An episode from 3/17/21: This is the third in a series of readings from biographies of Walt Whitman. Tonight, I continue with ⁠⁠⁠Paul Zweig's Walt Whitman: The Making of the Poet⁠⁠⁠, which focuses on the years preceding the publication of Leaves of Grass. Here, he focuses on Whitman's earliest involvement in politics, and the importance of opera and theater in his life, aspects of which appears in his poetry. Here, Zweig delves into the questions surrounding Whitman's sexuality, and the apparent difference between his effusive and physically-open poetic personae, and the more reserved person he seems to have been in his private life. Zweig's discussion of Whitman's ability to derive meaning simply through longing for other men is one of the most moving things in any biography. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

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