the memory palace

6,615
History #69

From public radio producer, Nate DiMeo, comes The Memory Palace, a finalist for the 2016 Peabody Award and one of iTunes Best Podcast of 2015. Short, surprising stories of the past, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hysterical, often a little bit of both.

"The most potent pieces of audio being produced today." - The AvClub

thememorypalace.us

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at radiotopia.fm

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Recent Reviews
  • Chere-xo
    Simply the very best
    I cannot listen to The Memory Palace without tears in my eyes - it is my favorite podcast. Nick has an amazing voice, and his stories, varied and lovely and haunting, will not leave your heart. I listen to other podcasts frequently, but this one, this podcast is one that I save. I see it pop up in my list and I wait. I listen only when I can really listen. It’s my cactus flower - exquisitely beautiful - it blooms, and then it’s over, but what a blossom.
  • Themzez
    A respite
    I like to sit on the semi dark and listen to this show. It stimulates my mind and is often delightful. It’s a kind of historic storytelling that always hangs together in an interesting web.
  • ghrifhebs
    Delightful and charming
    I’ve come to adore this lovely podcast. It’s short and sweet, but always keeps my attention. I found it a few months ago and have been obsessing over these stories. I’m sad that I’ve caught up! Now I have to wait for more.
  • Maizie daisy
    The best story time
    I enjoy this podcast so much! The way Nate tells these stories makes you appreciate every person, structure, and event for what/who they were. I learn something new every time!
  • Mr. Music Head
    Probably my all-time favorite podcast
    Nate tells wonderful small, quiet stories, and he does it beautifully. One of the few podcasts I will never speed up, and will listen straight through. I always am happy to see a new episode in my feed.
  • rosallea
    Delightful.
    Masterful , rich, storytelling, reminding us to appreciate how we effect one another and the world and the colorful history behind what we may deem ordinary. Thank you for bringing so many to light and adding wonder.
  • Drunkle Titus
    Perfect
    For my money this is the best podcast that has been or will ever be.
  • K Wink
    Storytelling at it's best
    Nate is one of the best storytellers out there. Episodes are meticulously researched and well thought out. Some are funny, some are sad, some are empowering. All of them make you feel like you are a part of the story.
  • aravindas
    Amazing
    Maybe my favorite podcast. Ever. Hauntingly beautiful stories. I will listen to almost all podcasts on 2x but with the memory palace I slow it down so I can savor every minute.
  • JordanRVA
    The best
    I recommend this to everyone. Joyous. Heartbreaking. Whimsical. Interesting. Thought-provoking.
  • ElizaethBlair
    Wonderful Podcast
    The Memory Palace is one of my my all-time favorite podcasts, each episode is a work of art
  • whoopstring
    this guy makes me cry
    when i need to feel moved by the world i come to listen to the memory palace. he gets me crying almost every time in the last few lines. often it comes by surprise, but it shouldn’t, because it’s like clockwork. two episodes in one day is the sweet spot 🙏
  • Akminer
    My new favorite podcast!
    I ran the gamut of murder mystery podcasts, and soon tired of the same formula. This podcast cover so many interesting topics! I find the podcasters voice and cadence very soothing. Love your work!
  • dhs_lax
    National Treasure
    Every episode is a masterpiece and this show as a whole as a national treasure.
  • Podcast shopper
    Better Help?
    I’ve noted that this has been a sponsor for MANY podcasts. I don’t know that commercialized emotional help is a good thing and the ads for them are so minimalizing. Are you leaving X because they don’t favor a certain mindset? Maybe of censorship? You do a good job otherwise. Sometimes the music seems to take priority over the stories though.
  • Matthew Gronholm (Moose)
    Love
    Love this podcast. Have loved all the episodes. Just listened to “Wake,” and as a baseball fan i loved it. Like i do all of them. Coincidentally, i am moving, and going through some things i found a photo album. In the back of the photo album were ticket stubs. I went to Fenway and a Red Sox game for a bachelor party in 2004. Pictured on the ticket stub, with the three finger tip grip with the pinky out for tea time, was Wake. Pretty sure i smiled, fought back a tear, and tipped my non existent cap to him, and kept packing. Thank you for the stories. Always a joy when i see a new episode to delve into.
  • BHuey67
    Wake
    In a series of great and moving and informative episodes, “Wake” is my favorite. The great Tim Wakefield holds a special place in Red Sox Nation’s heart. I don’t have words to say how much Tim meant to Sox fans like me but thankfully, we have Nate DiMeo’s The Memory Palace. Thanks, Wake and thank you Nate.
  • Szusxi
    Dawn
    One of my very favorite podcasts. And his voice! I miss your stories.
  • F......u....
    Stories very good. Background music too loud
    The background music is so loud in some episodes that I can’t hear the words clearly. And the peaks are somewhat alarming when you’re trying to hear the actual words. I don’t have any hearing problems, just to add. The stories are interesting and if not for the music issue, I’d listen to the whole catalogue. I like that they are not very long as well.
  • ncogbno
    Passing awat clarifies the mind
    I sent different episodes to people who would like them and subscribed. These stories are complex not fairy tales. I pray you find a fertile place for your stories.
  • { kat }
    Almost amazing
    I truly adore this podcast - its topics, its cadence, its narrator, its surprising twists and revelations - and I’ve been listening to it from the beginning, but holy moly do I disdain the background music/sounds/noise. It would be a five star rating if the background sounds were removed or at least reduced in volume by 50 percent.
  • Chester, SC
    Always a treat!
    Thanks for the insightful and idiosyncratic historical tidbits that make the world turn.
  • That guy who rates stuff
    Good Podcast Overall
    I like these quick interesting stories told by a skilled storyteller. Though I have spotted more than a handful of small inaccuracies and a few leaps that are bit questionable. In fairness, it was on a few stories that I happen to have in depth knowledge on due to my career. Most of the stories I am less familiar with so we need to take his word for it….
  • mspassell
    56664466 stars!!!
    Poetic and thoughtful.
  • My New Least Fav
    Love…But Stop Reposting White Horse
    You’ve reposted the same episode like 6 times and it’s so prevalent that it gets annoying how many times it re-appears while scrolling for old episodes
  • Beckytwo
    My number one podcast
    I have listened to a lot of podcasts over the years but have yet to find one that can bump The Memory Palace from being my absolute favorite. This is a stop what you are doing and just listen type of podcast. The stories will take you on a journey you won’t soon forget. Nate’s voice will guide you there and back again and you will be better for it. Just do yourself a favor and listen.
  • Phuzzehlogik
    The White Horse
    I found this podcast in 2016 shortly before the shooting at Pulse Night Club. The White Horse was my third or fourth episode and I cried. I cried that night and the following night because I needed to listen again. Then I’ve cried every June since then knowing The White Horse will be in the line up. The Memory Palace is one of the most well written amazingly produced podcasts I listen to. The stories are excellently researched, entertaining, but most of all these stories are important. Nate DiMeo is fantastic host. His voice is warm, professional, calming and sincere. Highly recommend.
  • GabeAoK
    The best!
    This is my absolute favorite podcast. Nate tells such lovely stories about the footnotes in history. It’s 100% poetry in podcast form. It’s unlike anything else that I’ve ever heard
  • citybrunette
    My favorite
    This is my favorite podcast. Nate is a gifted storyteller, with a wonderful voice and delivery. I frequently (and happily) re-listen to each episode to make sure I didn’t miss anything, so subtle are the nuances in some of his beautiful sentences. The episodes are short — I wish they were longer but their brevity is part of the charm. I learn something new with every episode, and and many times after listening I will go down the Internet rabbit hole to read more about these forgotten pieces of our history.
  • Pam from Virginia
    Top 5 All-Time Best
    Would you like to have your faith in goodness, real human decency, love of humanity, respect for history and story-telling? Then you found your home! Sometimes sad, always compelling, historically correct vignettes that place you in time and place are a treat for the soul and a welcome break from the daily barrage of terrible news. Nate DiMeo’s voice, whether discussing the horrors of the shirtwaist factory fire or saying”whoa dude” in an interview is a balm for the ears. An ear crush? Yes! History lover? Yes! More, Nate, more!
  • billdebby
    Great Gatsby
    I came across this podcast last week. I looked back at your episodes and found the reading of the Great Gatsby. I had never read it. Very good story and the audio was very well done. Keep up the good work and thanks for the book.
  • NickKASU
    Favorite
    The episodes are interesting, well written, and delivered with a calm, mellow tone. Perfect for a commute to/from work and helps prevent some of the stress and anxiety of traffic. Always a great listen.
  • JennyLouWag81
    One of my favorites!
    Every time I see an episode pop up in my feed, I’m excited to be taken away to another time and place. This show is right up there with This American Life! Thank you, Nate!
  • TheThreePetes
    A historically based meditation
    Beyond being beautifully produced and presented, this show caused me to rethink how I framed about the value of history. Nate brings a sense of empathy and reflection to stories from our past in a way that, for me at least, opens the door to contemplate what it’s like to be a human through the lens of those who have done it before. There is not a podcast I would recommend more highly.
  • terran west
    The best podcast ever made?
    Just wow. Over the years I have been subscribed this show has made me laugh, cry, and drop my jaw in awe. Somehow Nate packs more life and history in ten minutes than most documentaries give you in 90. He makes history feel like it’s right there around you. He connects you with just the right details, scores it with the perfect tracks, and always creates the perfect atmosphere to highlight the emotions in the story. I cannot recommend enough. I wish I could give him a standing ovation.
  • jska88
    Nate’s storytelling is amazing
    I have listened to every episode at least twice. I am sorry it took me this long to review. I have started sharing them with my nine year old son & he loves it, too.
  • jchavez2020
    Can’t miss a second!
    This is the only podcast that demands a rewind if my mind wanders or I’m interrupted, if only for a second, because every second matters. Nate’s writing is tight, his stories, phrases and words are carefully, skillfully and lovingly crafted and his voice “is like butter”! I’ve been a podcast fan since before any advertisers and only RSS feeds and the Memory Palace was and is my all time favorite hands down. Thank you Nate et al. for your talent, dedication and heart work!
  • Devylish
    Superbly talented storytelling
    Love love love this podcast. Nate has a way of finding the tiniest of historical bits maybe we’ve never heard about or maybe we have some or all, but finding the other not as well known details that make someone human or a moment more colorful or powerful and he reaches down into your soul w/ his words and brightens your imagination w/ his descriptions. I often listen to these in quieter moments as his voice is softer and this isn’t a podcast panel show. I have plenty of those. But I learn, I’m lifted, I’m enchanted. For those who don’t like stories from history that are about social issues - got news for you, history has certainly been ugly in many periods, but there’s so much love and humor and light in much of the stories he brings to life. And I really love he finds a lot of stories about women who’ve been forgotten in history. Nate - you are truly a gift to us all.
  • One Eric R of many
    Lovely and oft-overlooked stories
    So, I do learn things while listening to The Memory Palace - all kinds of things - but that’s not really a good description of the show. It’s *stories*, told not just to convey what happened, but in a way that takes you on a bit of a journey, and conveys emotions, overtones, the multi-layered chords of complex circumstances and contrasting feelings. They’re really lovely.
  • LetsBInformed
    Storytelling magic
    I look forward to new episodes of The Memory Palace like no other podcast. Nate writes and narrates these stories with deep insight and genuine grace, casting warm light into all kinds of surprising little corners of history. This is beautiful work.
  • PodFan032021
    Listen - now!
    Bringing humanity to history - utterly unique and enthralling. I love this podcast!
  • Rich Cl
    Use to like it but don't anymore
    I really liked the podcast and was listening to the first casts but starter to just go with the most recent ones. I listen to a few and I couldn’t help but notice the passive interjection of race into them. He chose to inject race into the stories. Technically that could be considered racist which would be defining a person by the color of their skin. It does not effect the story at all, other than pushing a social issue he may want to take which is fine. But I don’t have to listen which is fine too. I thought I would give it one more and then started the white horse and right out of the starting gate ( a horse reference) it was about a social issue. Sorry I wish him success but not my cup of tea.
  • Mcdanics
    Middle of the night…
    Thank you for the gift of your story telling in the middle of the night… The story about the young woman on the island recovering from drugs and facing island people’s judgements … I hope she makes it as a nurse… she’ll be a great one… She will care deeply about the people who will come under her care and impel them on their way to healing … and the healer will be on her path to healing… Hope she makes it on her tough but rewarding path!!!!! Gratitude, x7, for the many stories I’ve heard by you and your team!!!! You’re the Ken Burns of radio … Thank you so much Mr. Nate Dimeo!!!!! Cheryl ( retired nurse)…
  • Groking
    Beautiful
    Nate’s podcast just fills me in a way I don’t know how to describe, but thank god for that filling❤️❤️❤️
  • Brittiefofo
    One of my favs
    I’ve been a listener for a few years now and recently went back and re-listened to all the old episodes. So many gems. Always beautifully told even when the subject matter is heavy. You can hear (and feel) the time and care out into each episode. Thanks Nate. Excited for the book
  • libero30
    Astounding Stories
    Nate is an incredible story teller and expert and finding the interesting historic tales that have been overlooked in history. I enjoyed listening to his recent podcasts so much that I went back and listened to every single episode created. Download and please donate if you enjoy (I did) so that we can all continue to enjoy these amazing stories, so very well told.
  • Miz Luv
    Lovely show. Iconic.
    Simple, compelling human stories, beautifully told. Definitely one of the best of the best. This podcast has been among my favorites for many, many years.
  • asfl;djjl anhs
    Just perfect
    Each episode is a delightful, bite-sized morsel for the brain.
  • BonnieKarpay
    Absolutely stunning!
    This pod is clearly a work of art and a love project for Nick. I physically break out in a smile when I see a new episode drop into my feed. I never know where his attention will bring me and I’m always grateful for where we end up. His soothing tone of voice and his wonderful language choice… It’s all a tonic for my soul and my brain.
  • Zosine823
    Love it
    The most meaningful podcast I listen to
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