Show Notes
I’m thinking of someone. Guess who? They’re a trailblazing artist. LGBTQ-adjacent. A Gemini from Long Island. An artist trying to make sense of rapid technological change and political division. No, not Lady Gaga. Not RuPaul. Not Frank Ocean. Think older. Centuries older. Today we’re talking about the great American poet, Walt Whitman.
Walt Whitman was born in 1819, but his world feels eerily familiar. His New York was reeling from technological change and caught in a web of political division. Sound familiar? In this episode, we explore Whitman’s life—from his roots as a Brooklyn typesetter to his rise as the great American poet. We’ll unpack his most famous work, Leaves of Grass, and the ideas in it that scandalized entire towns. We’ll talk about the beauty of contradiction, the divinity of the mundane, and the radical interconnectedness of all things. We’ll ask: what does it mean to write about hope and unity at a Time Like This? If you’re questioning how your art (or your heart) fits into a collapsing society, this episode is for you.
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00 Intro 02:56 Life Update: Tour! USA Today Bestseller! Bali? 05:32 Walt Whitman: a Long Island Gemini 06:03 1800s NY: Nationalism, populism, manifest destiny 07:52 Sound familiar? 09:02 Walt Whitman’s early life 10:11 Walt Whitman, the reluctant teacher 11:05 Walt Whitman, the starving artist 12:27 Walt Whitman does a social media detox 13:00 Walt Whitman emerges with a first draft 13:14 Leaves of Grass: not like other girls 14:00 1855 Walt Whitman is giving Woodstock 14:14 Publication expert level: just like us 14:44 Walt Whitman gets left on read 14:48 Enter: Ralph Waldo Emerson 15:54 Walt Whitman is his own cheerleader 17:47 Walt Whitman is as petty as the rest of us 18:22 Leaves of Grass starts to get legs 18:41 Leaves of Grass gets smuttier 18:57 Walt Whitman is not an angel 21:02 The Civil War changes everything 22:21 Leaves of Grass, an OG banned book 23:01 Walt Whitman’s legacy 24:03 Walt Whitman quotes that will change your brain chemistry 24:18 1. “Every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” 25:07 My ego nap 25:59 2. “I am large, I contain multitudes” 26:39 The categorification of the human experience 27:10 you are not a cottagecore coastal grandma clean girl mob wife u are a spiritual being having a human experience 28:48 3. “The smallest sprout shows there really is no death” 31:09 4. “Do you guess I have some intricate purpose?”
EPISODE LINKS
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman • Stuff You Missed in History Class episode • Comedy by Bo Burnham • My Writer’s Digest article on writing about hope
MY LINKS
• MAKE BELIEVE is out everywhere now • Get a signed copy of MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow Bookshop • Let’s hang on tour!! • Join me in Bali June 1-7! • Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram • Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok
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