In the November 2022 issue of The Writer’s Chronicle, poet and journalist Kristina Andersson Bicher discussed Poetry in America’s progress expanding access to high quality humanities education over the past decade.
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On April 21st, 2022, Cornell Chronicle’s David Nutt interviewed Professor of English Roger Gilbert about the special significance of A.R. Ammons’ poem “Cascadilla Falls” on Cornell’s campus.
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On April 19th, 2022, in honor of National Poetry Month, Anne Lawrence Guyon interviewed Elisa New for Brandeis Alumni Stories. The online piece, “To Be Nobody But Herself,” celebrates New’s accomplishments and chronicles how her undergraduate experience at Brandeis has informed her career as a humanist.
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T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland begins: “April is the cruelest month.” In 1996, the American Academy of Poets declared the very same cruel April National Poetry Month, with a winking …
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LitHub’s “Virtual Book Channel.” Every week, in conjunction with the release of our new episode, LitHub has hosted an exclusive clip on their website and sent a brief description of the week’s episode to their LitHub Daily newsletter subscribers.
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“The Literary Life.” Kaplan, the longtime owner of independent bookstores Books & Books and co-founder of the acclaimed Miami Book Fair, focused his questions on their experience bringing Blanco’s poem “Looking for The Gulf Motel” to the screen.
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On February 11th, Elisa New & two-time Poetry in America guest Donna Lynne Champlin were interviewed on Simon Applebaum’s online radio program “Tomorrow Will Be Televised.” When discussing the difference between poetry and theater, Champlin said: “Poetry is everywhere. Poetry is a haiku on the subway, it’s a lyric to your favorite song, it’s a monologue, it’s just words put in a certain way that will inspire a certain feeling … the feeling that poetry is not easy to understand couldn’t be further from the truth.”
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On February 18th, 2022, Erik Pedersen featured Poetry in America in The Orange County Register’s “Books” section. Pedersen interviewed Elisa New on the challenges and delights of hosting and directing Poetry in America.
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On February 19th, 2022, Erik Pedersen featured Poetry in America in The Los Angeles Daily News’s popular newsletter “Book Pages.” While channel surfing, Pedersen and his wife watched our episode on Walt Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” and found themselves hooked. Recommending the series to his readers, Pederson described it as: “smart, affecting and visually interesting, [and] packed with emotion, drama, music, history and more.”
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On Wednesday, January 19th, Poetry in America host Elisa New was interviewed by Steve Goldstein for KJZZ (NPR Phoenix). Goldstein and New discuss what the broad term “humanities” means, and how that relates to Professor New’s mission leading the new Center for the Public Humanities at Arizona State University (ASU).
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On Friday, January 21st, 2022, Poetry in America host Elisa New was interviewed for The Arts Fuse. Speaking to Robert Israel, Professor New noted the importance of “the immersive aspect of poetry itself” in driving viewers to the show.
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On Friday, January 21st, Poetry in America was featured as the Photo of the Day by Publishers Weekly Daily. Their chosen photo, in honor of the release of our third season, featured poet Linda Hogan, Writer in Residence for the Chickasaw Nation, who discusses her work “Bear Fat” with Professor Elisa New and others in a forthcoming episode.
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On January 21st, Poetry in America was featured in The Washington Post Book World Newsletter. Ron Charles described Walt Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser,” the subject of our season premier, as “a poem that shatters all romantic visions of war.”
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On July 8th 2021, Steven Mintz, a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote an opinion piece for Inside Higher Ed on more effective ways to narrow the preparation gap between talented college-bound students.
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On July 13th, 2021, Andrew Yawn published an article on the experience of students at McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who enrolled in Poetry In America: The City from Whitman to Hip Hop last Fall via Arizona State University.
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Poetry in America host Elisa New joined Al Filreis’s Poem Talk podcast on May 14th. New joined guests Jane Malcolm and Sophia DuRose to discuss Edna St. Vincent Millay’s …
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Last month, on February 19th, 2021, The New York Times highlighted the work we’ve been doing with our partners at the National Educational Equity Lab in a front-page article by Erica L. Green, “A Program Inspires Ivy League Dreams in Disadvantaged Teens.”
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“The aspiration to mastery leaves room for a lot of anxiety. Many readers hear a kind of hysteria in the poem, with its rhythm revving up as it ruminates …
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On July 10, 2020, Poetry in America was featured in The Paris Review’s weekly round-up of staff picks. Alongside the work of novelists Marie NDiaye and Halle Butler, essayist Moyra Davey, and jazz label Pi Recordings, The Paris Review staff spotlights Poetry in America’s season 2 episode on Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “You and I Are Disappearing.”
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On June 12th, 2020, Forbes wrote about Poetry in America Live event hosted by the Sheen Center, a continuation of the Finishing the Hat episode, and showcased the series more generally. The article highlights the work of the Sheen Center, the accomplishments of the live event’s guests (singer & actor Melissa Errico, musical director Tedd Firth, and writer Adam Gopnik), the vitality of the series, and the specific contents of the live event.
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On June 11th, 2020, The New York Times featured Poetry in America’s live ‘Finishing the Hat’ event on their listing of livestreams to watch. They noted the live events mixture of discussion and performance as well as the variety and quality of guests.
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On May 30th, 2020, Psychology Today featured a blog post on Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem” and the current protests, referencing (and encouraging readers to watch) our Season 1 episode on the poem. How do we deal with suffering? Can poetry provide us comfort? Can it help us move forward?
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On May 29th, 2020, LitHub featured Poetry in America’s tie-in Whitman crossword puzzle. PIA guest (and author, poet & puzzler) Adrienne Raphel’s promotional Whitman crossword was discussed with consideration to Poetry in America’s balancing act between its broader appeals and desire to attract poetry nerds.
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On May 20th, 2020, Pitchfork announced Nas’ second appearance on Poetry in America and shared two clips of him discussing Whitman’s enduring influence on the American Canon.
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On May 5th, 2020, Playbill featured Poetry in America’s episode on Sondheim’s “Finishing The Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George in their film and tv news. The article discusses both the aim of the show (to analyze how Sondheim works at the intersection of lyric and sound) and the very real Broadway creds of the guests.
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On April, 24th 2020, WBUR interviewed journalist Katie Couric about her appearance on Poetry in America. Couric discussed the pertinence of Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” to her own life, to our current moment, and all people dealing with grief.
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On April 22, 2020, Big Think President Peter Hopkin’s moderated a live YouTube discussion with PIA Host Professor Elisa New.
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On April 10th, 2020, The Washington Post Book Club Newsletter, in its series of reviews and recommendations from critic Ron Charles featured Poetry in America. The article notes the great variety of guests on the show, the close readings of individual poems, and the accompanying educational materials.
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On February 13th, 2020, Broadway World wrote an article announcing the airing of Season 2 of Poetry in America. The piece highlights how the show promotes the universal appeal …
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On November 8th, 2018, Poetry in America host Professor Elisa New was interviewed on Montana Public Radio discussing the mission of the show and the state of the poetry.
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On August 27th, 2018, in a brief obituary of Senator McCain, Micah Mattix of The Weekly Standard discussed the Senator’s interview with Poetry in America on the Robert Service poem that he famously memorized while a prisoner of war.
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On August 20th, 2018, The Atlantic featured Poetry in America in an article on the improving fortunes of Poetry in popular culture following an NEA study, showing a significant increase in the readership of Poetry (including a two-fold rise for those 18-24). The article attributed this uptick to the interchange between poetry and other mediums (in the case of Poetry in America documentary filmmaking).
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On June 20th, 2018, Poetry in America host Professor Elisa New appeared on the podcast Conversations with Tyler (said Tyler being Tyler Cowen: New York Times and Bloomberg columnist, …
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On April 25th, 2018, The Boston Globe discussed Poetry in America in its “TV Critics Corner.” In the article are topics including the state of poetry (Rupi Kaur, the dream frontier, dismissive college freshmen), the case (for poetry) made by the show, and the potential downside to listening to Allen Ginsberg’s “Hum Bom” at excessive volume.
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on Poetry in America to discuss Edward Hirsch’s poem “Fast Break.” Shaq said of series host Elisa New’s parsing skills: “When she broke it down intelligently for me, I was very astounded and very amazed.” Professor New said of Shaq: “He’s a learner!”
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On April 18th, 2018 the editors of News for Kids featured Poetry in America in their coverage of National Poetry Month. Poetry in America alum Shaquille O’Neal was used …
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On April 13th, 2018, Tablet Magazine published an essay in its Arts and Letters section on Poetry in America’s first season. Describing the show as ‘infectious,’ ‘too good to be true,’ and capable of inspiring viewers to ‘seek out more daring and unusual contemporary writing.’ The article also notes some of season 1’s highlights: Regina Spektor’s personal take on ‘The New Colossus’, New’s intro to the Ginsberg episode, and the natural conversational style from which stunning insights seem to ‘spontaneously erupt at climactic points.’
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On April 11th, 2018, host Professor Elisa New joined hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan of Boston Public Radio LIVE at Boston Public Library to discuss Poetry in America. Segment starts at 1:16:00.
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On April 10th, 2018, Deseret News’ Danielle Christensen wrote about the first season of Poetry in America, and its possibility as a low stress entry point into the often intimidating spectre of poetry.
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On April 10th, 2018, Poetry in America host Elisa New and alum Stuart Weitzman appeared on Cheddar News to discuss their collaboration in an episode on Robert Pinsky’s “Shirt,” and their hopes for Poetry in America.
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On April 7th, 2018, The New York Times’ David Chow featured Poetry in America in his round-up “Whats on TV Saturday.” Chow was impressed by the show’s ability to highlight the unexpected places that poetry shows up in our daily lives.
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On April 5th, 2018, The San Francisco Chronicle’s David Wiegand featured Poetry in America in his weekly weekend roundup. Wiegand was impressed by the range of A-list talent on the show, and made a joke about his own inability to dance on his toes.
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On April 4th, 2018, Broadway World’s Macon Prickett wrote an enthusiastic article on the incipient release of Season One of Poetry in America.
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On April 4th, 2018, The New York Times TV critic Margaret Lyons listed Poetry in America first in her weekly roundup of recommendations, encouraging readers to check airings on their local PBS station, and stream selected episodes for free on our site.
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On April 3rd, 2018, The Star Tribune’s Neal Jordan listed Poetry in America among his daily TV Picks. While Jordan remained agnostic towards Cythia Nixon’s gubernatorial run, he faithfully praised her critical reading abilities in our episode on Emily Dickinson’s “I Cannot Dance Opon My Toes.”
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On April 2nd, 2018, Time Magazine’s Olivia Waxman discussed John McCain’s poetic leanings—his famous recitation on TV, his time in the Hanoi Hilton—and referred readers to Poetry in America’s exclusive interview with McCain on the poem he knew all too well: Robert Service’s “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”
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On March 26th, 2018, Michael Alpiner wrote in Forbes’s Travel column about how Poetry in America connects the experience of reading poetry to experiential travel.
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On March 21st, 2018, Poetry in America host Professor Elisa New appeared on Simon Applebaum’s “Tomorrow Will Be Televised” to discuss the upcoming release on Season One.
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On March 6th, 2018, Kevin Yang of Indiewire penned an article on the upcoming release of Season One of Poetry in America. Yang was especially impressed by the show’s special readings, and personal interpretations by its lineup of guests.
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On March 27th, 2018, Poets & Writers included the upcoming launch of Season One of Poetry in America in their daily news roundup.
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Welcome to Poetry in America in the News. Dive into Poetry in America features online, in print, and on air over the last three years.
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On Monday, Atlantic columnist and Poetry in America guest James Fallows covered our most recent project for Notes, the blog section of The Atlantic.
Poetry in America: Modernism launched on April 6, and will run live through June. Registration is open and free.
On April 25th, 2016, James Fallows wrote a piece in The Atlantic about the HarvardX course ‘Poetry in America: Modernism,’ which features videos of himself and his wife Deb …
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On March 22nd, 2016, The Poetry Foundation’s editors published a feature on our course“Poetry in America for Teachers: Earth, Sea, Sky.” As one commenter on the article said: “This looks great! Enrolled!”
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On December 14th, 2014, Elisabeth Denison wrote about The Nantucket Poetry Project for The New Yorker Culture Desk. Denison discusses Robert Pinsky’s “Shirt,” which originally appeared in The New Yorker in the late 80s. Long prior to creating a Season One episode of Poetry in America Elisa New was visualizing Pinsky’s poem with readings and discussions by Nas, Kate Burton, and Pinsky himself.
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