Human Voices Wake Us
Episodes
The Great Myths #6: The Egyptian Book of the Dead
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 2/19/21: In this third episode on Egyptian mythology, I give a brief introduction to the famous Book of the Dead, and then read from t...
Walt Whitman: "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 2/17/21: Tonight, I read what is probably Walt Whitman's greatest single poem, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry." More focused t...
George Orwell on Poverty
13 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 2/13/21: George Orwell's 1933 memoir of voluntary poverty, Down and Out in Paris and London, can still rip your heart out. Tonight...
The Great Myths #5: Osiris
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 2/7/21: In this second episode on Egyptian mythology, I offer an overview of the story of the god Osiris, with readings from the most ...
Laurie Sheck: 13 Poems from "The Willow Grove"
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/31/21: The American writer Laurie Sheck (born 1953) was the first poet that I read extensively from on Human Voices Wake Us. Her 199...
The Great Myths #4: The Pyramid Texts of Ancient Egypt
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 1/28/21: Tonight, I read from perhaps the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, the spells and prayers that were inscribed in...
The Great Myths #3: Gilgamesh & the Flood
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/31/20: In this last episode on the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, I read of Gilgamesh's travels to the ends of the earth as he...
T. S. Eliot: “Preludes”
27 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 12/27/20: Tonight, I read one of T. S. Eliot's earliest poems, "Preludes". While many readers rightly go for his more fa...
Andrew Solomon on Growing Up Deaf
28 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/28/20: Tonight, I read from Andrew Solomon’s book, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity. This passage...
First Person: Minnesota at the Turn of the 20th Century
28 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/27/20: A reading from Studs Terkel’s book, American Dreams: Lost & Found. Here, Andy Johnson talks about his life in ru...
Vermeer in Bosnia
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/11/20: Tonight, I read from Lawrence Weschler’s collection of essays, Vermeer in Bosnia. In the title essay, Weschler describes a...
Walt Whitman’s Letter to the Parents of the Soldier Erastus Haskell
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/10/20: Tonight, I read Walt Whitman's 1863 letter to the parents of Erastus Haskell. Haskell was wounded during the Civil War, ...
George Orwell Down in the Mines
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/9/20: Tonight, I read one of the most moving sections of George Orwell’s 1937 book, The Road to Wigan Pier. In the book, Orwell g...
Robinson Jeffers: Poems from “Hungerfield”
05 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/5/2020: Tonight, I read a handful of poems from Robinson Jeffers's late collection, Hungerfield. The book, especially the title...
Two Bits of Kafka's "Trial" for the Election
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 11/01/20: Tonight, I read two passages from Franz Kafka's The Trial: the fable known as "Before the Law," and the conclu...
"It is so hard to die" - A Story of Depression from 1809
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/28/20: Tonight, I read from Stephen Ambrose's book on the Lewis & Clark expedition, Undaunted Courage. I've chosen a sc...
Robinson Jeffers: Six Last Poems
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/26/20: Tonight, I read six poems from the Last Poems of Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962): Explosion Vulture 'The polar ice-ca...
Ezra Pound’s Advice to a Young Poet
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/25/20: A reading from the poet W. S. Merwin’s memoir, The Mays of Ventadorn, where he recalls meeting the poet Ezra Pound in 1949...
Rereading “The English Patient”
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/23/20: Tonight, I read from Michael Ondaatje’s 1993 novel, The English Patient. The book beautifully captures the experiences of ...
Poems for the Lonely & Creative Night
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/22/20: Tonight, I read five poems from a (as yet unpublished) book, School of Night. Each circle around the strange feeling of bein...
Jung’s Great Dream
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/15/20: Only the third episode in this podcast (and you can hear it in my voice, where I still sound a little uncomfortable), tonigh...
Mary Pipher’s “Reviving Ophelia”
10 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/10/20: A reading from Mary Pipher’s 1994 book, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. It is fascinating to see...
Louise Gluck: “Messengers”
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An episode from 10/8/2020: In the first episode of Human Voices Wake Us, I read Louise Glück's poem, "Messengers," on the morning that ...