Episode summary: Buffy Sainte-Marie tells Rick Rubin there’s a reason she isn’t a household name in the U.S. A pioneering artist in the Greenwich Village folk scene, she could’ve been Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell or Paul Simon. But in the early days of Vietnam when Buffy was singing protest songs about...

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Episode summary: This episode of The Memory Palace was commissioned by the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival and the New York State Council of the Arts in 2019. It’s ideally meant to be listened to at the Pont du Rennes while viewing High Falls. But, you’ll likely enjoy it wherever you are. The Memo...

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Episode summary: Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about hinterlands - areas lying beyond what is visible or known. From how to read the dangers and possibilities of public space to the space you might inhabit after you die. When You’re Gone, You’re Gone (extract) Presente...

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Episode summary: “At first I was afraid, I was petrified”… From a breakup to a shipwreck, emotional true stories of what Gloria Gaynor’s iconic disco anthem I Will Survive means to different people around the world. A woman sets out to become the first female rower to cross the Atlantic solo; a woma...

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Episode summary: We’re excited to announce that Emmanuel Dzotsi is taking on a new role on the show … as host! And this week, he brings us a story about a mysterious recording that has been popping up on government hotlines for years. Emmanuel tries to figure out where this recording is coming from...

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Episode summary: David talks to Helen Thompson and Gary Gerstle about the historical precedents for US presidents losing office after a singleterm. It doesn’t happen very often, but it could be about to happen again! Can Trump use the powers of incumbency to prevent it? Can Biden use Trump’s growing...

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Episode summary: Plus, the occult power of conductors.

Episode summary: David and Helen talk to the philosopher Michael Sandel about the damage that the idea of rewarding people on merit has done to education, democracy and public life. Why is it wrong to try to match the best students to the best universities? What is credentialism and how has it warpe...

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Episode summary: Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Pericles (495-429BC), the statesman who dominated the politics of Athens for thirty years, the so-called Age of Pericles, when the city’s cultural life flowered, its democracy strengthened as its empire grew, and the Acropolis was adorned with the Par...

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Episode summary: Dan Saladino tells the story of wheat from the domestication of wild grasses in the Neolithic Revolution through to the controversial Green Revolution of the 20th century.