Gandolfini starred in The Sopranos for six seasons. The show, which ended in 2007, was considered an instant classic and permanently linked Gandolfini to his character, Tony Soprano. Gandolfini died in 2013, but a new biography tells the story of his life. In Gandolfini, Jason Bailey portrays the actor as an unlikely star who struggled after The Sopranos to grow as an artist. In today's episode, the author joins NPR's Scott Simon for a conversation about Gandolfini's path to HBO stardom, a famous pay negotiation, and the actor's struggle with personal demons.

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Everything Everywhere Daily - Alcatraz

Located in the middle of San Francisco Bay is one of the Bay Area’s most iconic landmarks: Alcatraz. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, with over a million visitors every year. 

Most people know of Alcatraz as a prison, yet it only served as a prison for a very short period of time. 

During its history, it has served multiple different functions and has had many different lives. 

Learn more about Alcatraz, its past, present, and possible futures, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.


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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘The Lost and the Found’ takes an intimate look at homelessness in San Francisco

As a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Kevin Fagan embedded with the city's unhoused population. Now retired, he's written a book built around two of the people he got to know through his reporting. The Lost and the Found zooms in on the lives of Rita and Tyson, who ended up chronically homeless in San Francisco through a cascade of circumstances. In today's episode, Fagan speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about their stories, Fagan's own experience with poverty and housing insecurity, and the Reagan-era policies that led to an increased unhoused population in the 1980s.

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