744: Contentment

Today’s poem is Are you bringing fruits, plants, seeds, by Karen Llagas. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem looks at the anxiety and the absurdity of America: How many people seem fixated on the dangers outside our borders with ... Show More

Today’s poem is New York Address by Linda Gregg. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem captures that feeling when you’ve just had it—you’ve absolutely hit your limit. But at the same time, you realize that you’re the only person w ... Show More

Today’s poem is I Find Myself Defending Pigeons by Keith S. Wilson. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “One thing I love about poems is how they give us the opportunity to take our time, to dial in, to look and listen closely. Not everything ... Show More

Some students and I walk through Hopkins' poem, celebrating its particular pleasures and insights, as well as talking in general about how easy it is to access the strange mysterious power of a poem. 

We talk about the life-affirming poems of Adam Zagajewski. 

Poet Laureate Joy Harjo says she loved poetry as a kid, but didn't feel like it belonged to her. "It wasn't until I heard Native poets," she tells NPR's Michel Martin, "that I realized that, wow, this is a powerful tool of understanding and affirmation. And I don't know, I just s ... Show More

Poet Franny Choi knows that marginalized communities have been facing apocalypses forever. But in her new book, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, she uses their survival as a way to look forward. In this episode, she tells NPR's Leila Fadel how understanding that pai ... Show More

Halfway through today's episode, author Kaveh Akbar tells NPR's Scott Simon that his life is a summation of "private joys amidst collective grief and private grief amidst collective joy." It's a contrast that contextualizes his emotionally dark yet deeply funny debut novel, Marty ... Show More

Lunettes de soleil, voix grave, suave et feutrée ;Lisko nous raconte son parcours de blédard ;Le rap et journalisme qu'il aime à faire jongler ;Dans une langue et phrasé qu'il érige au rang d'art...Lis Tes Ratures // Le Podcast PoésieAujourd’hui encore, qui sont les gens qui font ... Show More

“In this retelling of the Mahabharata from the point of view of its hitherto minor female characters, Karthika Naïr uncovers a seminal feminist text. Until the Lions makes dazzling use of concrete verse and surreptitious rhyme to tell a story you think you know. By poem’s end you ... Show More

Châtaignier ! Être Châtaignier de père en fils ;Et pourtant casser les traditions pour devenir soi-même ;C’est ça d’avoir un papa rock ! Créer ses propres feux d’artifice !Mesdames et Messieurs Ray est tout un poème… Lis Tes RaturesLe Podcast Poésie. Aujourd’hui encore, qui sont ... Show More

Today’s guest, poet Kaveh Akbar, discusses his latest poetry collection Pilgrim Bell. Given that Akbar once suggested that syntax was identity, how do the changes in Akbar’s own poetry, from his first collection to now, reflect changes in himself as a person? Akbar talks about th ... Show More