The Story of Writing

!!Content Warning!! This episode includes descriptions of suicide, racism, and murder as a hate crime The story of a day: this day in 1963 began with the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk in Vietnam, it saw racism in the University of Alabama, a Presidential speech on the importance of enforcing civil rights protections, and the day ended with the murder of NAACP activist Medgar Evers.

The Salem Witch Trials result in executions and the birthday club includes Blues man Howlin' Wolf and author Saul Bellow. This episode includes a reading from Bellow's "Seize the Day."

France and China sign the Treaty of Tientsin - making Vietnam a French colony and the birthday club includes Cole Porter, Robert McNamara, and Jackie Wilson - with a reading from Porter's "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love."

James Madison proposes 12 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Antiquities Act passes Congress, and George Orwell publishes his milestone novel "!984." It is Joan Rivers' birthday and this episode includes a reading from Orwell's "!984."

On Gwendolyn Brooks' birthday, we look at her writing and this episode includes a lengthy diatribe/response to a right-wing, disinformation piece.

The World War II Battles of Midway and D-Day are both tied to this day and the birthday club includes Alexander Pushkin, Angelo Moriondo, and Thomas Mann - with a reading from Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin."

Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated, "Tank Man" becomes a symbol for democracy by stopping a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square, and it is Federico Garcia Lorca's birthday, with a reading of his poem "Sonnet of the Sweet Complaint."

Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons after the evacuation of Dunkirk, and June 4th in 1989 saw big changes in Beijing, Tehran, and throughout Poland and what was then called the "Eastern Bloc" - with a reading from Churchill's speech "We Shall Fight On the Beaches."

Peter Abelard becomes one of the first to use logic in order to understand faith. He was then tried and convicted of heresy. This episode includes a reading from Abelard's book, "The Story of My Misfortunes."

French poet Charles Baudelaire publishes his landmark book "Flowers of Evil," Senator Margaret Charles Smith gives her speech the "Declaration of Conscience," and the birthday club includes Charles Kay Ogden, Colleen McCullough - with a reading from Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil."

England's lawmakers enflame American passions for revolution by expanding the Quartering Act and the birthday club includes Thomas Hardy, Dorothy West, and Norton Juster - with a reading from West's column in the Vineyard Gazette.

The birthday club includes Walt Whitman, Fred Allen, Al Young, and Svetlana Alexievich - with a reading from Whitman's "Song of the Banner at Daybreak."

On his birthday, remembering the writer Countee Cullen, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. This episode includes a reading of Cullen's poem "Saturday's Child."

The birthday club includes Countee Cullen, James Chaney, and Idina Menzel - with a reading of Cullen's poem "Saturday's Child."

T. H. White, the storyteller who struggled - with a reading from his best-known work, "The Sword in the Stone."

Sojourner Truth gives her extemporaneous speech "Ain't I A Woman?" Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" premieres, and Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay reach the peak of Mt. Everest. The birthday club includes Bob Hope and T. H. White - with a reading from White's "The Sword in the Stone."

How the Sierra Club and Amnesty International were written into existence on the same day, though nearly 70 years apart - with a reading from John Muir's "My First Summer in the Sierra."

The Sierra Club and Amnesty International were written into existence. The birthday club includes Ian Fleming and Maeve Binchy - with a reading from one of John Muir's journal entries.

Extolling the writing - and wrath - of Julia Ward Howe - with a reading from her "Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World."

Julia Ward Howe, her writing, and her call for equality and peace - with a reading from her "Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World."

The House Committee on Un-American Activities holds its first session and the birthday club includes Miles Davis, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, and Raina Telgemeier - with a reading from Alan Hollinghurst's "The Line of Beauty."

Why did the Universalist Church consider Ralph Waldo Emerson a heretic? Maybe we should be glad it did...

The Constitutional Congress begins in Philadelphia, "Star Wars" hits movie screens, and the birthday club includes Ralph Waldo Emerson and Rosario Castellanos - with a reading from Emerson's "Self Reliance."

The birthday club includes Bob Dylan and Michael Chabon - with a reading from Lorella Cidroni's "Italian Critics of Capitalism."

The birthday club includes Margaret Fuller, Isabella Ford, Scott O'Dell, Margaret Wise Brown, and Mitch Albom - with a reading from Fuller's "Woman in the Nineteenth Century."