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PODCAST

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Eliana Benavides

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

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All Episodes

6:00

1357: Country Night by Laura Newbern

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/22

Today’s poem is Country Night by Laura Newbern. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem touched me because it made me think of my grandmother. It made me think of her care, but also about the life she had after her marriage ended. I know her life didn’t look the way she’d expected it would. I wish it had been easier. Still, she could whistle like a songbird.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a

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6:04

1354: Checkout by Caroline Bird

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/17

Today’s poem is Checkout by Caroline Bird. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “I’m willing to bet that no one on their death bed says, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” No one, taking stock of their life in those final days and moments, is thinking about spreadsheets or profits or ROI - Return on Investment. I can imagine what I’ll be thinking about at the end of my life: my beloveds, and the beauty of this place I’ve called home, and the memories I

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6:29

1353: Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/16

Today’s poem is Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem invites us to look at ourselves at this moment of extreme, ongoing gun violence in America. And to think about our own responses, time after time after time.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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6:36

1352: Blue by Jodie Hollander

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/15

Today’s poem is Blue by Jodie Hollander.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem speaks to how we all see the world—and our lives—with completely unique eyes. With a vision colored by our own experiences.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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7:06

1350: Real Estate by Richard Siken

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/11

Today’s poem is Real Estate by Richard Siken. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem unpacks some of what happens when families change, because of death or divorce or other upheavals. I admire the way it looks not only at the variables—what must necessarily change—but also at the constants.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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7:12

1349: Sati by Vandana Khanna

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/10

Today’s poem is Sati by Vandana Khanna. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is a persona poem from the point of view of a Hindu goddess, Sati. The practice of a widow throwing herself on her husband’s funeral pyre is named after Sati, who, in this poem, gets to speak. I think you’ll be moved by what she has to say.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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6:09

1348: Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Shihab Nye

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/09

Today’s poem is Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Shihab Nye. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem speaks to how subjective gifts, like poems, can be. Sometimes all we need to do is see the gift through the giver’s eyes. We need to appreciate that person’s care and intention. Come to think of it, perspective is a gift all its own.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference:

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7:03

1347: Animal Prudence by Kathy Fagan

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/08

Today’s poem is Animal Prudence by Kathy Fagan. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is a favorite of mine for its associative leaps—the way it carries us from image to image, memory to memory. I admire the way it uses the language we encounter in our lives to make those leaps: road signs, the names of streets and flowers, the lists we find in our pockets.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a

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7:50

1346: The Difficult Countryside by John Gallaher

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/05

Today’s poem is The Difficult Countryside by John Gallaher. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Moving through the world with a personal soundtrack in my ears makes me feel somehow insulated from the world AND more a part of the world. Clouds, birds, buildings, people—I see all of them differently with my favorite songs as the backdrop.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference:

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6:45

1344: Cento Between the Ending and the End by Cameron...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/09/03

Today’s poem is Cento Between the Ending and the End by Cameron Awkward-Rich. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “In times that feel divisive and fragmented, today’s poem is a reminder of what we can do and BE together. It’s a reminder of the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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6:41

1338: Are you bringing fruits, plants, seeds, by...

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/26

Today’s poem is Are you bringing fruits, plants, seeds, by Karen Llagas. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem looks at the anxiety and the absurdity of America: How many people seem fixated on the dangers outside our borders without acknowledging the dangers within.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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7:06

1336: I Find Myself Defending Pigeons by Keith S. Wilson

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/22

Today’s poem is I Find Myself Defending Pigeons by Keith S. Wilson. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “One thing I love about poems is how they give us the opportunity to take our time, to dial in, to look and listen closely. Not everything screams to be noticed. Some things barely whisper! Or they might just squawk or coo now and then.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference:

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6:53

1335: Bonfire Opera by Danusha Laméris

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/21

Today’s poem is Bonfire Opera by Danusha Laméris. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Yes, I have new lines around my eyes and new glints of silver in my hair, but my body continues to surprise me in wonderful ways, too. It brings me a lot of pleasure—maybe even more pleasure than it did when I was in my teens, twenties, and even thirties. Because I appreciate it. And because I am less self-conscious. That is one of the gifts of aging: Becoming more yourself,

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6:45

1334: Étude by Amy Gerstler

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/20

Today’s poem is Étude by Amy Gerstler. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem is a celebration of sound, and also a celebration of our own power to interpret sound and make meaning—as poets do. Poems, like songs, are meant to live in the air. They are their own music.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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5:50

[encore] 351: Fish Heads by R.A. Villanueva

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/07

Today’s poem is Fish Heads by R.A. Villanueva. 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 March 30, 2020. In this episode, Tracy writes… “What is it about food that feeds us? Not just the calories and nutrients, but the deeper yearning certain foods quench?” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown

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5:50

[encore] 278: Thanks by W.S. Merwin

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/06

Today’s poem is Thanks by W.S. Merwin.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 18, 2019. In this episode, Tracy writes… “It takes a wise and gifted poet to create a panoramic portrait of life that allows guilt and anger and shame to occupy the very same space as gratitude. I believe the late W.S. Merwin was

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2:48

Maggie Smith is the New Host of The Slowdown

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/05

Today, we’re thrilled to share that the new host of The Slowdown is Maggie Smith. We’ll be back in your feeds with new episodes on August 18th. 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 was launched nearly seven years ago to find a haven of calm in the middle of

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6:11

[encore] 237: Workshop by Jacob Shores-Argüello

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/04

Today’s poem is Workshop by Jacob Shores-Argüello. 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 22, 2019. Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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7:17

[encore] 961: Nocturne by Oliver Baez Bendorf

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/08/01

Today’s poem is Nocturne by Oliver Baez Bendorf. 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 8, 2023. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “In young adulthood, long before children, jobs, home ownership, my evenings felt like a blank canvas of cultural and spiritual possibility. I

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6:31

[encore] 1107: Accessory to War by Kim Stafford

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily ·

2025/07/30

Today’s poem is Accessory to War by Kim Stafford. 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 30, 2024. 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

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