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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG-wl2qqD7Y

This episode is about the many facets of America’s Poet - Walt Whitman.  Despite the face that millions of words have been written about Walt Whitman, George attempts to take a deep dive (as much as possible in a single podcast episode) into the personal life of an individual who has been referred to as “America’s Poet.”

•Learn about the time that Whitman met Poe.
•Learn a VERY embarrassing (but hopefully enlightening) story about George.
•Learn about MAJOR differences between different editions of Leaves of Grass,
•Learn why the Calamus poems were so controversial.
•Learn about the time that Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde met.
•Learn how Rufus Griswold (yes, THAT Griswold) trashed Whitman.
•Learn how Whitman was considered undesirable and shocking for “decent ears.”
•Learn how lawyers of the time considered Whitman a homosexual because he never smoked, and did not enjoy war.

• 01:55 Whitman and Poe
• 07:31 “Shame” around the campfire
• 09:19 Whitman’s life
• 12:58 Comparison of versions from Leaves of Grass
• 09:19 Calamus Poems
• 23:02 Reflections on public perceptions
• 25:42 Walt Whitman’s Anomaly
• 29:44 Whitman and intimate relationships?
• 31:55 Rufus Griswold’s opinions
• 34:35 Meeting of Wilde and Whitman
• 36:42 Conclusion
• 40:38 Future Episodes
• 41:00  Sources
•  Outro

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