#208: Bach & God
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/8/25: Note: A version of this episode was posted last week and quickly taken down...
#208 - Bach & God
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/1/25: Tonight, I read from John Eliot’s Gardiner’s Bach: Music in the Castle ...
#207 - Death, the Gods, and Endless Life in Ancient Egypt
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/24/25: Tonight, I read from one of the best books on religion in ancient Egypt, E...
#206 - The Discovery of Indo-European Languages - 1876
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/17/25: Tonight, I read a section from David Anthony’s book The Horse, the Wheel...
#205: Learning to Read, c. 2000 BCE
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/10/25: Tonight, I talk about literacy and education in the ancient world, both th...
#204: Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," 1856
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/3/25: Tonight, I read what is perhaps Walt Whitman’s greatest poem, “Crossing...
#203: Bruce Springsteen Talks About "Nebraska" - 1984
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/24/25: I’ve been waiting in vain for a cold to pass so I can record a new episo...
#202 - A Death at Sea, 1834
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/6/25: Tonight, I read from Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast, ...
#201 - Gillian Anderson, & What Women Want, 2024
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/25/25: Tonight, I read a few entries from the book Gillian Anderson edited, called...
#200: The Last Days of Walter Benjamin, 1940
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/15/25: Tonight, I read a long section on the last days of the philosopher Walter B...
#199: The Protestant Reformation Gets Going, c. 1517
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/9/25: Tonight, I read from three books: A small passage from The Golden Age Shtetl...
#198: Georgia O'Keeffe Finds Herself in the Fall of 1915
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/1/25: Tonight, I read a small passage from Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf, and then ...
#197: A Honeymoon in the House of the Dead in Ancient Mesopotamia, c. 2300 BCE
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/27/25: Tonight, I read from Amanda Podany’s wonderful book, Weavers, Scribes, an...
#196: Morning at the London Docks, c. 1850
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/23/25: Returning to the podcast after a long hiatus, I read from Henry Mayhew and ...
First Person: Oppenheimer & the Bomb (from the archive)
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/21/23: Tonight, I read a few dozen quotations from the scientists, politicians, an...
"The One Who Sang So Well" (new story)
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 6/15/25: Tonight, the podcast returns briefly for a reading of my new short story, ...
Notes from the Grid: Rediscovering the Hidden Life
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 4/26/22: Tonight, I begin a five-part series called Notes from the Grid. (A print ve...
Shakespeare: The Life & Times (from the archive)
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/16/23: Tonight, I read my long poem about William Shakespeare, and offer a commen...
Anthology: Poems for Spring (from the archive)
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 3/12/23: Tonight, I return to new episodes with a handful of poems about the spring....
The Great Myths #24: Sigurd & the Dragon (from the archive)
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/20/24: Tonight, after a long hiatus, we return to Norse myth with the story of Sig...
Patti Smith / Mazzy Star & Living Colour / Philip Glass (from the archive)
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/13/23: Tonight, I talk about our attachment to music as teenagers and adults, and...
Great Poems: Shakespeare's "To Be or Not to Be" (from the archive)
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/12/22: Everybody knows the most famous soliloquy in all of drama, or at least the ...
Anthology: Visionary Poems from Yeats, Whitman, Blake & Myth (from the archive)
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 3/3/24: Tonight, I read from a handful of what I call “visionary” poems. After a...
First Person: Voices from 1900-1914 (from the archive)
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/2/23: Tonight, I read a handful of voices from those living in Europe and the Unit...
Van Gogh's Early Years (from the archive)
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/7/22: Tonight, we enter into the early years of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), fro...
William Blake (new episode)
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/9/24: Tonight's episode gathers together all of the readings I've done on this po...
John Keats: "The poet has no identity" (from the archive)
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/5/21: Tonight, I read part of John Keats's famous letter of October 27...
The Great Myths #2: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, & the Underworld (from the archive)
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/30/20: In this second episode on Mesopotamian myth, we return to the story of Gil...
The Sound of Beethoven (from the archive)
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/1/24: Tonight, a cold has forced me to hand over the episode almost entirely to so...
Bruce Springsteen / Simon Schama / The Iliad (from the archive)
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/28/23: Tonight's episode looks in on history, creativity, and mourning from three ...
Notes from the Grid: All Things Can Console (from the archive)
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/9/22: Tonight, I continue my five-part series called Notes from the Grid. (A prin...
Advice from Walt Whitman & W. B. Yeats (from the archive)
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/20/21: Tonight, we hear anecdotes from the lives of two very different poets, Wal...
The Great Myths #1: Gilgamesh Begins (from the archive)
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/19/20: Tonight, I begin perhaps the most important series of episodes on this pod...
A Farewell to the Podcast with Theodore Roethke's "The Rose"
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/8/24: Tonight, four years to the day after starting this podcast, I end it with ...
7 Poems by H. D. (new episode)
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/23/24: Tonight, I read seven poems by the American poet, H. D. (Hilda Doolittle, ...
6 Poems by R. S. Thomas (new episode)
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/11/24: Tonight, I read six poems by the Welsh poet, R. S. Thomas (1913-2000). A p...
4 Poems by Kenneth Rexroth (new episode)
31 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/30/24: Tonight, I read four poems by the American poet Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982...
Advice from Robert Pinsky (new episode)
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/14/24: Tonight, I read excerpts from the poet Robert Pinsky’s 1995 interview wi...
Seamus Heaney: 7 Poems from "North"
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/1/24: Tonight, I read seven poems from Seamus Heaney’s 1974 collection, North. ...
Little Biographies
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/19/24: Tonight, I read the small biographies of nearly two dozen poets, the kind o...
Nostalgia (new episode)
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/5/24: Tonight, I devote an hour to wondering how we talk about childhood and memor...
Walt Whitman's Life #7: His Notebooks & the Publication of "Leaves of Grass" (new episode)
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 6/18/24: This is the seventh in a series of readings from biographies of Walt Whitma...
The Most Brutal Scenes (new episode)
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 06/06/2024: Tonight, I share two stories from the Shoah, or Holocaust. The first is ...
Ted Hughes: 14 Poems from "Crow" (new episode)
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/8/24: Tonight, I read fourteen poems from Ted Hughes's 1970 collection, Crow. ...
Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 4/30/21: Here is a collection of all of the recordings I've made of the poetry of Ro...
Anthology: Poems on Modern Life (new episode)
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 4/17/24: Tonight, I read a handful of poems on modern life—whatever “modern” m...
An Interview with Amit Majmudar (new episode)
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 4/3/24: Tonight, I interview the poet, novelist, and translator, Amit Majmudar. You ...
Ted Hughes: 11 Poems from "Remains of Elmet" (new episode)
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 3/15/24: Tonight, I read eleven poems from Ted Hughes's 1979 collection, Remains...
Wallace Stevens: 11 Essential Poems
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 2/19/24: Tonight, I read eleven essential poems by the American poet Wallace Stevens...
Ted Hughes: 6 Poems from "River"
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 2/7/24: Tonight, I read six poems from Ted Hughes's 1983 collection, River. His ...
Anthology: Poems on Being a Parent
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/31/24: Tonight, as a companion to last episode of poems on being a child, I read a...
Anthology: Poems About Childhood & Youth
20 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/19/24: Tonight, I read a handful of poems about childhood. How does poetry capture...
Ted Hughes: 7 Poems from "Moortown Diary"
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/10/24: Tonight, I read seven poems from Ted Hughes's collection of farming poe...
Britain: September 3, 1939
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/21/23: What is it like for your country to declare war, and then wait for it, and...
The new movie "Maestro," & what happens to our earliest dreams
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/13/23: There’s a certain lesson I’ve learned from sports figures, poets, and ...
Us Weird Geeks
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/15/2023: Only a short episode tonight, where I wonder about the future of this po...
Anthology: Poems for Autumn
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/30/23: Tonight, I read a handful of poems about autumn: Laurence Binyon (1869-1...
Seamus Heaney: Selected Poems
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/20/21: A collection of all the poems by Seamus Heaney I have read here over the pa...
Anthology: Poetry Friday with The Great Year, Shakespeare, Eliot, Blake, Poems on Work & Poems on Mythology
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/15/23: Earlier this year, I thought it was possible to supplement this podcast wit...
Caravaggio's Severed Heads / Herodotus Among the Scythians / Ian McKellen on Macbeth
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/8/23: In the first part of tonight's episode, I read from Peter Robb's M, ...
Raising a Musical Prodigy / God's Response to Job
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/1/23: In the first part of tonight’s episode, I read from Andrew Solomon’s Far...
Seamus Heaney: 10 Essential Poems
25 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/25/23: Tonight, I read ten essential poems from one of the great and most public p...
Psalm 23 / Mary, Queen of Scots is Executed / 3 Poems by Mary Oliver
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/18/23: What makes a story or prayer or poem last? What circumstances can lead one ...
Shakespeare's Library / Ancient Egypt's Temple Libraries / Seamus Heaney Goes to School
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/11/23: Tonight, we look into libraries and learning: In the first part, I read f...
Notes from the Grid: The Perpetual Adolescent
06 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/16/22: Tonight, I continue my five-part series called Notes from the Grid. (A prin...
Cities Under Siege: The Gauls Sack Rome / Occupied Paris / William Blake's London
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/4/23: Tonight, we hear from cities under siege: In the first part, I read from ...
Rachel Carson on the Deep History of the Sea
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/14/23: Tonight, I read from two great writers on the history of the sea. The first...
American Shaman
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/7/23: Tonight, I talk about writing my long poem, To the House of the Sun, publish...
The Spiritual Significance of Everyday Work
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 6/30/23: Tonight, I read from three books that have been important lately in the wri...
The Midsummer Fire Festivals of Old Europe
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 6/12/23: Tonight, I read from James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough, and the acco...
Van Gogh: Starry Nights & Sunflowers
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/27/22: Tonight, I read from Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith’s Van Gogh:...
Pythagoras: The Life & Times
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tonight, I'm thrilled to read a poem that I began working on three years ago on the life, teachi...
The Great Myths #23: Odin
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/15/23: What can the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Icelandic sagas, and skaldic poetr...
Is There Anybody Out There?
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 5/3/23: Tonight’s episode is a response to those wonderful lines from William Carl...
Advice from the Beatles
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 4/26/23: What can the stories of the early lives of famous people teach us about our...
On Seamus Heaney
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 4/19/23: In 2020, the Irish historian and biographer R. F. Foster published a wonder...
Advice from William Wordsworth
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 3/29/23: Why should we continue to read the poetry of William Wordsworth? Tonight’...
Da Vinci & His Bodies
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 3/19/23: Around the year 1509, Leonardo da Vinci began his great anatomical work, di...
Anthology: Poems on How to Live
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/26/23: Tonight I read a handful of poems on the theme of How to live, what to do? ...
Advice from Charles Dickens & Alice Munro
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/10/23: Tonight we hear from two great writers of fiction, Charles Dickens and Alic...
Anthology: Love Poems from the Last Four Centuries
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/18/23: Tonight I ask the question: what is love, and what is love poetry? Are poem...
The Great Myths #22: The Story of Ragnarok in the Norse Eddas
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/23/22: How did the Viking Norse tell a story as important as Ragnarok (the end of...
Give Me Another Tarantula
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/29/22: "Give Me a Tarantula" is shorthand for a scattering of thoughts ...
Robert Lowell: 10 Essential Poems
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/4/22: Tonight, I read ten essential poems from the American poet, Robert Lowell (...
What Do Writers & Actors Have in Common?
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/4/22: Tonight, I talk about creativity and wonder what actors and writers have in...
True Horror
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/27/22: Tonight, I talk about our love horror and true crime, and ask: what makes ...
The Great Myths #21: The Story of Creation in the Norse Eddas
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/19/22: In this second episode on Norse Mythology, I read from the creation myths ...
Old Friends
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/11/22: Tonight I talk about a dear friend from my youth, who made a great impac...
Ted Hughes: 12 Essential Poems
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/3/22: Over the course of forty years, Ted Hughes (1930-1998) wrote some of the be...
Ted Hughes: Selected Poems
01 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/31/22: Tonight, I collect all of Ted Hughes’s poetry that I have recorded and po...
Robinson Jeffers: 10 Essential Poems
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/23/22: What twentieth-century American poet devoted so much time to the environmen...
The Great Myths #20: Introducing Norse Myth & Reading the Voluspa
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/15/22: For the next year or more, my series on The Great Myths will focus on Norse...
Stephen King's Great Novel of Parenthood & Grief
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 9/7/22: Tonight I spend an hour talking about Stephen King’s 1983 novel, Pet Se...
William Carlos Williams: 11 Essential Poems
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/15/22: Tonight, I read eleven essential poems from the American poet William Carl...
Give Me a Tarantula
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/30/22: “Give Me a Tarantula” is a scattering of thoughts on: Old Norse &...
The Great Myths #19: Farewell to the Celtic Myths, & One Last Story
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/22/22: Tonight, we leave the Celtic myths with an overview of all the episodes dev...
First Person: The Atomic Bomb
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 8/4/22: Tonight, listen to my four-part episode on the atomic bomb, from its develop...
Witches in America, Napoleon in Egypt, & the Invention of the Printed Book
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/19/22: Sometimes it’s worth just reveling in the way a great historian tells a s...
Emily Dickinson
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 7/11/22: How do we find our way past the image of Emily Dickinson as a distant, unap...
The Voice of Toni Morrison
26 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 6/26/22: We are incredibly lucky that, in the novelist Toni Morrison (1931-2019), we...