Hosted by Unknown Host · EN · 225 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
The poem says, "Human voices wake us, and we drown." But I’ve made this podcast with the belief that human voices are what we need. And so, whether from a year or three thousand years ago, whether poetry or prose, whether fiction or diary or biography, here are the best things we have ever thought, written, or said.
Unknown Host hosts Human Voices Wake Us, a arts show with 225 episodes published.
An episode from 6/22/26: Tonight, we hear about the British poet Ted Hughes (1930-1998) , and the poem he said he spent the most time on, “The Gulkana.” The poem is named after a river in Alaska, and in this episode, I p
An episode from 6/1/26: Tonight, we delve into the significance of the moon in mythology, religion, and folklore. I read from the Taschen Book of Symbols , the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols , and Mircea Eliade’s Patterns
An episode from 5/18/26: Tonight I read about the bear in folklore and mythology from two books everybody should have on their shelves: the Taschen Book of Symbols and the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols . Browsing through
An episode from 5/11/26: Tonight, I read passages on what the discoveries of agriculture and metallurgy meant for human beings, as reflected in the mythologies and rituals and stories that grew up around them. These pass
An episode from 5/4/26: Tonight, I read the story of the French journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann and his capture and three year captivity at the hands of Hezbollah. While held prisoner, he was given many books to read to p
An episode from 4/27/26: Tonight, I read about the destruction of two great houses of worship. The first is the cathedral of Old St. Paul’s, destroyed in 1666 in the Great Fire of London. My reading comes from Neil Hanso
An episode from 4/20/26: Tonight, we delve into the world of cities. First, in a passage from Sam Quinones’s Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic , the town of Portsmouth, Ohio, is lovingly described in
An episode from 4/13/26: Tonight, I read about the invention of the wheel and what it meant for the earliest communities of Europe and the Eurasian steppes, from David Anthony’s The Horse, the Wheel, and Language . After
An episode from 12/9/24: Tonight's episode gathers together all of the readings I've done on this podcast from the poet William Blake (1757-1827). All of these poems can be found online at The Complete Poetry & Prose
An episode from 1/10/23: Tonight we take a peek into the creative life of Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Through a handful of readings from Claire Tomalin’s biography of Dickens , we see how he was able to juggle, for almo
An episode from 8/25/23: Tonight, I read ten essential poems from one of the great and most public poets of the last seventy years, Seamus Heaney (1939-2013). It isn’t hard to come by details of Heaney’s life, but Stepp
An episode from 3/16/26: Tonight, I read about the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in the year 535 CE, and the outbreak of plague in Constantinople (and elsewhere) only a few years later. It all comes from Susan Wise Ba
An episode from 3/9/26: Tonight, I read from Barbara Ehrenreich’s 2001 book Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America . After that, I talk about the recent TV show The Killing , as a way in to talking about our ob
An episode from 3/2/26: Tonight, I read a single paragraph from two books that each had a profound effect on my understanding of religion, creativity, and a great deal else. The first comes from page one of Mircea Eliade
An episode from 2/23/2026: My new book of poetry, Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire , is finally out. I spend this episode talking briefly about how always having the writing or reading of poetr
An episode from 1/2/23: Tonight, I read a handful of voices from those living in Europe and the United States between 1900 and 1914. Rephrased only slightly, nearly all of their concerns (over technology, gender, nationa
An episode from 2/9/2026: This is the second episode where I read from my upcoming book Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire , which comes out on February 23. This time, I read seven of my favorite
An episode from 2/2/2026: For the next few episodes I’ll be reading poems from my book Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire , which comes out on February 23. As the title says, it begins with the C
An episode from 1/26/2026: Tonight, I read two poems from the American poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), “Earth” and “The River, by Night.” Just as with the episode on Bryant’s life from earlier this month, I hope
An episode from 12/7/22: This week, I am reposting what is perhaps my favorite episode of Human Voices Wake Us , first posted back in late 2022. We enter into the early years of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), from his bir
Charles Dickens
1 appearance on this show
Bruce Springsteen
musician
2 appearances on this show
Gillian Anderson
actor
1 appearance on this show
Patti Smith
Godmother of Punk
1 appearance on this show
Ian McKellen
on Macbeth
1 appearance on this show
Rachel Carson
Author of Silent Spring, environmental movement founder · Golden Grove residential care home
1 appearance on this show
Helen Keller
1 appearance on this show
Joan Didion
1 appearance on this show
Billy Collins
1 appearance on this show
Joseph Campbell
Forgotten Poet and Irish Rebel
1 appearance on this show
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Human Voices Wake Us is hosted by Unknown Host. The show is categorised under arts (books) and has published 225 episodes.
Human Voices Wake Us has published 225 episodes.
Human Voices Wake Us regularly covers arts, books. It sits in the arts category, with a books focus.
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Episodes of Human Voices Wake Us average 34 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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