399 episodes

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.

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily American Public Media

    • Arts
    • 4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

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.

    1084: Mahmoud by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated by Fady Joudah

    1084: Mahmoud by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated by Fady Joudah

    Today’s poem is Mahmoud by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated by Fady Joudah. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.

    In this episode, guest host Victoria Chang writes… “As an adult, one of the things I’ve always wondered about was the baby boy we lost to a miscarriage. He was almost three months old by the time he passed away. I still carry the hospital bracelet in my wallet, the one that says simply, “baby boy.” Some days, I still wonder about him — what he would have looked like as a teenager. He would have been sixteen years old this year. I imagine him having just received his driver’s license, the loud sound of the door opening, his backpack with all of the little tchotchkes and keychains hanging from them rattling and hitting the door. I can almost hear his voice as he enters the house. Almost.”

    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

    • 6 min
    1083: first person by Ed Roberson

    1083: first person by Ed Roberson

    Today’s poem is first person by Ed Roberson. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.

    In this episode, guest host Victoria Chang writes… “How can we learn if no one helps us to learn? How can we help each other learn if we don’t speak up, if we don’t talk to each other honestly? How can we learn if we don’t look harder at ourselves and the things we do or don’t do, know or don’t know, every single day?”

    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

    • 5 min
    1082: A Certain Light by Marie Howe

    1082: A Certain Light by Marie Howe

    Today’s poem is A Certain Light by Marie Howe. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.

    In this episode, guest host Victoria Chang writes… “Today’s poem always moves me. I love the way this poem so lyrically depicts the surprising beauty and connection that can emerge amidst the deepest darkest moments of illness.”

    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

    • 6 min
    1081: The Leaving by Brigit Pegeen Kelly

    1081: The Leaving by Brigit Pegeen Kelly

    Today’s poem is The Leaving by Brigit Pegeen Kelly. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.

    In this episode, guest host Victoria Chang writes… “This is a poem that seems so easy to describe, yet it’s so hard to pin down–my favorite kind of poem–both clear and mysterious. It’s dreamlike, mystical, biblical, and so much more. It magically depicts what it’s like to be a child on the cusp of something, in the face of the largeness of the world.”

    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

    • 5 min
    1080: Dream Song 14 by John Berryman

    1080: Dream Song 14 by John Berryman

    Today’s poem is Dream Song 14 by John Berryman.

    The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I miss being bored. I miss idly sitting in a chair, looking out a window, wondering what next to do with myself. I want the feeling of time as an endless desert — nothing in sight, nothing on the horizon.”

    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

    • 6 min
    1079: Cassandra by Sasha West

    1079: Cassandra by Sasha West

    Today’s poem is Cassandra by Sasha West.

    The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “The speaker in today’s poem, taken from Greek mythology, has sight beyond the veil. Their relationship to objects points to the kind of clairvoyance that artists exercise, connecting our physical, emotional, and spiritual worlds.”

    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

    • 6 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
1.1K Ratings

1.1K Ratings

Roblox_lover♥️♥️♥️♥️ ,

That’s my DJ!

Major takes me back to the 1980s when I was a teenager and when I was judged, and when I judged, based on the radio station I listened to. The voices of my favorite DJs are recorded in my memory like a beloved mixtape. I counted on them to wake me up, introduce me to the latest songs, and lull me to sleep. I listen to Major every morning. He is my current day DJ. I count on him for inspiration, wisdom, and messages so beautiful I am dazzled all day long.

Bellacaligrl ,

Quiet and powerful show

Poetry is always been a love of mine, and the show delivers in such a powerful and beautiful way. Major has a great way of delivering such beautiful reflections. It's a great way to start the day! Thank you so much.

erinbryn ,

What a Gift !

I remember when Tracy left the show and I thought, “oh my gosh - it will never be the same” and then Ada, and then Major showed up and I was like “oh my gosh - this is amazing” and then there is a guest host and I think “this is going to be horrible!” and then I get a hot take that thrills me from Jason Schneiderman or Shira Erlichiman and I’m again reminded that change is good. I love the voices and reflections on the poems. The intros are often poems themselves. We listen in the car as the sun comes up on our way to work. Communing silently as we listen. Sometimes only a sigh or breath is heard for a few minutes after a particularly powerful episode. Thank you all so very much.

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