The Writer's Almanac
Summary: The Writer's Almanac is a daily podcast of poetry and historical interest pieces, usually of literary significance, hosted by Garrison Keillor.
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- Artist: Garrison Keillor
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It was on this day in 1851 that Moby-Dick was first published, in beautiful bindings decorated with paintings of the wrong type of whale.
It's the birthday of Shinichi Suzuki (1898), who developed a way of teaching very young children to play classical music by listening and imitating.
It’s the birthday of Oscar Wilde (Dublin, 1854), who said, “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
It's the birthday of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844), who said both "God is dead" and "[W]e should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once."
It's the birthday of poet E.E. Cummings (1894), who spent his adulthood painting in the afternoons and writing in the evenings.
It's the birthday of singer-songwriter Paul Simon (1941), who played the last show of his farewell tour last month in his hometown of Queens, New York.
"Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave, and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way." –Alice Childress, born this day in 1916
It's the birthday of French novelist François Mauriac (1885), who regularly engaged in celebrity feuds with the likes of Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and others.
Today we celebrate the birthdays of composers Thelonious Monk (1917), Vernon Duke (1903), and Giuseppe Verdi (1813).
It was on this day in 1635 that Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for spreading "newe and dangerous opinions." He left and founded Providence, Rhode Island.
It's the birthday of the science fiction author Frank Herbert (1920), who wrote the Dune series.
It's the birthday of Diane Ackerman, whose books blend science, history, and literature. She even has a molecule named after her: dianeackerone.
On this date in 1927, the release of The Jazz Singer marked the beginning of the end for silent movies. It wasn't the first movie with sound, but it was the first to include talking along with the musical numbers.
It was on this day in 1970 that the Public Broadcasting Service was founded in America "for instructional, educational, and cultural purposes."
Today is the birthday of Edward L. Stratemeyer, one of the first American writers to capitalize on universal primary education by writing children's adventure series such as the Hardy Boys.