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 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...
Today’s poem is Flesh (“You in your ecstasy of coffee”) by Deborah Landau.
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 5 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “When summer arrives, I run as fast as ...
Today’s poem is Black Book of Creation by Shanta Lee Gander.
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 April 25 2024.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem builds on the belief that imagining ...
Today we’re bringing you the recording from Slow Take, our live event in Nashville this past April, featuring Major Jackson in conversation with Jad Abumrad and special guest poets Kate Daniels, Mark Jarman, Ciona Rouse and Didi Jackson, as well as singer-songwriter Tia Sillers.
Our hosts and guests employed the attention of The Slowdown to explore the daily noise we interact with -- how sharing poetry, stories, and r...
Today’s poem is Us by Zaffar Kunial.
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 27 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Since moving to the quaint village of Rochester, I come to expect vis...
Today’s poem is from "The Crystal Text" by Clark Coolidge.
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 2 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Poetry negotiates that space between our inner life a...
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