Ellen Bass on the Power of Poetry

In this episode, Dr. Sara Kuburic discusses how to discover yourself, one decision at a time. Questions like: Who are you beyond your job, your relationships, and the roles you fill? Drawing from her book, It’s on Me: Accept Hard Truths, Discover Yourself, and Change Your Life, S ...  Show more

In this episode, David Epstein explores why doing more can leave us overwhelmed, and how the right constraints can help us focus and make meaningful progress. Drawing on his book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, David shares why unlimited freedom can be surprising ...  Show more

What pet names have you been called? What are the circumstances and stories behind these pet names?In this poem, a woman considers the pet names to give her female partner; “My beloved” isn’t very convenient when you’re dropping off dry cleaning. And what word to use when speakin ...  Show more

Marilyn Nelson is a storytelling poet who has taught poetry and contemplative practice to college students and West Point cadets. She brings a contemplative eye to ordinary goodness in the present and to complicated ancestries we’re all reckoning with now. And she imparts a spaci ...  Show more

Today, a poem with a poignant question to live: “...and are we not of interest to each other?” Carry Elizabeth Alexander’s reading of her poem “Ars Poetica #100: I Believe” with you — and hear Elizabeth read more of her poetry in the On Being episode, “Words That Shimmer.”Elizabe ...  Show more