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 29, 2026 32 mins

Season 4 ends with some much-needed poetic Cherapy! 

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

Poets and poems we mention in this episode include:

Mark Strand, "Eating Poetry"

Rob Schlegel, "Poetry

Sandra Lim, "Some...

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Richie Hofmann returns for a game that shows the queens that being well-versed can mean getting well-bred.

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

Visit Richie Hofmann's website here: https://www.richiehofmann.com/ which i...

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The ladies are joined by Richie Hofmann for one hell of a Breaking Form interview!

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

Visit Richie Hofmann's website here: https://www.richiehofmann.com/ which includes links ...

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June 8, 2026 28 mins

The queens shine a rainbow spotlight on some fabulous, emerging queer poets.

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

Xavier Searle is a poet and educator. A recipient of an Academy of American Poets University & Colleg...

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June 1, 2026 37 mins

Travel through time with the Breaking Form ladies as we revisit some queer times and places.

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

Check out Felice Picano's website https://www.felicepicano.net/, and this tribute to the ...

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May 25, 2026 24 mins

The queens visit The Lowells in a game of "Amy Robert Lowell"

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

Watch a brief biographical video about Amy Lowell here

Poems we mention include these by Amy Lowell:

"Sword Blades ...

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Laura Kasischke joins the queens to talk about her new collection of poems (and her new novel)!

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

 Notes:

"The Crying Towel" was first published in The Massachusetts Review Volume 57, Issue 4

R...

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May 11, 2026 40 mins

The queens take on two impossible topics: death, and mothers.

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

Show Notes:

Aaron mentions the Marie Howe poem "Letter to My Sister" from The Good Thief, which Howe talks about here

Aaron rea...

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May 4, 2026 44 mins

Come with the queens as they travel back to a time of gay bookstores, queer anthems, and a boom in LGBT+ publishing: the gay 90s! 

Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.

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

Show Notes:

Check out Michael Nava's wonderful essay "Creat...

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April 27, 2026 30 mins

Let's talk about Sex! 

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Poems we read and texts we mention include:

Dorianne Laux, "The Lovers" (Visit Laux's website here).

Jenny Johnson, "Daddy Scene" (published in ...

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April 20, 2026 27 mins

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

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April 13, 2026 27 mins

All the queens want is boundless love in this episode about the love life of Frank O'Hara.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Read Frank O'Hara's "Homosexuality"

For more about Chester Kallman, read here. K...

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April 6, 2026 36 mins

The queens talk about writing through sadness and grief in order to move forward and gain a different vantage point. 

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Take a look at the Tracey Emin sculpture "My Bed." It...

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March 30, 2026 29 mins

Dress shopping is cardio & life for the Breaking Form fashionistas. 

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Paul Tran's "Provenance" appeared first February 22/March 1, 2021 issue of The Nation and was incl...

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Get set for a poetry gabfest for the ages! The fabulous Joy Priest joins us for the Breaking Form Interview.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Buy Joy's prizewinning collection of poems, Horsepower, from t...

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March 16, 2026 36 mins

The queens kindly request your presence for some piping hot tea as they recap the AWP Conference in Baltimore. 

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

James posted some AWP tips on Facebook here

For the c...

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That which you call death, the queens remember in this episode that revisits The Wild Iris, Louise Glück's Pulitzer-Prize winning volume from 1992.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

While the recording released...

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March 2, 2026 28 mins

What nanty narking our Reginas have with some slang from the Victorian era. 

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Marilyn Nelson's poem in The New Yorker that Aaron was thinking of is "Pigeon and Hawk."

Poets ...

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February 23, 2026 32 mins

The queens read for filth another toxic masculinist article before we play a saucy game based on a gay novel. 

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Heather Christle's post sparked this episode's discussion an...

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February 16, 2026 31 mins

"Dawns are heartbreaking," as is the queer love story of Arthur Rimbaud & Paul Verlaine.

Please Support Breaking Form!
Review the showon Apple Podcasts here.

Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. 

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

Show Notes:

Paul Verlaine was born in 1844. Read more about him here. Verlaine was an Aries sun...

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