Ecology of Love

KB Brookins on change, gym bros, and the stories that haven't been told. 

Drew Ackerman on insomnia, late-night radio, and soothing his inner cynic. 

Shin Yu Pai on professional breakup, desert art, and love in the archive. 

Dr Anne Casey, a poet and writer teaches us the joy of poetry. 

Today’s poem is Dry Spell by Lisa Sewell. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Like so much of what our teachers share as advice about our writing, today’s poem can also be applied to our life off the page.” Celebrate the power of poems with a ... Show More

Today’s poem is from “Requiem 1935-1940” by Anna Akhmatova, translated by Stanley Kunitz and Max Hayward. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “What is the role of poetry during war? Does it have a function? Then and now, poets and readers of p ... Show More

Today’s poem is A Certain Light by Marie Howe. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Victoria Chang writes… “Today’s poem always moves me. I love the way this poem so lyrically depicts the surprising beauty and connection that can emerge amidst the ... Show More

Dana Gioia is a poet, former Chairman of the NEA, and one of America's most insightful writers on the craft of poetry and prose. This is the deepest conversation I've ever had about writing. Dana breaks down the writing process from his first drafts to revision, and shares practi ... Show More

Today’s poem is In Jerusalem by Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Fady Joudah, with special guest adrienne maree brown. Through her writing, which includes short- and long-form fiction, nonfiction, spells, tarot decks and poetry; her music, which includes songwriting, singing and im ... Show More

Wonder and strangeness commingle with the commonplace and universal in Danielle Chapman’s “Trespassing with Tweens.” In a not-quite mirroring, a human mother and her children stand and watch together in awe as a great blue heron flaps in and feeds its two offspring. The pleasures ... Show More

Today’s poem is The Gardener 85 by Rabindranath Tagore. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Poetry has a way of collapsing time, and by working the senses, having us experience an era. In the blues rhythms of Langston Hughes’ poetry, I hear e ... Show More

Flora Barber, commended prize winner in the 2017 Tower Poetry competition, reads her poem Snowdrops. 

Annie Fan, second prize winner in the 2017 Tower Poetry competition, reads her poem Qianling Stele.