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 Another Night at Sea Level by Meg Day.
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 May 12, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Written in letter form, today's poem captures and seeks to describe that feeling of the su...
Today’s poem is Climbing China's Great Wall by Afaa M. Weaver.
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 4, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “I visited China for the first time in the spring of 2017. It was a visit to the ...
Today’s poem is On a Spaceship Somewhere, Long After Empire's Collapse by Jesús I. Valles.
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 20, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “The message from the stars is simple: it doesn’t ha...
Today’s poem is Say Thank You Say I'm Sorry by Jericho Brown.
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 September 11, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “I like it when I pass into the orbit of a stranger and, without expecting or...
Today’s poem is Song In Which We Yet Sidestep Disaster by Tess Taylor.
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 May 27, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “How can everything be? How is it possible? Maybe to be alive is a matter o...
Today’s poem is Hunger by Kelli Russell Agodon.
Last spring, we asked our community to submit poems that have helped you slow down in your lives. This week we’re revisiting these selections. Today’s selection was submitted by Jeannine from Washington.
In this episode, Major writes… “What is it about this stage of dating that has us turn off the radar, render us blind to the red flags, to what we hope our instincts...
Today’s poem is Separation Wall by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Last spring, we asked our community to submit poems that have helped you slow down in your lives. This week we’re revisiting these selections. Today’s selection was submitted by Meital from Washington, D.C.
In this episode, Major writes… “Coexistence on the planet demands that we transcend reactionary treatment of each other. For this reason, we need poems to te...
Today’s poem is Sono by Suji Kwock Kim.
The Slowdown is currently taking a break. Last spring, we asked our community to submit poems that have helped you slow down in your lives. This week we’re revisiting these selections.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem coordinates a masterful flow of language, simulating the journey of a child crossing into our time through another’s body. The poem reminds us, wi...
Today’s poem is From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee.
Last spring, we asked our community to submit poems that have helped you slow down in your lives. This week we’re revisiting these selections. Today’s selection was submitted by Candace from North Carolina.
This week we’re featuring the team’s selections. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem exults in that bounty of spiritual abundance and celebrates the joy...
Today’s poem is One Art by Elizabeth Bishop.
Last spring, we asked our community to submit poems that have helped you slow down in your lives. This week we’re revisiting these selections. Today’s selection was submitted by Doug from Minnesota.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s iconic poem inflects so much psychological truth and honest emotion in the wake of a parting; the hard pain must be worked through.”...
Today’s poem is Prayer Beginning with a Line by Czaykowski by Pablo Piñero Stillmann.
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 29, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s poem is that kind of prayer, a prayer ...
Today’s poem is Practicing by Ciona Rouse.
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 18, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I’ve always been interested in how we plan for the future. I try to put a little money awa...
Today’s poem is Little Grey Dreams by Angelina Weld Grimké.
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 November 9, 2021.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s meaningful poem by early 20th century poet Angelina Weld Grim...
Today’s poem is Places With Terrible Wi-Fi by J. Estanislao Lopez.
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 23, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Hiding has gotten so much harder these days. Growing up, I co...
Today’s poem is Acknowledgments by Nkosi Nkululeko.
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 July 4, 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s poem is an exploration of shouting out ourselves and our community. I lov...
Today’s poem is To be of use by Marge Piercy.
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 September 2, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “I am alive in 21st Century America. I have a voice. Let it serve as a corrective to the violen...
Today’s poem is The Book of Genesis by Morgan Parker.
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 June 10, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes…”Today's poem is by Morgan Parker. Parker's poems fill me with joy for the ways they ponder ...
Today’s poem is Stop Looking At My Last Name Like That by Michael Torres.
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 May 19, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Rationally speaking, I know that another person’s bigoted thinking is t...
Today’s poem is Telephone of the Wind by Eddie Kim.
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 12, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem takes me back to the time when telephones and the distances they allowed us to...
Today’s poem is Moon Pull by Carlina Duan.
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 May 5, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “I love the way today's poem lays claim to the moon and all it represents.”
Celebrate the power of p...
Popular Podcasts
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.
Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S. centering Latino stories, hosted by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa Every week, the Peabody winning team brings you revealing, in-depth stories about what’s in the hearts and minds of Latinos and their impact on the world. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peaks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts. www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus