The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
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.
Episodes
Today’s poem is Minneapolipstick by Rachel McKibbens. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. 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 21, 2020.
In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “Sometimes a dance party is the only means of conflict resolution in my house.]”
Today’s poem is Leaving Tulsa by Jennifer Elise Foerster. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. 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, 2020.
In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “History is a worn path. Deep ruts eaten into Earth make up a road. But there are a...
Today’s poem is Untitled by Sesshu Foster. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. 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 12, 2019.
In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “Sometimes, I return to memories of my past and feel as though I'm peering in upon strangers. And ...
Today’s poem is Waiting for Happiness by Nomi Stone. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. 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 24, 2019.
In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “It's a good thing to have a dog, someone who cares about you, someone who shares t...
Today’s poem is Wake Up by Carl Phillips. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. 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 January 24, 2020.
In this episode, former host Tracy K. Smith writes… “That's how it feels sometimes listening to news of our daily catastrophes, like all of us, no ...
Today’s poem is Sonnet for Ochún by Leslie Sainz.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on January 19, 2023.
In this episode, Major writes… “In today’s poem, I hear a shared melancholy, a world-weariness where the edges of lif...
Today’s poem is Worry (the Dybbuk) by Anthony Immergluck.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 27, 2023.
In this episode, Major writes… “After living through all manner of personal and communal tribulations, I’ve com...
Today’s poem is Who Among You Knows the Essence of Garlic? by Garrett Hongo.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on July 6, 2023.
In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem exemplifies the kind of deep historical and senso...
Today’s poem is Six for Gold by Kate Hanson Foster.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 4, 2023.
In this episode, Major writes… “Confession: As a young parent, when my children barraged me with questions, so many tim...
Today’s poem is Some Madness There by Charlotte Pence.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. We're currently taking a break and will be back soon with new episodes. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on March 31, 2023.
In this episode, Major writes… “When I arrived in Eugene, Oregon after an arduous yet stunning road trip of camping...
Today’s poem is The Party is Downstairs by Didi Jackson.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem honors the family dog whose imperfections are all the more reason to love. The Slowdown was more than a labor of love. Each episode was an invitation to dream how we might come to love our imperfect world.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Ev...
Today’s poem is Playback by Lauren Camp.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “I used to believe great art emerged from intense passion, a committed discipline driven by a purity of purpose. Of late, I use the word hunger as a measure of art, as an aesthetic value. Hunger as that inexplicable quality that conveys the artist’s works as their unique form of living, how they breathe wh...
Today’s poem is Mantle by Kevin Young.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s minimalist poem makes a poignant observation about the images of those who silently populate our homes, offices, museums, and walls. Their presence is our eventual destination.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.co...
Today’s poem is Forge by Ethel Rackin.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem reminds me, in the midst of rapid changes and the assault on freedoms, that we must find ways to protect our health and each other, to harness our capacity for joy, to shore up our hearts, minds, and bodies.”
Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation ma...
Today’s poem is Gertrude: In the Rooms by Kate Daniels.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual.
In this episode, Major writes… “Given the challenges we face on the daily, it is human for us to seek out those who seem to have it figured out, be they mentors or people who we think of in the face of some crisis. When faced with any crucial decision, my friend Salvatore frequently utters, ‘What would such and such ...
Today’s episode was recorded live onstage at The Crawford in Pasadena, in partnership with our friends at LAist. Listen to hear conversation, poems, and some fun and games with our host Major Jackson and our guests Pádraig ÓTuama, Samiya Bashir, and Jason Schneiderman.
The full episode transcript is available on our website at slowdownshow.org.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. Celebrate the power of poem...
Today’s poem is Flame by C.D. Wright.
Last week, our team attended the 2025 AWP Conference in Los Angeles. AWP is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs — the conference is an annual moment to gather together colleagues across the writer world. This week’s episodes include audio we recorded onsite, bringing together many voices, Slowdown style.
Today’s poem catalogs the chaos of disaster, forming a portr...
Today’s poem is Why I Write Poetry by Major Jackson.
In this episode, Major shares an important announcement.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
Today’s poem is The Ways of Remembering Women by Lynne Thompson.
Last week, our team attended the 2025 AWP Conference in Los Angeles. AWP is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs — the conference is an annual moment to gather together colleagues across the writer world. This week’s episodes include audio we recorded onsite, bringing together many voices, Slowdown style.
Today’s poem, by Los Angeles’ mos...
Today’s poem is [as freedom is a breakfastfood] by E.E. Cummings.
Last week, our team attended the 2025 AWP Conference in Los Angeles. AWP is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs — the conference is an annual moment to gather together colleagues across the writer world. This week’s episodes include audio we recorded onsite, bringing together many voices, Slowdown style. Today’s poem explores our subjectivity...
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