Episodes

  • Episode 249: The Case of The Box
    Oct 15 2026

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Music

    • A couple from Quincy Jones' score to The Mirage: Turtle's Last Leap and Boobie Baby.
    • The Jeweler from Bernard Hermann's score to The Day the Earth Stood Still.
    • Topsy from the might Chico Hamilton Quintet.
    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    10 mins
  • Episode 125: Snakes!
    Oct 1 2026

    This episode was originally released in April of 2018.


    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Music

    • We hear Ferris Wheel by Gabor Szabo from one of his better late sixties records.
    • Herman's Malt from Jeff Russo's score to Fargo Season 2.
    • David Goes Hunting from Larry Groupe's score to Straw Dogs.
    • Double Portrait by Double Edge from the album, U.S. Choice.
    • A snippet of Idea of Order at Kyson Point from an album Brian Eno did with Tom Rogerson.
    • Bicycles and Flasks by Dan Romer.
    • A bit of Il Tamoure dei Bambini from Piero Umiliani's score to Le Isole Dell'amore
    • A Naga Swaram-Snake Charmers Melody from Folk Music of India
    • Finishes out on Completely Gone from Ludwig Goransson's score to Everything Everything.
    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • Episode 248: The Last Game
    Sep 17 2026

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Music

    • Why, Buzzardman, Why? by the great Alabastar DePlume.
    • Plantwood (Day) by Lynn Avery and Cole Pulice
    • Shut Up World (Extended) from Ben Sollee's gorgeous score to a movie called Maidentrip.

    Notes

    • I really enjoyed reading Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero by Leigh Montville.
    • If you're ever researching old baseball stuff, you want to head over to the site maintained by the fine folks at the Society for Baseball Research. There, you can read about Frank Howard, for instance.
    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    17 mins
  • Episode 247: Babies
    Sep 3 2026

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Music

    • Yes/And plays In My Heaven, All My Faucets are Fountains
    • Two from Andrew Hewitt's score to Submarine: Jill Tate and Pamphlet
    • Plantasia by Mort Gerson
    • Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood as performed by Smoke and Mirrors Percussion Ensemble
    • Library Chant from Michael Andrews' wonderful score to Me and You and Everyone We Know
    • Takahiro Kido's 3-Sized PF

    Notes

    • If you want to dive super deep into this topic, there's a fantastic history done by Patrick Feaster for the National Park Service.
    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    16 mins
  • Episode 246: Last Standing
    Aug 20 2026

    Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm.

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Music

    • Migratory Birds by Western Skies Motel
    • Artifact 3 by Ryan Teague
    • Barcelona by Alex Kozobolis
    • Feel First Life by Jon Hopkins

    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    17 mins
  • A Song of Myself
    Aug 7 2026

    Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm.

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Flashing back a decade to the recording of A Song of Myself Nate did in a hotel room in Phoenix ahead of the 2016 Presidential election.

    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 41 mins
  • Episode 66: White Heat/White Lights
    Jul 22 2026

    Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm.

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    This episode was originally produced in July of 2015.

    Music

    * Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth's Modesty Blaise score.

    * The opening loop is from Mr. Knight from Coltrane Plays the Blues, which you should own.

    * The violin piece is Occam II for Violin, a piece by Silvia Tarozzi, played by Pauline Oliveros.

    * Next up is Mikuro's Blues from the mighty David S. Ware' mighty Go See the World.

    * The amazing orchestral pieces is Triumph by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino from Fill the Heart- Shaped Cup

    * Finally, there's 13 Ghosts II by Nine Inch Nails from Ghosts I-IV

    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    11 mins
  • Rush, Hall, Bartlett, and Thornton
    Jul 2 2026

    This is a special episode commissioned by Aspen Ideas: Health and originally performed at the 2026 festival in Aspen, Colorado.

    Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm.

    The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.

    Music

    • The Barr Brothers play Static Orphans
    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    Show More Show Less
    22 mins