The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
American Public Media
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.
Location:
United States
Genres:
Arts & Culture Podcasts
Networks:
American Public Media
Description:
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.
Language:
English
Episodes
[encore] 387: Stop Looking At My Last Name Like That by Michael Torres
6/25/2025
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 their problem, not mine. But it’s hard to leave it at that. It’s hard to accept that sometimes my race causes another person to jump to conclusions about what I know or have or deserve… and what I don’t.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:34
[encore] 448: Telephone of the Wind by Eddie Kim
6/24/2025
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 cross were monumental.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:48
[encore] 377: Moon Pull by Carlina Duan
6/23/2025
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 poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:23
[encore] 871: Flesh (“You in your ecstasy of coffee”) by Deborah Landau
6/20/2025
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 I can into its lushness. I am making new memories with family and friends that involve nights of alfresco dining, remote beaches, mountain ranges, and sun-drenched cocktail parties. Summer is the season that beckons most my senses; all that fruit bursting its wild colors: strawberries, apricots, and peaches. Whereas winter feels interminable, I am most aware summer’s bounty is numbered, finite.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:07:03
[encore] 1104: Black Book of Creation by Shanta Lee Gander
6/19/2025
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 is a kind of magic and time travel, that listening to the soil and all the voices within is a monumental way into both history, and our future.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:07:11
1332: Slow Take: An Evening of Poetry and Reflection with The Slowdown and The Porch
6/18/2025
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 reflection can shape our experience of the everyday. How do we collage our own pasts and our presents, alongside the many voices that we engage with?
This event was produced in collaboration with The Porch and was recorded live at Analog at Hutton Hotel. The full video is available on The Slowdown’s YouTube channel.
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:01:19:26
[encore] 969: Us by Zaffar Kunial
6/17/2025
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 visible signs of welcome everywhere. What matters in life is that space between us, formulated by philosopher Martin Buber as I-Thou. It’s a sacred space of shared existence where we feel each other’s uniqueness and feel our common humanity. Today’s attentive poem fosters a consciousness in which we view our lives as more in relation to each other, as close as two small letters.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:06:20
[encore] 1152: from "The Crystal Text" by Clark Coolidge
6/16/2025
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 and the relational world we share with others. Magically, we make plain what we feel and observe to convey what some might call a soul. I often describe poetry as a mirror that reflects back our interiority. But today’s poem wonders if such perspective is even possible, given that we barely know who we are — making the enterprise of connection through art deeply indeterminate and delicate.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:06:18
[encore] 684: I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won't by Traci Brimhall
6/13/2025
Today’s poem is I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won't by Traci Brimhall.
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 27 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I am often laughing with my husband about our own idiosyncrasies. The part of us that only we know, the things that could never be said to anyone else but each other. I love that private language. That lexicon. My private moments, his private moments. I have it with good friends too, the things that don’t require explanation. That’s the real history of us.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:06:05
[encore] 531: anti-immigration by Evie Shockley
6/12/2025
Today’s poem is anti-immigration by Evie Shockley.
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 October 26 2021.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s complex poem, we see what hateful stereotypes might do. Poet Evie Shockley reimagines what would happen if everyone packed up and left this country, took with them every stereotype, every oversimplified image, and left.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:45
[encore] 676: Last Sundays at Bootleggers by Carlos Andrés Gómez
6/11/2025
Today’s poem is Last Sundays at Bootleggers by Carlos Andrés Gómez.
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 17 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Sometimes when I am nostalgic for my past, I’m not actually nostalgic for my youth, but for what I thought was my wisdom, for what I thought was my beautiful righteousness. I knew so much about life. I knew the problems with the world, and I even knew some of the answers. I knew that when you were too down to want to leave the apartment, you should actually leave the apartment, or blast music as loud as you can to change your brain waves.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:15
[encore] 516: In Response to Feeling Alone by t. liem
6/10/2025
Today’s poem is In Response to Feeling Alone by t. liem.
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 October 5 2021.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “I spend a lot of time alone during the days. Though the dog would like to assure you I am not alone. And the cat sleeping in the upstairs bathroom would also beg to differ. Still, many of my days are spent in my office, or on the back porch, or at the kitchen table alone with my thoughts.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:36
[encore] 603: Sligo Abbey by Rebecca Lindenberg
6/9/2025
Today’s poem is Sligo Abbey by Rebecca Lindenberg.
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 3 2022.
In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “In today’s gorgeous poem of honoring, we see how the speaker transforms the story of her mother’s illness into something that feels like an offering. Sometimes the job of the poet is simply to listen, and sometimes it is to become the unburied voice.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:30
[encore] 373: Tracing the Horse by Diana Marie Delgado
6/6/2025
Today’s poem is Tracing the Horse by Diana Marie Delgado.
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 April 29, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “I turn to words constantly—to help me clarify a thought, to dig deeper into an idea, to keep something from slipping away and being forgotten. And yet, there is so much that I love—and so much that I remember—that doesn’t need words. Images, sounds, scents, feelings that dawned instantly and imparted something different from sense but indelible nonetheless. I could read today's poem over and over, dwelling in the states of awareness and sensation it invokes.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:23
[encore] 459: The Feeling by Ari Banias
6/5/2025
Today’s poem is The Feeling by Ari Banias.
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 27, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “We are living through what I want to believe is an awakening. Many people who have never given an injustice like racism much thought are beginning to think about it. Now what? What are those who are awake to this reality willing to give up, change, renounce, replace in order to begin righting age-old wrongs? And what’s next?”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:18
[encore] 303: Telling My Father by James Crews
6/4/2025
Today’s poem is Telling My Father by James Crews.
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 October 19, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Sometimes love looks like small things. Gentle gestures rich with import. We give such things to one another at times without even realizing it. Tiny soul-saving acts.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:15
[encore] 9: Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar
6/3/2025
Today’s poem is Portrait of the Alcoholic with Withdrawal by Kaveh Akbar.
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 December 6, 2018.
In this episode, Tracy writes, “One day I was a drinker; the next, I was an ex-drinker. A braver person would say: one day I came to understand I am an alcoholic. I consider myself lucky. The best way I can describe the change is to call it an unburdening.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:05
[encore] 311: Listen, by Barbara Crooker
6/2/2025
Today’s poem is Listen, by Barbara Crooker.
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 October 19, 2020.
In this episode, Tracy writes… “Today’s poem offers up a message of calm and gratitude. It's one I want to learn to offer myself—especially on days when peace feels far-away. Are there people out there who live always with that gratitude? That sense of the world with its simple gifts being all the plenty they seek? I’d like to be one of them for more than just an hour at a time.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:05:23
[encore] 821: I Have No Idea What's Going to Happen by Justin Marks
5/30/2025
Today’s poem is I Have No Idea What's Going to Happen by Justin Marks.
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 February 24, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s understated poem shows us how impromptu encounters with art, those that are unforeseen, disruptive in the best sense, have us dwell outside time and exist within the spirit of the maker, then return us to our days with a new purchase on our lives.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:06:43
[encore] 1113: Egrets, While War by Tishani Doshi
5/29/2025
Today’s poem is Egrets, While War by Tishani Doshi.
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 8, 2024. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s compelling poem honors the ancient and indomitable essence of human beings who continue on even in the face of tragedy, who crossover into the perfect fullness of their truth and emotions.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Duration:00:06:24