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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

By: American Public Media
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 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 2025 Minnesota Public Radio Art Entertainment & Performing Arts
Episodes
  • 1370: Soot by Kaveh Akbar

    1370: Soot by Kaveh Akbar
    Oct 9 2025

    Today’s poem is Soot by Kaveh Akbar.


    The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “My friend, the poet Dana Levin, once said that my poems are “God Curious,” and I loved that description. Part of what I do in my poems is pose existential questions to myself, and think—and feel—my way into them. That’s not the same as answering them! Luckily, poems don’t require us to have answers.”


    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 mins
  • 1369: Six Hours Lost, Land Between the Lakes by Kathleen Driskell

    1369: Six Hours Lost, Land Between the Lakes by Kathleen Driskell
    Oct 8 2025

    Today’s poem is Six Hours Lost, Land Between the Lakes by Kathleen Driskell.


    The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Today’s poem tells a story about a tense encounter in the woods. I so admire how this poet unfolds the narrative, then leaves me sighing deeply at the end.”


    Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp
    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
  • 1368: Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic? by Andrew Grace

    1368: Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic? by Andrew Grace
    Oct 7 2025

    Today’s poem is Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic? by Andrew Grace.


    The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “The next time I’m asked if writing is therapy, I may just respond by reading today’s poem. I think it answers the question with succinct, heartbreaking beauty.”


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