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, though, our host Anna Martin talks with Limón about something more personal a ... Show More
Apr 1
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson on Marriage and Secrets
In their buzzy new film, “The Drama,” Zendaya and Robert Pattinson play an engaged couple whose relationship is imploding. With their wedding just a week away, Emma (Zendaya) reveals a shocking secret about her past that sends her fiancé, Charlie (Pattinson), into a self-destruct ... Show More
33 m
Mar 25
He’s Gay. She’s Straight. They’re Newlyweds. (Encore)
This week, we have an update to one of our favorite interviews from last year. When Jacob Hoff and Samantha Greenstone met, they became instant best friends. Then, even though Jacob was gay, they realized that their feelings for each other were evolving beyond the platonic, and t ... Show More
38m 20s
Jan 2025
Diannely Antigua — Another Poem about God, but Really It’s about Me
“You would’ve made a lousy nun.” The narrator of Diannely Antigua’s “Another Poem about God, but Really It’s about Me” overhears these words, and they jolt her into contrasting her life experience with the limited archetypes offered by her church — good daughter, good sister, hol ... Show More
16m 21s
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
Jul 2025
"Marigolds," a poem about wonder | Safiya Sinclair
Poet Safiya Sinclair performs "Marigolds: A Letter to Wonder," an original poem she created for TED that explores memory, beauty and the fragility of life. After the poem, she talks with TED's Helen Walters about her writing process — and what it feels like when the creative muse ... Show More
9m 2s
Jan 2025
Don McKay — Neanderthal Dig
Don McKay’s poem “Neanderthal Dig” begins with the discovery of an ancient, child-sized skeleton placed on the wing of a swan and then takes flight, showing us how love and death are riddled with paradoxes — mixing the earthbound and the sacred, the personal and the universal, th ... Show More
14m 52s
Feb 2025
Rick Barot — The Singing
Rick Barot’s poem “The Singing” takes place in the humdrum, relatable setting of the waiting room at a car dealership. But the unexpected occurs when one woman’s soft humming builds into strange, full-throated singing. Curiosity, wonder, anger, and dread spill over, forcing you t ... Show More
17m 43s