399 episodes
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.
-
1110: Blue Hour by Chanda Feldman
Today’s poem is Blue Hour by Chanda Feldman.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Although about the birth of a child, what I love about today’s poem is how it parallels my growing sense of care for natural environments. When my children were born, their bodies demanded a softness from my body, not to mention a constant attention.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp -
1109: Never Did Say So by Caridad Moro-Gronlier
Today’s poem is Never Did Say So by Caridad Moro-Gronlier.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem explores the depths of its speaker by applying the lyrics of an iconic artist who gets that indomitable spirit of smart, independent women.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp -
1108: Life on Earth by Dorianne Laux
Today’s poem is Life on Earth by Dorianne Laux.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Poems buttress me against the hurt and the harm and the uncertainty of life itself. I fear that the global conflicts we’re witnessing are negatively impacting the health and mental wellbeing of people who are susceptible to the frailty of this moment. I read poetry profusely during times like these.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp -
1107: Accessory to War by Kim Stafford
Today’s poem is Accessory to War by Kim Stafford.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s sobering poem lands a powerful reminder: that even when we adhere to a belief against war, even when we wish not to collude in acts of aggression, in a powerful nation as ours, mere citizenship implicates us.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp -
1106: Life In The Gush Of Boasts by Elijah Burrell
Today’s poem is Life In The Gush Of Boasts by Elijah Burrell.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Most writers are not “All eyes on me,” but the psychology of the social media “like” and “follower” becomes validation, it seems, between books.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp -
1105: Self-Portrait with Tumbling and Lasso by Eduardo C. Corral
Today’s poem is Self-Portrait with Tumbling and Lasso by Eduardo C. Corral.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… "These days, we are loving reading and writing self-portrait poems, what I call the “verbal selfie.” It allows the author to be the runway, to elevate themselves into the frame of language. In so doing, the poet, like the author of today’s poem, experiments with perceptions of the self. I like how the poet in Rembrandt-fashion mythologizes himself in the lyric.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Customer Reviews
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.
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.
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.
Top Podcasts In Arts
You Might Also Like