The Story of Writing

Celebrating the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, and Judy Blume - with a reading from Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address.

"Gerrymandering" begins, GM makes UAW a cohesive labor union, the Seabed Arms Control Treaty is signed, and Joy Williams and Mo Willems celebrate their birthdays - with a reading from Willams, "The Q…

The birthday club includes William Allen White and Boris Pasternak - with a reading from White's editorial apologizing for an earlier piece in which he angrily asked "What's the Matter with Kansas?"

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Abraham Lincoln signs the 13th Amendment, the Voice of America begins broadcasting, the Woolworth's lunch-counter sit ins begin, and it is the birthday of Langston Hughes - with a reading from his po…

Congress approves the 13th Amendment, Truman approves production of thermonuclear weapons, the Winter Soldier Investigation, and the birthday club includes Zane Gray, Norman Mailer, and Peter Sagal -…

Antarctica is discovered, San Francisco gets its name, COVID-19 is declared a PHEIC, and it is the birthday of Richard Brautigan - with a reading of his "Hinged to Forgetfulness Like a Door."

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is published, Liliʻuokalani and the Kingdom of Hawaii are overthrown - by the stroke of a pen, and it is the birthday of Anton Chekhov and Florida Ruffin Ridley - with a…

Jane Austen's masterwork "Pride and Prejudice" is published - with a reading from the novel.

The Outer Space Treaty, the Paris Peace Accords, the U.S. National Recording Preservation Board creates its registry, and it is the birthday of Lewis Carroll and Peter Laird - with a reading from Car…

The Rocky Mountain National Park is created and the birthday club includes Angela Davis and Jonathan Carroll - with a reading from Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own."

The birthday club includes Robert Burns, W. Somerset Maugham, and Virginia Woolf - with a reading of Burns' "A Red, Red Rose."

Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California, canned beer hits the shelves for the first time, and the birthday club includes Signe Rink and Edith Wharton - with a reading from Wharton's "The Ho…

The first female MD in the U.S., the frisbee takes off, the 24th Amendment is ratified - banning poll taxes, and it is the birthday of Camilla Collett - with a reading from Agatha Christie's "Murder …

The birthday club includes Lord Byron and August Strindberg - with a reading from Strindberg's "The Road to Damascus."

America's first novel is published and the birthday club includes Noe Ito and Elaine Showalter - with a reading from Mark Twain's "Roughing It."

The ACLU is formed and the birthday club includes Edgar Allan Poe and Patricia Highsmith - with a reading from Poe's classic "The Cask of Amontillado."

It is the birthday of A. A. Milne - with a reading from one of his best known works, "The House at Pooh Corner."

On Anne Bronte's birthday, a look at her writing and the tension it caused her sister Charlotte - with a reading from Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall."