The Story of Writing

Japanese-American soldiers rescue hundreds of European Jews during a forced march from the Nazi's Dachau death camp. Dr. Benjamin Spock and Charlotte Armstrong were born on this day - with a reading …

The first state park is created in the U.S. and the birthday club includes John Crowe Ransom, Annie Dillard, and Jane Campion - with a reading from Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."

Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Krouse Rosenthal were born on this day. We look at Rosenthal's work and share a reading from her New York Time's essay "You May Want to Marry My Husband."

Muhammad Ali refuses to be drafted into the Vietnam War and Harper Lee and Terry Pratchett were born on this day. This episode includes a reading from Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird."

On her birthday, we look at the life and writing of Mary Wollstonecraft - including a reading from her landmark work "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."

Napoleon pardons French nobles and the birthday club includes Ma Rainey, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Bernard Malamud - with a reading from Malamud's "The Magic Barrel."

The double helix structure of DNA is described for the first time, the patent is issued for the computer microchip, and it's the birthday of Albert King - with a reading from Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Kare…

It is the birthday of the U.S. Library of Congress, Anthony Trollope, and Robert Penn Warren. This episode includes a reading from Trollope's "The Way We Live Now."

George Steiner, Jim Fixx, Roy Orbison, and Victoria Glendinning were born on this day. We look at their work and hear a reading from Steiner's "Lessons of the Masters."

On Earth Day, a look at its origins. And the birthday club includes Henry Fielding, Immanuel Kant, Vladimir Nabokov, and Louise Gluck - with a reading from Fielding's "The History of Tom Jones, A Fou…

On their birthdays, we celebrate Charlotte Brontë and John Muir - with a reading from Brontë's "Jane Eyre."

U.S. President William McKinley signs the declaration that began the Spanish-American War and British politician Enoch Powell delivers his infamous racist tirade now known as the "River of Blood" spe…

The Netherlands become the second country to recognize the United States as in independent nation. Mae West is jailed for obscenity - and this episode includes a reading from Zora Neale Hurston's "Th…

The birthday club includes James McCune Smith, Kathy Acker, and Susan Faludi - with a reading from Anne Bronte's "Agnes Grey."

Christopher Columbus signs "The Capitulations of Santa Fe" and the birthday club includes Thornton Wilder, Cynthia Ozick, and Nick Hornby - with a reading from Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey."

We remember "Letter from Birmingham Jail," written by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. - including a reading from the letter.

Samuel Johnson publishes "A Dictionary of the English Language," and SNCC or the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is formed, and the birthday club includes Henry James and Avital Ronell - w…

Benjamin Franklin co-founds the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and the birthday club includes Jean Pierre-Bloch and Loretta Lynn - with a reading from Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism.…

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded in New York City and the birthday club includes Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, Seamus Haney, and Christopher Hitchens - with a reading from Beckett's "Waiting…