The Slowdown
Every weekday, Tracy K. Smith delivers a different way to see the world – through poetry. Produced in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Episodes
Today's poem is You Are Who I Love by Aracelis Girmay.
Today's poem is What the Kids in Subtle Asian Traits Know by Jennifer G. Lai.
Today's poem is Before the Riot by Kwame Dawes.
Today's poem is To D.B. by Edward Hirsch.
Today's poem is Facial Recognition by Alice Liang.
Today's poem is The Party by Jason Shinder.
This episode originally aired May 1, 2020.
Today's poem is Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Foerster.
Today's poem is Owed to the 99 Cent Store by Joshua Bennett.
Today's poem is Gwendolyn Brooks: America in the Wintertime by Haki R. Madhubuti.
An update about the show and a message from Tracy K. Smith.
Today's poem is a brief meditation on breath by Yesenia Montilla.
Today's poem is Naming Ceremony by Hafizah Geter.
This episode originally aired on April 4, 2020.
Today's poem is Often I am Permitted to Return to the City by Phillip B. Williams.
Today's poem is Red Wine Spills by L. Ash Williams.
Today's poem is i woke up and the day caught me by Kara Jackson.
Today's poem is aubade for the whole hood by Nate Marshall.
Today's poem is And We Love Life by Mahmoud Darwish.
This episode originally aired May 14, 2020.
Today's poem is Pigeon and Hawk by Marilyn Nelson.
Today's poem is Bedtime Story by Wanda Coleman.
Today's poem is Reports of the Dream You're Not Likely to Recover From by Jay Deshpande.
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