A reading from chapter six of Peter Ackroyd’s history of early seventeenth-century England, Civil War (or Rebellion, as the book has been retitled in its America, apparently not to upset anybody buying it by accident and hoping to read about a different Civil War).

Ackroyd uses two texts to paint a brief picture of London at the time: Thomas Dekker’s The Seven Deadly Sins of London (1607), and Ben Jonson’s play Bartholomew Fair(1614).

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A reading of six poems from Ted Hughes's 1967 book, Wodwo, and one uncollected poem from the same time period. They can be found in his Collected Poems. 

Wodwo (1967)

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A repeat of a collection of episodes from last year, of five poems by the Irish poet, Eavan Boland. All of them can be found in her New Collected Poems (https://www.amazon.com/New-Collected-Poems-Eavan-Boland/dp/0393337308/)

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

Long a mainstay on my blog, this is the first time I've recorded my usual Black Friday message, on what our relationship to work, consumerism, culture, technology, and so much else is doing to us now... and what it has seemingly always meant to the majority of human populations.

For those interested in the other episode mentioned here, called Working, you can listen to it here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working/id1535050082?i=1000538208562 (in the end, it seemed too long to add onto the end of this episode).

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A repeat of an episode from 11/21/20, a reading of my poem about Lee Harvey Oswald.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A reading from Pliny the Younger's letter, describing the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, in the year 79; and Jack London's article describing the great earthquake of San Francisco, in 1906. I end with a reading of Laurie Sheck's poem "Pompeii," from her 2003 book, Black Series.

Pliny the Younger's letter can be read here; and Jack London's article can be read here; however, I only came across both of them together thanks to Lapham's Quarterly, which featured them in their Summer, 2008 issue called Book of Nature; you can buy the issue, or subscribe to the magazine, here. As I've said before, for those not independently wealthy or ensconced in academia, I know of no better resource for the discovery of voices from history.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

Readings from a few books about Pablo Picasso, where he talks about creativity, and how the power behind his own paintings, and his huge output, remained a mystery for him as much as anyone else. The first few quotations come from the huge Taschen book about Picasso that covers his entire life; the rest come from the multi-volume biography of Picasso by John Richardson:

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A reading of eight poems from Louise Glück's 1992 collection, The Wild Iris; followed by readings made last March, of six poems from her 1990 book, Ararat. Buy Ararat or The Wild Iris individually, or in Glück's Collected Poems 1962-2012. 

from The Wild Iris

from Ararat

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A reading, with comments thrown in throughout, of an essay of mine written between 2015-2016 (I get the dates wrong in the podcast). The entirety of it can be read here as There is Only the Trying: Some Thoughts on Fame & Failure.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.

A repeat of an episode first posted on 11/9/2020: A reading from George Orwell’s 1937 book, The Road to Wigan Pier. This long passage comes from the handful of trips he took down into the coal mines of northern England, and the horrible conditions there.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.