Walt Whitman: Song of Myself

August summer days can feel endless, and perfect for an hourlong program about poetry once described as “generally indecent and inexorably profane.”  In Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, host Carl Hancock Rux dives deep into Whitman’s iconic work Leaves of Grass and the poet as a person.  Listeners hear about Whitman’s unlikely journey from house painter to household name, and the catalyst his work has become for creative, social, and political vanguards. This 2018 special is thoroughly WNYC, presented in a classic acts and tracks format, including a full public radio bingo card (ie. opera, reenactments) but with a freshness that is unique to WNYC.  We quickly learn that Whitman was a walker.  Traversing New York City, cruising men along Broadway, and taking in the true beauty of the chaotic city and its passing strangers.  Among other things, the piece goes deep on Whitman’s horniness and sexuality, which Whitman himself embraced.  It also includes an incredible deep read explaining Whitman as “gay man at the opera” and acknowledging his full reinvention as a turn of the century hipster.  It explores “race, sex, and radical sympathy” not just Whitman’s poetry.  This special is the cool cousin of The Big Read, and it’s way more fun.And that’s why Walt Whitman: Song of Myself lands in Selects. It’s a work that defies the expectation of public radio documentaries. It reflects the diverse experience of listenership WNYC, the largest public radio station in the country.  And it sits in direct conversation with projects like The Big Read and similar literary documentary programs.  Alongside these more sanitized series, Walt Whitman: Song of Myself offers a controversial and erudite exploration of great American people: horny opera-loving gays cruising the streets and finding beauty in the mundane.  This programming is made possible by listeners like you, thank goddess.