logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2023
16m 7s

From Poetry Unbound: Benjamin Gucciardi ...

ON BEING STUDIOS
About this episode

Hello friends, it is a joy to introduce the new season of Poetry Unbound, which is underway. As Krista shares at the top, this episode has everything in it that makes Poetry Unbound such a gift in a noisy podcast world.

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to Poetry Unbound for new episodes every Monday and Friday through July — and stay tuned for a new season of On Being this fall. 

We’re pleased to offer Benjamin Gucciardi’s poem, “The Rungs,” and invite you to connect with Poetry Unbound throughout this season.

Up next
Jul 3
Joy Harjo — The Hope Portal Ep. 6
Our teacher this time is the extraordinary Joy Harjo. She is a musician, a visual artist, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, and she’s also former Poet Laureate of the United States. From the beginning of her life, from childhood and even before, she has carried and retained ... Show More
17m 9s
Jun 26
Joanna Macy — Hope Portal, Episode 5
Our teacher and inspiration for this session is Joanna Macy. What she embodies is a wild love for the world and a fierce hope that rises irrepressible from that. And she carries and lives an important reminder to us that when we love, we will also know pain, and we will know grie ... Show More
12m 3s
Jun 19
Ocean Vuong — Hope Portal, Episode 4
If hope is to be defining and forceful in the world we have to remake ahead of us, we must also speak hope into being. Ocean Vuong is a fascinating and singular person. The sweep of his work is about bearing witness to the other side of violence and the possibility of joy while t ... Show More
11m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2019
Welcome to Poetry Unbound
Poetry Unbound features an immersive exploration of a single poem, guided by Pádraig Ó Tuama. Short and unhurried; contemplative and energizing. Proudly produced by On Being Studios. Anchor your week with new episodes on Monday and Friday, beginning January 27. This season featur ... Show More
1m 21s
Dec 2022
BONUS: A conversation with Lorna Goodison – and the humans behind Poetry Unbound
As part of a celebratory launch party for the new Poetry Unbound book, Pádraig welcomed Lorna Goodison, former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, into a joyful Zoom room of poetry lovers and listeners of the show, old and new. We draw Season 6 to a close with their conversation on themes ... Show More
28m 6s
Nov 2022
Dan Vera — Norse Saga
When you move to a new place, everything seems different. Hell’s not hot anymore; it’s freezing. A poem of strangeness and wonder. Dan Vera is a writer, editor, watercolorist, and literary historian. Vera is the author of two books of poetry: Speaking Wiri Wiri (Red Hen Press 201 ... Show More
12m 30s
Feb 2023
Ada Limón with Krista Tippett — “To Be Made Whole”
Friends, we are awakening your Poetry Unbound feed for a moment to share this episode from the big, beautiful new season of On Being. And Pádraig’s here with a quick hello and a glimpse of what more On Being conversations await you in coming months. You won’t want to miss — subsc ... Show More
1h 12m
Oct 2022
Carolina Ebeid — Reading Celan in a Subway Station
The sounds of a city can be overwhelming — but in the imagination of this poem, they are made into something new. Carolina Ebeid is a multimedia poet. Her first book, You Ask Me to Talk About the Interior, was published by Noemi Press as part of the Akrilica Series, and selected ... Show More
14m 42s
Jan 2024
Eugenia Leigh — How the Dung Beetle Finds Its Way Home
In a poem about how a small moment can help you make a wise decision, Eugenia Leigh finds the strength to go back home after storming out. No self-pity in the poem, just humor and brilliance. She had every reason to leave, and finds every reason to return. Eugenia Leigh is a Kore ... Show More
15m 51s
Apr 2022
Poetry Unbound — Season 5 Trailer
Poetry Unbound with host Pádraig Ó Tuama is back on Monday, April 11. Featured poets in this season include Rita Dove, Joshua Bennett, Tiana Clark, Yu Xiuhua, and many more. New episodes released every Monday and Friday through June 3.Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google ... Show More
1m 56s
May 2024
Yehuda Amichai — Poems as Teachers | Ep 6
Being right may feel good, but what human price do we pay for this feeling of rightness? Yehuda Amichai’s poem “The Place Where We Are Right,” translated by Stephen Mitchell, asks us to answer this question, consider how doubt and love might expand and enrich our perspective, and ... Show More
14m 4s
May 2024
Joy Harjo — Poems as Teachers | Ep 2
As appealing as it may sound, is it really possible to live in a world completely free of conflict? No. And since differences and disagreements are inevitable and natural, Joy Harjo gives ground rules in “Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings.” Her call to us echoes across time and ... Show More
17m 43s
May 2024
Jericho Brown — Poems as Teachers | Ep 5
In “Hebrews 13” by Jericho Brown, a narrator says: “my lover and my brother both knocked at my door.” The heat is turned on, scalding coffee is offered and hastily swallowed, and silence is the soundtrack. What an exquisitely awkward triangle it is, and what a human, beautiful, a ... Show More
13m 10s