Podcast
The Story of Writing
Hosted by Jon Brown · EN
On this short, daily podcast, host Jon Brown talks about the writers and written work that made history on this day. Each episode includes a reading of prose or poetry.
103episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Story of Writing July 2, 2026
2d ago00:04:55Tap to summarizeThe U.S. decides to sever ties with the UK, the ship "Amistad" was overtaken by Africans kidnapped to become slaves in America, Jean Sibelius's "Finlandia" premieres, signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the birthday club includes Hermann Hesse and Thurgood Marshall - with a reading from Hesse's letter to a reader who expressed hopelessness.
Transcribe →Story of Writing July 1, 2026
3d ago00:04:39Tap to summarizeThe oldest surviving benchmarks for global sea level tells a grim tale, the U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg begins, Canada is born, the WWI Battle of the Somme begins, and it's the birthday of George Sand - with a reading from one of her letters to one of her former lovers.
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 30, 2026
4d ago00:04:47Tap to summarizeThe Wilberforce-Huxley evolution debate at Oxford becomes an exchange of thinly veiled insults, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Yosemite Valley Grant Act, Albert Einstein publishes On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, the National Organization for Women is established, and it's the birthday of Joan Murrell Owens - with a reading from Rachel Carson's "The Edge of the Sea."
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 29, 2026
5d ago00:04:11Tap to summarizeFire rips through Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London and the birthday club includes Celia Thaxter, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and Stokely Carmichael - with a reading from Carmichael's speech to UC Berkeley.
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 28, 2026
6d ago00:04:09Tap to summarizeArchduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, European powers sign the Treaty of Versailles, and it's Mel Brooks' birthday - with a reading from his memoir "All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business."
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 27, 2026
1w ago00:05:18Tap to summarizeThe birthday club includes Emma Goldman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Helen Keller, and Grace Lee Boggs - with a reading from Boggs' "The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the 21st Century."
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 26, 2026
1w ago00:04:52Tap to summarizeAmerican soldiers arrive in France to join the Allies fighting WWI, the Allies that won Victory in Europe signed the charter creating the United Nations, Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" was first published, J. K. Rowling published her first Harry Potter novel in the UK, and it's the birthday of Pearl S. Buck - with a reading from Buck's "My Several Worlds: A Personal Record."
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 25, 2026
1w ago00:04:35Tap to summarizeCuster makes his last stand and the birthday club includes David Douglas and George Orwell - with a reading from Orwell's "1984."
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 24, 2026
1w ago00:03:45Tap to summarizeThe birthday club includes Ambrose Bierce and Mary Wesley - with a reading from Wesley's "The Camomile Lawn."
Transcribe →Story of Writing June 23, 2026
2w ago00:04:54Tap to summarizeThe U.S. approves its first birth-control pill, Title IX is amended, Nixon incriminates himself, and it's the 10th anniversary of Brexit - with a reading from Julie Phillips' "What Contraception Meant to a Century of Women Writers."
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