logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
12m 52s

Benjamin Zephaniah — To Michael Menson

ON BEING STUDIOS
About this episode

Benjamin Zephaniah’s urgent, imperative “To Michael Menson” was written when he was a poet in residence at a human rights barrister in England. His poem resonates with his repeated calls for justice for a murdered Black musician — not a justice that is gullible, impotent, or hopeless but one that is clear-eyed, collaborative, and mighty.

Benjamin Zephaniah was born and raised in Birmingham, England. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including City Psalms, Propa Propaganda, and Too Black, Too Strong. In 2000, he was poet in residence for the chambers of human rights barrister Michael Mansfield, where he worked on numerous cases, including the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Zephaniah appeared on the TV show Peaky Blinders and is also known for his poetry books for children.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

We’re pleased to offer Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem and invite you to subscribe to Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack newsletter, read the Poetry Unbound book, or listen to past episodes of the podcast. Order your copy of Kitchen Hymns (new poems from Pádraig) and 44 Poems on Being with Each Other (new essays by Pádraig) wherever you buy books.

Up next
Mar 2025
Denise Duhamel — How It Will End
Have you ever gotten consumed by watching a couple argue in public and trying to decipher what’s really going on between them? Denise Duhamel’s deliciously entertaining “How It Will End” offers us that experience. Come for the voyeurism, stay for the awareness it stirs up. Why ar ... Show More
17m 2s
Feb 2025
Fady Joudah — [...]
Even though Palestinian-American Fady Joudah’s poem is sparingly titled “[...],” an ellipsis surrounded by brackets, this work itself is psychologically dense. Through crisp lines and language, it wrestles with the nature of human ambivalence — about things like fear, desire, dis ... Show More
12m 55s
Feb 2025
Carmen Giménez — Ars Poetica
Carmen Giménez’s poem “Ars Poetica” is a stunning waterfall of words, a torrent of dozens of short statements that begin with “I” or “I’m.” As you listen to them, let an answering cascade of questions fill up your mind. What does this series of confessions reveal to you about poe ... Show More
15m 16s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 9
Let Yourself Rage With Poet Laureate Ada Limón
As U.S. poet laureate, Ada Limón has had a far-reaching impact. She has visited readers and writers across the country, installed poems at majestic sites in national parks, and she even wrote a poem that’s engraved inside a NASA spacecraft on its way to Jupiter.Today on the show, ... Show More
34m 35s
Jun 20
A.O. Scott on the Joy of Close Reading Poetry
On this week's episode, A.O. Scott joins host Gilbert Cruz to talk about the value of close reading poetry. And New York Times Book Review poetry editor Greg Cowles recommends four recently published collections worth reading.Books mentioned in this episode* "New and Collected He ... Show More
33m 55s
Apr 5
Why Creativity Demands Discipline | “Good Bones” Poet Maggie Smith (PT. 2)
Does telling your story mean revealing everything? Bestselling author and viral poet Maggie Smith returns for part two of her conversation with Ryan, discussing how writers decide what to share and what to keep sacred. They debunk the myth that memoirs must be exposés, talk about ... Show More
42m 56s
Jul 2024
Arthur Teboul on Creative Freedom, Poetry, and Life in Paris
In this episode of Louis Vuitton [EXTENDED] — The Podcast, Loïc Prigent meets with Feu! Chatterton poet and singer Arthur Teboul to discuss his beginnings in music, his writing process, and his vision of poetry — spontaneous and accessible to all. The conversation naturally turns ... Show More
20m 47s
Jul 2024
Political Poems: 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd' by Walt Whitman
Whitman wrote several poetic responses to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He came to detest his most famous, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’, and in ‘When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd’ Lincoln is not imagined in presidential terms but contained within a love elegy that atte ... Show More
10m 35s
Nov 2024
Live! Garth Greenwell
This week, we bring you a live interview with Garth Greenwell, conducted in October 2024 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Garth talks about growing up in Kentucky assuming that he would die young, the teacher who gave him a path toward being an artist, and the doggedness with which ... Show More
55m 34s
Aug 2024
Screwtape Poems
Get ready for a deep dive into the poetic mind of C.S. Lewis as we prepare for our upcoming discussion on The Screwtape Letters! In this episode, Thornton and a special poetry expert explore three of Lewis's profound poems🖋️✨ Join us as we unpack the darkly insightful "Wormwood, ... Show More
40m 49s
Dec 2024
665 Keats's Great Odes (with Anahid Nersessian) [Ad-Free Encore Edition]
In 1819, John Keats quit his job as an assistant surgeon, abandoned an epic poem he was writing, and focused his poetic energies on shorter works. What followed was one of the most fertile periods in the history of poetry, as in a few months' time Keats completed six masterpieces ... Show More
1h 8m
Oct 2023
554 John Ashbery (with Jess Cotton) | My Last Book with David van den Berg
Poetry! Poetry! Poetry! After taking a look at Emily Dickinson's Poem #1 94 ("Title divine - is mine!"), Jacke talks to Cambridge University's Jess Cotton, whose biography of John Ashbery (John Ashbery: A Critical Life) charts Ashbery's rise from a minor avant-garde figure to the ... Show More
58m 2s
Jul 2024
One More Thing: The Three Things You Need to Understand a Poem
If you thought I was all patriotism-ed out...you'd be wrong! The banger of a July 4 poem we read on Tuesday is a perfect chance to learn more about the basics of poetry analysis. Turns out, Tennyson was pretty good at like, writing poetry and stuff. His ode to England and America ... Show More
24m 19s