Toni Morrison's literary and academic career was honoured with a Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her writing explored, celebrated, questioned and critiqued the space of black lives in America, up until her death on Monday at the age of 88.
Today on Front Burner, we speak with Halifax's former poet laureate El Jones and for ... Show More
Aug 22
Escape, immortality, AI: Silicon Valley's blueprint for the future
Elon Musk wants a million people living on Mars within 20 years. Jeff Bezos imagines a trillion humans in space, living in a constellation of space stations the size of major cities within a few generations. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is preparing for a future where rogue AI coul ... Show More
33m 35s
Sep 2021
Toni Morrison: The legacy of a literary legend
The American writer Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” It was an urge which in her case yielded a rich array of novels, children’s books, plays and essays. Toni Morrison stands tall, as the f ... Show More
39m 38s
Jul 2020
Radical Imagination: Tracy K. Smith, Marilyn Nelson, and Terrance Hayes on Poetry in Our Times
In a special episode of the Poetry Podcast, Tracy K. Smith, Marilyn Nelson, and Terrance Hayes join Kevin Young to read their work, and to discuss its relationship to protest and liberation.
Tracy K. Smith served two terms as a U.S. poet laureate, and has won an Anisfield-Wolf Bo ... Show More
45m 41s
Dec 2020
Margaret Atwood Reads Saeed Jones
Margaret Atwood joins Kevin Young to read “A Stranger,” by Saeed Jones, and her own poem “Flatline.” Atwood, a prolific poet and novelist, is known for brilliant books such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin.” Her many distinctions include the Los Angeles Times Inno ... Show More
29m 19s
Dec 2021
Amanda Gorman Reads Tracy K. Smith
Amanda Gorman joins Kevin Young to read “Declaration,” by Tracy K. Smith, and her own poem “Ship’s Manifest.” Gorman served as the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, received a 2020 Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and, in 2021, became the youngest ... Show More
34m 31s
Sep 2019
Eliza Griswold discusses "First Person"
Eliza Griswold joins Kevin Young to discuss her poetry sequence "First Person," featured on newyorker.com. Griswold is a poet and journalist who has contributed to The New Yorker since 2003. She is the author of, most recently, "Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing ... Show More
33m 40s