The Story of Writing

It is the birthday of the U.S. Library of Congress, Anthony Trollope, and Robert Penn Warren. This episode includes a reading from Trollope's "The Way We Live Now."

George Steiner, Jim Fixx, Roy Orbison, and Victoria Glendinning were born on this day. We look at their work and hear a reading from Steiner's "Lessons of the Masters."

On Earth Day, a look at its origins. And the birthday club includes Henry Fielding, Immanuel Kant, Vladimir Nabokov, and Louise Gluck - with a reading from Fielding's "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling."

On their birthdays, we celebrate Charlotte Brontë and John Muir - with a reading from Brontë's "Jane Eyre."

U.S. President William McKinley signs the declaration that began the Spanish-American War and British politician Enoch Powell delivers his infamous racist tirade now known as the "River of Blood" speech. And it is the birthday of Gro Harlem Brundtland who became the first female Prime Minister of Norway - with a reading of her "Our Common Future, Report of the World Commission on En...

The Netherlands become the second country to recognize the United States as in independent nation. Mae West is jailed for obscenity - and this episode includes a reading from Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The birthday club includes James McCune Smith, Kathy Acker, and Susan Faludi - with a reading from Anne Bronte's "Agnes Grey."

Christopher Columbus signs "The Capitulations of Santa Fe" and the birthday club includes Thornton Wilder, Cynthia Ozick, and Nick Hornby - with a reading from Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey."

We remember "Letter from Birmingham Jail," written by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. - including a reading from the letter.

Samuel Johnson publishes "A Dictionary of the English Language," and SNCC or the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is formed, and the birthday club includes Henry James and Avital Ronell - with a reading from James' "The Portrait of a Lady."

Benjamin Franklin co-founds the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and the birthday club includes Jean Pierre-Bloch and Loretta Lynn - with a reading from Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism."

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded in New York City and the birthday club includes Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, Seamus Haney, and Christopher Hitchens - with a reading from Beckett's "Waiting for Godot."

Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is announced "safe and effective," and the birthday club includes Beverly Cleary, Tom Clancy, and Tama Janowitz - with a reading from Baruch Spinoza's "Ethics."

LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the birthday club includes Ellen Goodman, Hattie Gossett, and Marta Breen - with a reading from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's "Songs for the People."

F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes "The Great Gatsby," Alcoholics Anonymous or "The Big Book" is published, and The Good Friday agreement is signed. The birthday club includes David Halberstam and Anne Lamott - with a reading from "The Great Gatsby."

Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders and the birthday club includes Charles Baudelaire, Paulina Marshall, and Sam Harris - with a reading from Baudelaire's "Paris Spleen."

A wage freeze goes into effect in the U.S. and effects how we get health insurance today, the computer language COBOL is born, and it is Barbara Kingsolver's birthday - and this episode includes a reading from Virginia Woolf's "The Waves."

The Teapot Dome scandal steams up, it's National Beer Day in the US, it's the internet's birthday, and other members of the birthday club include Victoria Ocampo, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and Billie Holiday - with a reading from Stoneman Douglas' article "How You Can Protect the Environment."

The birthday club includes Leonora Carrington, Ram Dass, Merle Haggard, and Homero Aridjis - with a reading from Carrington's artist notes.

The Petition of Compromise is sent to Spain and sparks the 80 Years War, Margaret Sanger establishes the American Birth Control League, and the birthday club includes Algernon Charles Swinburne, Barbara Holland, and Pharrell Williams - with a reading from Swinburne's "The Garden of Proserpine."

NATO forms and it is the birthdays of Muddy Waters and Maya Angelou - with a reading from Angelou's "Still, I Rise."

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrates with striking workers in Memphis, TN. The Panama Papers are published and the birthday club includes Washington Irving and Jane Goodall - with a reading from Goodall's "Reason for Hope."

The birthday club includes Giacomo Casanova, Hans Christian Andersen, Emile Zola, and Camille Paglia - with a reading from Casanova's "The Story of My Life."

It is what T. S. Eliot called "the cruelest month," and April Fool's Day, so we look at the Day's possible origins. Sergei Rachmaninoff and Milan Kundera were born on this day - and a reading from Lord Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."

The Motion Picture Production Code goes into effect in the US, the Civilian Conservation Corps is established, and the birthday club includes Johann Sebastian Bach, John Fowles, Judith Rossner, and Marge Piercy - with a reading from Fowles' "The Magus."