The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
Poet Major Jackson is your guide on the pathways to feel and understand our common journey – through poetry. In sharing poems, we take a moment to pause and acknowledge the world’s magnitude, and how poets illuminate that mystery. Join The Slowdown for a poem and a moment of reflection in one short episode, every weekday. Produced by APM Studios in partnership with The Poetry Foundation and supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. Make us a part of your routine as you drink coffee in the morning, as you take a walk in nature, or as you wind down to go to sleep in the evening. With host Major Jackson, we collectively take a moment to calm, to inspire, to learn, and to engage with the best emerging poets and established writers of our time and generations past, from Emily Dickinson to Danez Smith, from Amanda Gorman to Mary Oliver. Listen to our back catalog for episodes by our previous hosts, Tracy K. Smith and Ada Limón, as well as guest hosts Jenny Xie, Brenda Shaughnessy, Tina Chang, Nate Marshall, Shira Erlichiman, and Jason Schneiderman. Our hosts and production team select poems that move them, and we hope they move you, too.
Episodes
Today’s poem is I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won't by Traci Brimhall.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 27 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I am often laughing with my husband about our own idiosync...
Today’s poem is anti-immigration by Evie Shockley.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 26 2021.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s complex poem, we see what hateful stereotypes might do. Poet Evie Sh...
Today’s poem is Last Sundays at Bootleggers by Carlos Andrés Gómez.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 17 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Sometimes when I am nostalgic for my past, I’m not actually nostalg...
Today’s poem is In Response to Feeling Alone by t. liem.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 5 2021.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I spend a lot of time alone during the days. Though the dog would like to ...
Today’s poem is Sligo Abbey by Rebecca Lindenberg.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on February 3 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s gorgeous poem of honoring, we see how the speaker transforms the sto...
Today’s poem is Tracing the Horse by Diana Marie Delgado.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 29, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “I turn to words constantly—to help me clarify a thought, to dig deeper into an idea,...
Today’s poem is The Feeling by Ari Banias.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on August 27, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “We are living through what I want to believe is an awakening. Many people who have never given an ...
Today’s poem is Telling My Father by James Crews.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 19, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Sometimes love looks like small things. Gentle gestures rich with import. We give such thi...
Today’s poem is Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 6, 2018.
In this episode, Tracy writes, “One day I was a drinker; the next, I was an ex-drinker. A braver p...
Today’s poem is Listen, by Barbara Crooker.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on October 19, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem offers up a message of calm and gratitude. It's one I want to learn to offer myself...
Today’s poem is I Have No Idea What's Going to Happen by Justin Marks.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on February 24, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s understated poem shows us h...
Today’s poem is Egrets, While War by Tishani Doshi.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on May 8, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s compelling poem honors the ancient and indomitable e...
Today’s poem is Refusing Rilke's "You must change your life" by Remica Bingham-Risher.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 24, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “I live with Rilke’s famo...
Today’s poem is Try to Praise the Mutilated World by Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare Cavanagh.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 23, 2024.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “One o...
Today’s poem is If I Told Him, A Completed Portrait of Picasso by Gertrude Stein.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 27, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem is a touchs...
Today’s poem is I Imagine the Butches' Stripper Bar by Jill McDonough.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on January 31, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “One of my favorite mysteries of the universe is what turns ...
Today’s poem is Song by Charif Shanahan.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on September 12, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “When I am really writing, really working on poems, which is often as alive as I ever f...
Today’s poem is Walking Across Fire Island by Shelley Wong.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 6, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I love to walk, when I’m healthy and mobile enough to walk, it’s one of m...
Today’s poem is Golden Age by Chris Santiago.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on December 21, 2021.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “When I was a kid, I loved falling asleep to the sound of the television in the livi...
Today’s poem is Bruised Peaches by Bronwen Tate.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on June 30, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Every Thursday when I take out the trash, I think about how I quantify the value of...
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