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For a special New Year\u2019s treat, we take a tour through the history of the universe with the help of\u2026 poets. Our guide is Maria Popova, who writes the popular blog The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings), and the poetry is from her project, \u201cThe Universe in Verse\u201d \u2014 an annual event where poets read poems about science, space, and the natural world.\nSpecial thanks to all of our poets, musicians, and performers: Marie Howe, Tracy K. Smith, Rebecca Elson, Joan As Police Woman, Patti Smith, Gautam Srikishan, Zoe Keating, and Emily Dickinson.\nEPISODE CREDITS:\nReported by - Lulu Millerwith help from - Maria PopovaProduced by - Sindhu Gnanasambandanwith mixing help from - Jeremy BloomFact-checking by - Natalie A. Middletonand Edited by\xa0 - Pat Walters\nFURTHER READING AND RESEARCH:To dig deeper on this one, we recommendBooks: - Tracy K Smith\u2019s \u201cLife On Mars\u201d (https://zpr.io/weTzGTbZyVDT)- Marie Howe\u2019s \u201cThe Kingdom Of Ordinary Times\u201d (https://zpr.io/Tj9cWTsQxHG3)- Rebecca Elson\u2019s \u201cA Responsiblity To Awe\u201d (https://zpr.io/PLR3KL8SfuPR)- Patti Smith\u2019s \u201cJust Kids\u201d (https://zpr.io/zM47P5KqqKZx)Music:- Joan As Policewoman\xa0(https://joanaspolicewoman.com/)- Gautam Srikishan\xa0(https://www.floatingfast.com/)- Zoe Keating\xa0(https://www.zoekeating.com/)\nInternet:- The Marginalian blog post\xa0(https://zpr.io/abTuDFH9pfwu) about Vera Rubin- Check out photos of Emily Dickinson\u2019s Herbarium\xa0(https://zpr.io/XkgTscKBfem6), a book of 424 flowers she picked and pressed and identified while studying the wild botany of Massachusetts.Tracy K. Smith, \u201cMy God, It\u2019s Full of Stars\u201d from Such Color: New and Selected Poems. Copyright \xa9 2011 by Tracy K. Smith. Read by the author and used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.Fun fact: This episode was inspired by the fact that many Navy ships record the first log entry of the New Year in verse! To see some of this year's poems and learn about the history of the tradition, check out this post by the Naval History and Heritage Command. And, if you want to read a bit from Lulu's interview with sailor poet Lt. Ian McConnaughey, subscribe to our newsletter. \nOur newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!\nRadiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.\nFollow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.\n\nLeadership support for Radiolab\u2019s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.