Nate DiMeo
{{short description|American screenwriter (born 1974)}}
{{Infobox journalist
| image = Nate DiMeo at Solid State Books.jpg
| caption = DiMeo in 2024
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1974}}
| birth_place = Providence, Rhode Island
| alma_mater = Rhode Island College (BA)
| occupation = Podcaster and author
| known_for = The Memory Palace
| spouse = Leila Gerstein
| children = 1
}}
Nate DiMeo (born 1974) is an American podcaster, screenwriter, and author based out of Los Angeles, and the host of the podcast The Memory Palace.{{cite news|url=http://thememorypalace.us/about/|title=About|date=September 6, 2008|work=The Memory Palace|access-date=April 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414060832/http://thememorypalace.us/about/|archive-date=14 April 2018|url-status=live}} He is also the author of Pawnee: the Greatest Town in America (2011) and The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past (2024). He was a finalist for the 2012 Thurber Prize for American Humor.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thurberhouse.org/thurber-prize-winners-and-finalists/|title=Past Thurber Prize Winners and Finalists|website=Thurber House|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018003206/http://www.thurberhouse.org/thurber-prize-winners-and-finalists/|archive-date=18 October 2018|url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2018}}
After spending a decade working in public radio, DiMeo created his own podcast centered around lesser-known historical narratives. The show has been received with critical acclaim and was nominated for a Peabody Award in 2016.{{cite news|url=https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/the-memory-palace|title=The Memory Palace|work=Radiotopia|access-date=11 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412000956/https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/the-memory-palace|archive-date=12 April 2018|url-status=live}}
Early life and education
DiMeo was born in 1974 in Providence, Rhode Island. His parents, John and Judy DiMeo, were special education professors at Rhode Island College.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Gita |date=2024-06-10 |title=From Podcast to Book, Alum Shares Little-Known Tales of American History |url=https://our.ric.edu/news-events/news/podcast-book-alum-shares-little-known-tales-american-history |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=Rhode Island College |language=en}}
After his birth, the family moved to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he was raised. He suffered from Graves' disease as a teenager.{{Cite magazine |last=Larson |first=Sarah |date=25 January 2018 |title='The Memory Palace': History in Escapist Vignettes |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/podcast-dept/the-memory-palace-history-in-escapist-vignettes |access-date=27 June 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker}} He attended Rhode Island College, graduating in 1997.
Career
After college, DiMeo played guitar for the Providence indie rock band Bermuda. An organizing effort to save the city's Safari Lounge venue led to an interview with WBUR, where DiMeo eventually secured his first job in public radio.{{Cite news |last=Patinkin |first=Mark |date=2024-11-03 |title=Nate DiMeo's RI roots shaped hit podcast, new book |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/columns/2024/11/03/nate-dimeos-the-memory-palace-started-with-origins-in-ri/75964920007/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |work=Providence Journal}}
He moved to Los Angeles to become an editor on the public radio show Marketplace. He began reporting on air as well as writing for various television shows, including Parks and Recreation and The Astronaut Wives Club.{{Cite web |date=2012-02-13 |title=PG Interview: Nate Dimeo of "Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America" |url=https://popgurls.com/popgurls-interview-nate-dimeo-of-pawnee-the-greatest-town-in-america/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=PopGurls}}
He began producing short history-based audio vignettes on the side, mostly at first for his own growth and enjoyment. The first episode of what became The Memory Palace aired in November 2008, and the show became sufficiently popular (and financially viable) that he could work on it full time. The show joined Radiotopia in 2015. From 2016 to 2017, the Metropolitan Museum of Art named him artist-in-residence, and he produced several Memory Palace episodes highlighting aspects and properties of the museum.{{cite web |author=Barone |first=Joshua |date=27 October 2016 |title=A Podcast Finds A Home, Delving Into Met History |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/27/arts/design/a-podcast-the-memory-palace-nate-dimeo-once-a-passion-project-is-now-fit-for-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art.html |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=The New York Times}}
In 2024, DiMeo released a book of vignettes adapted from The Memory Palace.{{Cite web |last=Brady |first=Michael Patrick |date=2024-11-18 |title=Nate DiMeo recasts his quirky podcast histories for the page |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/11/18/nate-dimeo-memory-palace-book |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=WBUR |language=en}}
Personal life
DiMeo is married to television writer and producer Leila Gerstein. They live in Los Angeles with their daughter, Quinby.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Radiotopia}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:American history podcasters
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Writers from Providence, Rhode Island