Distant Poets Society

Brittany Rodriguez

This podcast was original started by English teachers who wanted to find a creative way to help their students through Distant Learning due to the COVID pandemic. It grew into a place for conversations about social justice issues through literature. Each episode, a film is analyzed for social and historical context, characters, theme, and connections to ourselves and society.

Episodes

  1. 07/31/2020

    Making Connections to Current Events - Special Episode (June 3, 2020)

    Original recorded on June 3, 2020 This the first episode of Distant Poets Society without any connection to Distance Learning and it definitely won't be the last. Mr. Smith, Mrs. Rodriguez, and Ms. Ramirez are joined by Warren student, Munji Nfor to talk about how we can make connections to the current events surrounding the death of George Floyd and the demonstrations that followed. We use literature, history, and our own personal experiences to try to make sense of the three very complicated topics: systemic racism, white privilege, and demonstrations both peaceful and violent.    Reflection Questions - Questions to explore these complicated topics. Written by Ngozi Musa (BA in sociology at Harvard) and Sophia Magnolia Hunt (sociology PhD student at Stanford).  What makes you feel safe? Do you think others feel similarly?  What does activism mean?  What types of protesting do you find effective? Which do you find unacceptable?  Is it ok to break unjust laws? What makes laws just or unjust?    Below is the list of content that was recommended throughout the podcast (novels, TV shows, movies, etc.) Be aware that some of these may contain adult themes.    THINGS TO WATCH  Never Have I Ever (Netflix)  The Wire (HBO) Watchman (HBO)  Black Panther (Disney+)  Dear White People (Netflix)  Atlanta (Hulu)  Awkward Black Girl (Youtube)  A Different World (Amazon Prime)  Insecure (HBO) 13th (Netflix)  When They See Us (Netflix)  Amistad (Hulu)   THINGS TO READ  A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines  Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan  White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh   The Autobiography of Malcolm X  Drinking Coffee Elsewhere and Other Stories by ZZ Packer  Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe  The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key (entire poem)  The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (also Beloved and A Mercy)  Born a Crime by Trevor Noah  Kindred by Octavia Butler   An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon  Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson  The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine  The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya  The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano  Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin  1984 by George Orwell

    1h 56m

About

This podcast was original started by English teachers who wanted to find a creative way to help their students through Distant Learning due to the COVID pandemic. It grew into a place for conversations about social justice issues through literature. Each episode, a film is analyzed for social and historical context, characters, theme, and connections to ourselves and society.