Our sixth and final episode of the season presents a literary mixtape highlighting performances from SpeakEasy’;s inaugural year 2014-15. Since we were digging back into our archives, it seemed fitting to select stories that similarly looked backward in time: Historian Simon Winchester, who, at the age of 17 lands a job as a mortuary assistant quickly learns a valuable lesson about “Plays With Matches” by not fearing the dead. In “Falling for Perfection,” comedian and former The Daily Show writer Elliott Kalan reminisces about growing up in two different New York Cities and the powerful influence of movies, from Gremlins to Ghostbusters. And for “Summertime Blues,” philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein shares an origin story from the summer of 1957, when, after the Hungarian uprising, relatives come to live with her bringing mystery, unfamiliar language, and questions that would end up shaping her life choices.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices