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Each time you tune in to The Slowdown®, you make space for a moment of poetry and pause, as well as an opportunity for reflection with host Major Jackson. During this season of giving and gratitude, we’re reminded of why our community of listeners makes this public media show a part of their daily lives. Many listeners have already stepped up and made a gift to support the show.  


Celebrate this season of giving

Raising poetry to a more visible and influential position in American culture.


Produced in partnership with the Poetry Foundation

Thank you for making this public media podcast a part of your life, every weekday.


Marking 1,000 episodes of The Slowdown

Announcements

1016: In the Seam of Life

Today’s poem is In the Seam of Life by Rachel Galvin.


Today’s poem is In the Seam of Life by Rachel Galvin. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “A recent YouTube search for something else led me to an how-to video on land transference and group deeds . . . in the virtual world known as Second Life. Turns out, one can purchase everything from biscuits for their avatar dog, to a virtual silver-studded leather jacket, to a renovated kitchen for one’s imaginary urban loft. The virtual world turned twenty years old this summer, enough time for users to program a free market parallel to our own. Frankly, I’m struggling with the realities of our offline economy, and lately, the seemingly insurmountable issues we face IRL: war, political discord, mass shootings. But that’s just the thing with roleplaying communities: they grant reprieve from our very human and very startling challenges. They permit entry into worlds where we can pursue an existence much different than our current reality, with all of its missed opportunities and deferred dreams. What we cannot have in this life—say, peace—we can render in another.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp 

The Slowdown

1015: Death Letter #2

Today’s poem is Death Letter #2 by Sean Thomas Dougherty.


Today’s poem is Death Letter #2 by Sean Thomas Dougherty. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “We are lucky to hear in a poem one piece of wisdom to carry into our day.  Today's poem yields so many, spoken from the protective spirit and love of a father and husband. It is a poem that is relentless in its simple truths, and thus, life-affirming at every turn.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp 

1014: Date

Today’s poem is Date by Taneum Bambrick.


Today’s poem is Date by Taneum Bambrick. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “There’s nothing wrong with being attracted to people, but there is something wrong with acting on that attraction in a way that reduces them. Today’s poem invokes that captive feeling, and asks what it leaves just under the surface.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

The Slowdown

Latest Episode

Recent Episodes

1016: In the Seam of Life

1015: Death Letter #2

1014: Date

Announcements

Celebrate this season of giving

Produced in partnership with the Poetry Foundation

Marking 1,000 episodes of The Slowdown

Other APM Podcasts

Truth Be Told

Don't Ask Tig

The Splendid Table

The Slowdown

Latest Episode

Recent Episodes

1016: In the Seam of Life

1015: Death Letter #2

1014: Date

Get a poem handpicked by Major Jackson every weekday. The email includes an abridged version of Major’s introduction.

Announcements

Celebrate this season of giving

Produced in partnership with the Poetry Foundation

Marking 1,000 episodes of The Slowdown

Other APM Podcasts

Truth Be Told

Don't Ask Tig

The Splendid Table