Relationships are hard. When do you know it’s time to marry? When do you know it’s time to break up? We get inside those questions with Kara, Nayeema and our guest today: Maggie Smith. The poet’s viral 2016 poem “Good Bones” was accompanied by professional success, and cracks in her personal life. Smith talks about that fallout, documented in her new memoir ... Show More
Yesterday
Patchett, Kingsolver & Lee on the Art—and Uncertainty—of Being a Modern Novelist
For literary fiction fans, 2026 has been a banner year, with new novels from award-winning American authors Barbara Kingsolver (“Partitia”), Min Jin Lee (“American Hagwon”), and Ann Patchett (“Whistler”). But amid shortening attention spans and fears that the ‘end of reading’ is ... Show More
1h 14m
Oct 15
Keri Russell on ‘The Diplomat,’ Powerful Women, and Loving the Mess
Keri Russell never dreamed of becoming an actor. But she’s built an impressive career playing nuanced and complex women in critically acclaimed series like “Felicity,” “The Americans” and most recently “The Diplomat,” which has earned her three Emmy nominations in as many years. ... Show More
56 m
Oct 14
High Stakes with HRC: The Affordability Episode
The midterms are approaching, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Welcome to High Stakes, a limited series from Kara Swisher and the former Secretary of State herself: Hillary Clinton. For the next six weeks, the two are here to break down this year’s most consequential races, hig ... Show More
56m 25s
Jun 2023
Can We Make This Place Beautiful? with Maggie Smith
How do we live in a world that’s at least half terrible, and that is a conservative estimate?If you recognize that line, you already know Maggie Smith. This week on the show, we’re talking about writing, marriage, divorce, and why you didn’t need whatever happened to you in order ... Show More
51m 12s
Nov 2023
Can We Make This Place Beautiful? with Maggie Smith
How do we live in a world that’s at least half terrible, and that is a conservative estimate?If you recognize that line, you already know Maggie Smith. This week on the show, we’re talking about writing, marriage, divorce, and why you didn’t need whatever happened to you in order ... Show More
51m 40s
Apr 2022
Maggie Smith on Poetry and Life Lessons
Maggie Smith is a poet and author of the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change, as well as Good Bones, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, and Lamp of the Body. Maggie’s poems and essays are widely published and anthologized, appeari ... Show More
56m 54s
Jan 2021
Maggie Smith on Writing for Healing
Maggie Smith is a poet whose work has been widely published, anthologized, and has appeared in Best American Poetry, the New York Times, The New Yorker and elsewhere. Her latest book, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change, a collection of essays and quotes, is a nat ... Show More
1h 1m