Breaking Form: a Poetry and Culture Podcast

Breaking Form: a Poetry and Culture Podcast

James Allen Hall and Aaron Smith talk about their favorite poems and poets, interview amazing writers, laugh a lot, gossip, and get real about life and art.

Episodes

June 30, 2025 30 mins

The queens talk literary confidantes; then we discuss the pros and pitfalls of poetic friendships.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

Read a bit more about Spencer Williams's Tranz, including from the poem "Laramie" in the book, here

Watch...

Mark as Played

The queens talk literary confidantes; then we discuss the pros and pitfalls of poetic friendships.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

Check out Toni Morrison's  1987 eulogy for James Baldwin in the New York Times.

We read from Fran Lebowitz's rem...

Mark as Played
June 16, 2025 32 mins

The Breaking Form broads recount their poetic travels abroad in this Season 3 opener.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

The David Hockney retrospective in Paris is on view until August 31. For more about his painting "Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy,&q...

Mark as Played
Mark as Played
Mark as Played
Mark as Played
May 12, 2025 26 mins

The queens boil down the essence of some favorite poems and poets in this game that decides what poetry is *really* about.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

Read the NY Times review of Michael Schmidt's The Lives of the Poets

Listen to James Merrill ...

Mark as Played

If you're looking to submit, the queens have some advice for you!

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

Check out On the Seawall: a community gallery of new writing, art and commentary hosted by poet Ron Slate.

Here's some great advice about submitt...

Mark as Played
April 28, 2025 30 mins

The ladies ask AI to write poems about Brad Pitt's butt. It’s not so bad Brad, sad Brad, is it?

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.

NOTES:

Aaron's "Brad Pitt" appeared in his first book, Blue on Blue Ground. Read the poem here. 

Here's the offi...

Mark as Played
April 21, 2025 38 mins

The queens discuss and revise a recent list of "best poetry," adding other tops (& bottoms & verses & sides, you get the point, miss thing).


Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.

NOTES:

For a few lists of best 21st Century poetry:             ...

Mark as Played
April 14, 2025 32 mins

The queens dish this year’s AWP Conference!

Please Support Breaking Form!

Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.

James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


 Notes:

 The Association of Writers and Writing Programs can be found online at www.awpwriter.org

 Marcela Fuentes is the author of the award-winning novel Malas and you can find her online at h...

Mark as Played
April 7, 2025 29 mins

Get in, gurl, we're reading poetry at your unfriendly neighborhood leather bar.


Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

Learn more about Tom of Finland, the artist name of Finnish Touko Laaksonen who signed his erotic work "Tom." 

Follow mes...

Mark as Played
March 31, 2025 60 mins

The queens super-gay it up with Stephanie Burt, the editor of the new poetry anthology, SUPER GAY POEMS.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.

NOTES:

Check out SUPER GAY POEMS: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall, edited by Stephanie Burt, out on April 1, 2025. 

Read Hera Li...

Mark as Played

We're talking resistance, joy, and queer communities with Brenda Shaughnessy!

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.

NOTES:

Click here for Brenda’s Queer Resistance Playlist 2025 (Spotify).

Check out Brenda's poem "Panopticon" from Interior with Sudden...

Mark as Played
March 17, 2025 29 mins

The queens get to the poetic essence with the help of erasure and re-envisioning.


Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

The Nicole Sealey poem we read at the end of the episode comes from the first four pages of her book The Ferguson Report: An Erasure

W...

Mark as Played
March 10, 2025 30 mins

Join the thirsty queens for a gin & Sextonic, in this tribute to the iconic work of Anne Sexton.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


NOTES:

Click here for a pdf from the Poetry Society that includes a folio of essays about Sexton's life and work by David...

Mark as Played

The queens talk with gay literary icon Edmund White about his new book, The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir. (Miguel Murphy joins in the fun, too!)

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.                            

Miguel's SHORE DITCH is available from Barrow Stree...

Mark as Played
February 24, 2025 29 mins

The queens prove that it's not the size of the ship but the motion etc etc in this episode devoted to short poems.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Pretty Please with Aaron's cherry on top.....  Buy our books:
     Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
     James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.


 

Poems we menti...

Mark as Played
February 17, 2025 29 mins

Get out your UV lights & swabs--the queens play a game that fuses poems, then guess the poetic DNA samples. Then we spark up a fusion of a different strain!

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.

Pretty Please.....Buy our books:
     Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
     James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.

SHO...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club

    Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!

    24/7 News: The Latest

    The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.