1629 Episodes

  1. 1429: Midlife Crisis by Jane Zwart

    Published: 1/7/2026

  2. 1428: In Defense of “Candelabra with Heads” by Nicole Sealey

    Published: 1/6/2026

  3. 1427: A toast to something beautiful flapping in the wind by J. Hope Stein

    Published: 1/5/2026

  4. 1426: One-Way Gate by Jenny George

    Published: 1/2/2026

  5. 1425: The Ship by Bianca Stone

    Published: 1/1/2026

  6. 1424: White Hot Star by W. Todd Kaneko

    Published: 12/31/2025

  7. 1423: Puzzle by Randall Mann

    Published: 12/30/2025

  8. 1422: Dear Delinquent by Ann Townsend

    Published: 12/29/2025

  9. 1421: My 1994 by Stephanie Burt

    Published: 12/26/2025

  10. 1420: Losing the Band by Ashley D. Escobar

    Published: 12/25/2025

  11. 1419: Ladies' Arm Wrestling Match at the Blue Moon Diner by Jenny Johnson

    Published: 12/24/2025

  12. 1418: Whitetail in the Rain Moving About by Melissa Ginsburg

    Published: 12/23/2025

  13. 1417: My Mother's Love by James Allen Hall

    Published: 12/22/2025

  14. Bonus Episode: Maggie Smith on This Old House Radio Hour

    Published: 12/20/2025

  15. 1416: Nursery by Kiki Petrosino

    Published: 12/19/2025

  16. 1415: Elephants Born Without Tusks by Alison C. Rollins

    Published: 12/18/2025

  17. 1414: This dark is the same dark as when you close by R.A. Villanueva

    Published: 12/17/2025

  18. 1413: On Proliferation by Cass Donish

    Published: 12/16/2025

  19. 1412: Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story) by Amorak Huey

    Published: 12/15/2025

  20. [encore] 1376: Laura, I Want You Pulling Your Hair Back by Natalie Dunn

    Published: 12/12/2025

1 / 82

Host Maggie Smith is your daily poetry companion. Poetry is one of the greatest tools we have to wield our own attention — to consider our own lives and the lives of others, to help us live creatively and compassionately, to use that attention to lean into wonder, and joy, and truth, and to find hope — to keep hoping. The Slowdown community knows that reflecting on a poem, every weekday, can connect us to our inner world and the world around us. Listen as you make your morning coffee, as you go on a walk in your neighborhood, as you pull away from the to-do list, as you resist the dismal, endless scroll to share five minutes of perspective through the lens of poetry, from poets old and new, well-loved and emerging onto the scene. Brought to you by American Public Media, in partnership with the Poetry Foundation.