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Poetry Off the Shelf

Poetry Foundation

Producer Helena de Groot talks to poets about language, dreams, love and loss, identity, connection, anger, discomfort, the creative process, the state of the world and the world of the soul. Hard conversations are welcomed—laughter is, too.

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23 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 50 min
English

Episodes 23

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Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

#585
September 8 · 1 hr 4 min
A Little Angry at God
Marcus Wicker on hip hop, aliens, and real estate.
#585
August 25 · 52 min
Tempting Fate
Emily Skaja on cemeteries, pregnancy, and gardening the future.
#583
August 11 · 33 min
On My Way to God
Fanny Howe (rerun) on the sky, visions, and the beam that killed the landlord, plus an excerpt from her posthumous collection.
#582
July 28 · 52 min
Until the Last Second
Maya C. Popa on the monkey at the pet store, beauty, and waking up to the world as it is.
#581
July 14 · 1 hr 11 min
My Old Self
Laura Kolbe on hormones, sainthood, and the trouble with change.
#580
July 1 · 45 min
We Hold These Truths
America at 250.
#579
June 16 · 49 min
An Act of Mercy
Serena Chopra on prairie grass, manic rage, and the memories in her ears.
#580
June 2 · 46 min
Don’t Make Any Noise
J Brooke on testosterone, incinerators, and the mobster at home.
#580
May 19 · 40 min
The Act of Touching
Chris Crowder on muscles, privacy, and being Captain Safety.
#580
April 28 · 55 min
Hereafter Parties
Arielle Hebert on Florida, driving with the windows down, and tallying up the dead.
#578
April 14 · 49 min
A Handful of Dust
Iain McGilchrist on Rip Van Winkle, the poet's brain, and the real word for sunshine.
#578
March 31 · 57 min
The Wrong Details
D.S. Waldman on the left hand, losing his brother, and introducing the most wounded part.
#576
March 17 · 53 min
The Character in the Corner
Sony Ton-Aimé on radical joy, pig blood, and the ancestors we forgot.
#576
March 3 · 58 min
Those Bodies We Borrowed
Monica Ferrell on robot apples, Playboy bunnies, and botox vs. crow's feet.
#576
February 17 · 56 min
What It Takes to Be a Man
James Ciano on sports, masculinity, and the desperation to belong.
#578
February 3 · 48 min
How to Survive on an Island
Stephanie Niu on being lost at sea, crab bridges, and finding the heart of the world.
#571
January 20 · 43 min
The Multiverse of Me
Diamond Forde on poison, fan fiction, and writing the Great American Vampire Novel.
#571
Dec 30, 2025 · 36 min
Poets We Lost in 2025
Remembering Ellen Bryant Voigt, plus a few words on mortality by Andrea Gibson.
#571
Dec 16, 2025 · 56 min
An Old Face
Amanda Quaid on cancer, being bad in New York, and erotic hands.
#571
Dec 2, 2025 · 45 min
An Impossible Wish
Tracy K. Smith on her Hello Kitty notebook, automatic writing, and the afterlife.

Showing 1–20 of 23 episodes