Poetry in America Featured Guests
Poetry in America believes that anyone can have a conversation about a poem. Here are some of the distinguished guests with whom we’ve filmed conversations so far.
The following is a full list (in alphabetical order) of those we’ve filmed so far for Poetry in America:
- 2018 National Student Poets
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Jonathan Adler
- Potter and Designer
- “This Your Home Now” by Mark Doty
- Elizabeth Alexander
- Poet
- “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
- Woody Allen
- Director and Actor
- “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams
- Matt Aucoin
- Composer and Conductor
- On Walt Whitman
- Mary Jo Bang
- Poet
- “The Applicant” by Sylvia Plath
- Shane Battier
- NBA player
- “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Daniel Berger-Jones
- Founder, Cambridge Historical Tours
- “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
- Reginald Dwayne Betts
- Poet and Memoirist
- “To Prisoners” by Gwendolyn Brooks
- Joe Biden
- Vice President of the United States
- “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
- Richard Blanco
- Poet
- “Looking for the Gulf Motel” by Richard Blanco
- Bono
- Singer-Songwriter
- “Kaddish” by Allen Ginsberg
- Boston Latin School
- Seniors
- “Steps” by Frank O’Hara
- Boston Pulse
- Student Poets
- “Water Devil” by Jamaal May
- Edythe and Eli Broad
- Broad Art Museum
- On Cy Twombly
- David Brooks
- Journalist
- “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden
- Brookline High School
- “The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot
- AP European Literature Class
- Lawrence Buell
- Powell M. Cabot Professor, Harvard
- On Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Kate Burton
- Actor (Scandal)
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky | “Poem” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Cambridge Street Upper School
- 7th+8th grade English Language Arts
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Campers at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Natural History Camp
- “The Gray Heron” by Galway Kinnell
- Rafael Campo
- Poet and Physician
- “This Is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams | “The Wound-Dresser” by Walt Whitman
- Kevin Carey
- Director of the Education Policy Program, The New America Foundation
- “Teaching English from an Old Composition Book” by Gary Soto
- Mary Chapin Carpenter
- Singer/Songwriter
- On “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Glenda Carpio
- Professor of English and African American Studies
- On Phillis Wheatley
- Marilyn Chin
- Poet
- “Urban Love Poem” by Marilyn Chin | “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- The City of London School
- Ben Bellak and 6th Form Boys
- “The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot
- Maurice Clarett
- NFL Player | Motivational Speaker
- “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” by James Wright
- Bill Clinton
- President of the United States
- “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
- Todd Colby
- Poet
- “Steps” by Frank O’Hara
- David Coleman
- President of the College Board
- “Birches” by Robert Frost
- Billy Collins
- Poet Laureate of the United States
- “You were wearing” by Kenneth Koch | “Undressing Emily Dickinson” by Billy Collins
- Jason Collins
- NBA Player
- “Tell all the truth but tell it slant –” by Emily Dickinson
- Connecticut Opportunity Project and Hartford’s Our Piece of the Pie
- Students
- “generations” by Lucille Clifton | “After the Alphabets” by W.S. Merwin | “Tar” by C.K. Williams
- Kelly Corrigan
- Writer
- “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke
- Katie Couric
- Journalist
- “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Ray Dalio
- Founder and CEO, Bridgewater Associates
- “The Fish” by Marianne Moore
- Terence Davies
- Director
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Christina Davis
- Poet
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Richard Dawkins
- Evolutionary Biologist
- “The Road not Taken” by Robert Frost
- Philip Deloria
- Scholar of Native American and Environmental History
- “Bear Fat” by Linda Hogan
- Duy Doan
- Poet
- “Dusting” by Rita Dove | “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
- Simon Doonan
- Writer, Fashion Commentator, and Television Personality
- “This Your Home Now” by Mark Doty
- Mark Doty
- Poet
- “This Your Home Now” by Mark Doty | “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Angela Duckworth
- Psychologist
- “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
- Scott Edwards
- Evolutionary Biologist
- Bird poems of Emily Dickinson
- Jordan Ellenburg
- Mathematician
- “Soonest Mended” by John Ashbery
- Rahm Emanuel
- Mayor of Chicago
- “America” by Walt Whitman
- Eve Ensler
- Playwright and Performer
- “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich
- James and Deborah Fallows
- Journalists | “American Futures” Project
- On Edgar Lee Masters
- Drew Faust
- President of Harvard University
- On Civil War Poetry
- Alan Filreis
- Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
- On Wallace Stevens
- Caitlin Flanagan
- Writer | Journalist
- “I Go Back to May 1937” by Sharon Olds
- Ned Friedman
- Director, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
- Bird poems of Emily Dickinson
- Peter Gallison
- Pellegrino University Professor, History of Science, Harvard University
- On William Carlos Williams
- Pau Gasol
- NBA Player
- “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Professor | Filmmaker
- On Paul Laurence Dunbar
- Olivia Gatwood
- Poet and Activist
- “2041” by Olivia Gatwood | “I shall forget you presently, my dear” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Frank Gehry
- Architect
- “Skyscraper” by Carl Sandburg
- Al Gore
- Vice President of the United States
- “Each and All” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Jorie Graham
- Poet
- “The Fish” by Marianne Moore
- Greenwich Country Day School
- 1st, 3rd, and 9th Grade
- “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams | “My Mother Enters the Workforce” by Rita Dove | “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Betty Halbreich
- Director of Solutions, Bergdorf Goodman
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
- Herbie Hancock
- Jazz Pianist
- “Harlem” by Langston Hughes | “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
- Harlem Academy
- 7th Grade Students
- “I Have this Way of Being” by Jamaal May
- Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy
- Harlem, NY
- “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
- Johnson Hartig
- Designer and Founder, Libertine
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
- Harvard University Center for the Environment
- Cambridge, MA
- On Emily Dickinson and Natural Disasters
- Harvard University Men’s Basketball Team
- Cambridge, MA
- “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Dr. Joshua M. Hauser
- Palliative Care Physician and Professor of Medicine
- “There are Birds Here,” by Jamaal May
- Hebrew University
- Center for Literary Studies
- “New York” by Marianne Moore
- Juan Felipe Herrera
- United States Poet Laureate
- “Kaddish” and “Hum Bom!” by Allen Ginsberg
- Edward Hirsch
- Poet
- “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Jane Hirshfield
- Poet
- “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams
- Linda Hogan
- Poet
- “Bear Fat” by Linda Hogan | “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Mady Holzer
- Poet and Educator
- “Looking for the Gulf Motel” by Richard Blanco
- Marie Howe
- Poet
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Susan Howe
- Poet
- On Wallace Stevens and Emily Dickinson
- Jill Johnson
- Dancer and Choreographer
- “I Cannot Dance Opon My Toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Bill T. Jones
- Director and choreographer
- “This Your Home Now” by Mark Doty
- Edyson Julio
- Writer and Educator
- “Carrying a Ladder” by Kay Ryan
- Elena Kagan
- Associate Justice, Supreme Court
- “Poetry” by Marianne Moore | “The Wound-Dresser” by Walt Whitman
- Karen Karbiener
- Master Teacher of Liberal Studies Program, NYU
- On Walt Whitman
- Robin Kelsey
- Art Historian and Dean of Arts and Humanities, Harvard University
- “Rabbits and Fire” by Alberto Rios
- John Kerry
- Secretary of State and United States Senator
- “You and I Are Disappearing” by Yusef Komunyakaa
- Lord Mervyn King
- Director of the Bank of England
- “The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot
- Joel Klein
- Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education
- “The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe
- Randy Komisar
- Venture Capitalist | Author
- On Basho
- Yusef Komunyakaa
- Poet
- “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa
- David Kravitz
- Opera Singer
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Tony Kushner
- Playwright
- “The Conflict of Convictions” by Herman Melville
- Yang Lan
- Journalist and Media Entrepreneur
- “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Li-Young Lee
- Poet
- “To Prisoners” by Gwendolyn Brooks
- Greg LeMond
- Tour de France Champion
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Al Lewis
- Opera Singer
- “The Wound-Dresser” by Walt Whitman
- John Lithgow
- Actor
- “Ave Maria” by Frank O’Hara
- Yo Yo Ma
- Cellist
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Anthony Malkin
- Chairman and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust
- “The Empire State Lights” by MacKinlay Kantor
- Chris Massenberg
- Hip Hop Scholar and Poet
- On Lyricism and Hip Hop
- John McCain
- United States Senator
- “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service
- Ryan McCittrick
- Dramaturg, The American Repertory Theater
- On Performance and Poetry
- Laura McPhee
- Photographer
- “The Gray Heron” by Galway Kinnell | “Rabbits and Fire” by Alberto Rios
- Thomas Menino
- Mayor of Boston (deceased)
- “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Martha Minow
- Dean of Harvard Law School
- “The Soldier’s Faith” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. | “Rituals for Reading” by William Stafford
- Andrea Mitchell
- Journalist
- “July in Washington” by Robert Lowell
- Eileen Myles
- Poet
- “the mother’s story” by Lucille Clifton | “What Tree Am I Waiting” – “Late March” – “That Country” by Eileen Myles
- Nantucket High School Students
- “Nantucket” by William Carlos Williams
- Nasir Jones (Nas)
- Rapper | Songwriter | Producer
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman | “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” by Nas
- Nathanael Greene Elementary School of Chicago and the Birds in My Neighborhood Project
- On James Wright haiku
- The New School Poetry Students
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
- Cynthia Nixon
- Actress
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- University of North Carolina Women’s Soccer Team
- “Glad” by Coleman Barks
- Sharon Olds
- Poet
- “The Language of the Brag”
- Shaquille O’Neal
- NBA Basketball Player
- “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Gregory Orr
- Poet
- “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Jay Parini
- Poet | Biographer | Screenwriter
- “Mending Wall” and “Out, Out!” by Robert Frost
- Parsons School of Design Students
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
- Diane Paulus
- Artistic Director, The American Repertory Theater
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Don Pease
- Writer, Scholar, and Founder and Director, Futures of American Studies Institute
- “If I Ran the Zoo” by Dr. Seuss
- Walter Peyton College Prep Students
- Chicago, IL
- “Each body has its art” by Gwendolyn Brooks
- Jane Pickering
- Director of the Harvard Museum of Natural History
- “He Digesteth Harde Yron” and “Silence” by Marianne Moore
- Steven Pinker
- Cognitive Psychologist and Linguist
- “This Your Home Now” by Mark Doty
- Robert Pinsky
- Poet Laureate of the United States
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky |“Nature Study” by Robert Pinsky | “A Plague of Dead Sharks” by Alan Dugan | “A Jellyfish” by Marianne Moore
- Robert Polito
- Poet
- “Skyscraper” by Carl Sandburg | On Chicago Poets
- Michael Pollan
- Writer
- “Hasty Pudding” by Joel Barlow
- Samantha Power
- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden
- Alicia Jo Rabins
- Poet and Musician
- On Kenneth Koch and Leonard Cohen
- Adrienne Raphel
- Poet
- “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
- Lil Buck Riley
- Dancer
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Laura Rittenhouse
- Author
- “Poetry” by Marianne Moore
- David Rubenstein
- CEO, The Carlyle Group
- “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
- Peter Sacks
- Artist, Poet
- “Musee des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden
- Sonia Sanchez
- Poet
- “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
- Jason Saul
- Founder, “Mission Measurement”
- “Aimless Love” by Billy Collins
- Daniel Schrag
- Geologist and Environmental Scientist
- “Cascadilla Falls” and “Mountain Talk” by A.R. Ammons | “The Poem that Took the Place of a Mountain” by Wallace Stevens
- Shiza Shahid
- Founder and CEO, The Malala Fund
- “Carrying a Ladder” by Kay Ryan
- Evie Shockley
- Poet
- “you can say that again, billie” by Evie Shockley
- Russell Simmons
- Entrepreneur and Producer
- “N.Y. State of Mind” by Nas
- Anne-Marie Slaughter
- President and CEO, The New America Foundation
- “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson
- Anna Deveare Smith
- Actress, Playwright, Professor
- “To Prisoners” by Gwendolyn Brooks
- Clint Smith
- Poet and Educator
- On Countee Cullen
- Rosanne Somerson
- President, Rhode Island School of Design
- “The Emperor of Ice Cream” by Wallace Stevens
- DJ Spooky
- Composer, Multimedia Artist, and Writer
- “Cascadilla Falls” by A.R. Ammons
- Tom Steyer
- Environmentalist and Philanthropist
- “State of the Planet” by Robert Hass
- Steve Stoute
- Record Executive and Entrepreneur
- “N.Y. State of Mind” by Nas
- Lawrence Summers
- Secretary of the Treasury
- “The One Hoss Shay” by Oliver Wendell Holmes
- Richard Summers
- Psychiatrist and Author
- “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
- Lisa Sun
- Founder and CEO, Project Gravitas
- “The Red Dress” by Dorothy Parker
- Amber Tamblyn
- Actress and Poet
- “Words” by Anne Sexton
- Julie Taymor
- Director
- “You and I Are Disappearing” by Yusef Komunyakaa
- Teachers as Scholars
- Boston, MA
- On Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
- Salamishah Tillett
- Scholar and Activist
- “N.Y. State of Mind” by Nas
- Davone Tines
- Opera Singer
- “Juke Box Love Song” by Langston Hughes | “The Wound-Dresser” by Walt Whitman
- Rob Velella
- Scholar and Performer
- “The Conqueror Worm” by Edgar Allan Poe
- Joel Wagner
- Naturalist
- “The Gray Heron” by Galway Kinnell
- Stefan Weitz
- Director of Search, Microsoft
- On Poetry and the Internet
- Stuart Weitzman
- Shoe Designer and Entrepreneur
- “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
- Moshe Waldoks
- Rabbi, Temple Beth Zion
- “Kaddish” by Allen Ginsberg
- Jonathan Walton
- Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Harvard | Pusey Minister, Memorial Church
- “The Day of Doom” by Michael Wigglesworth
- Andrew Warren
- Associate Professor of the Humanities, Harvard
- On Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Randi Weingarten
- President of the American Federation of Teachers
- “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
- Leon Wieseltier
- Author | Critic | Editor
- “The Continuous Life” by Mark Strand
- E.O. Wilson
- Biologist
- “The Gray Heron” by Galway Kinnell
- Damian Woetzel
- Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet
- “I cannot dance opon my toes” by Emily Dickinson
- Alfre Woodard
- Actor
- On Gwendolyn Brooks
- Zhang Xin
- Real Estate Developer
- “Skyscraper” by Carl Sandburg
- Natalia Zukerman
- Singer/Songwriter
- “Four Sonnets” by Edna St. Vincent Millay