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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily — Arts
The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

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.

Copyright: © Copyright 2026 Minnesota Public Radio

Latest Episodes:

[encore] 617: Places With Terrible Wi-Fi by J. Estanislao Lopez Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is Places With Terrible Wi-Fi by J. Estanislao Lopez.

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 23, 2022.

In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Hiding has gotten so much harder these days. Growing up, I could hide by the creek or in the branches of a shrub. In high school, I could hide behind the dumpsters, or in the creek, or by the tennis courts. In college, I could hide by Greenlake or by Gasworks Park, or in the arboretum.But now, there is a little machine in my pocket that is always on. And you can always find me. How can we ever hide if we attach ourselves to these little machines that are hellbent on finding us? Today’s poem ponders what it is to be without the internet, and what it means to not have access to the constant buzz of the world. What comes is a reminder of what’s sacred.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

[encore] 710: Acknowledgments by Nkosi Nkululeko Jun 30, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is Acknowledgments by Nkosi Nkululeko.

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 July 4, 2022.

In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Today’s poem is an exploration of shouting out ourselves and our community. I love how this poem makes room for complicated praise.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

[encore] 463: To be of use by Marge Piercy Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is To be of use by Marge Piercy.

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 September 2, 2020.

In this episode, Tracy writes… “I am alive in 21st Century America. I have a voice. Let it serve as a corrective to the violent and reckless power that stands against the force of love.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

[encore] 403: The Book of Genesis by Morgan Parker Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

Today’s poem is The Book of Genesis by Morgan Parker.

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 June 10, 2020.

In this episode, Tracy writes…”Today's poem is by Morgan Parker. Parker's poems fill me with joy for the ways they ponder and bear witness to the experience of blackness.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

[encore] 387: Stop Looking At My Last Name Like That by Michael Torres Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

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

[encore] 448: Telephone of the Wind by Eddie Kim Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

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

[encore] 377: Moon Pull by Carlina Duan Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

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

[encore] 871: Flesh (“You in your ecstasy of coffee”) by Deborah Landau Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

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

[encore] 1104: Black Book of Creation by Shanta Lee Gander Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

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

1332: Slow Take: An Evening of Poetry and Reflection with The Slowdown and The Porch Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

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: https://youtu.be/NfNliG95AiE

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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