Podcasts by Lit from the Basement

Lit from the Basement

This is a podcast in which Professor Deulen introduces poetry to her irreverent husband, Max. Each show is a close reading of a single poem. They discuss it for a bit, allowing the conversation to take on a life of its own.

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Lit from the Basement
Show 050 "Autobiographical: Another Draft" by Jacqueline Osherow from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

For their 50th show, Danielle goes big with a long, long, powerful poem by Jacqueline Osherow. Topics include: terza rima, formalism, Willa Cather, interruptive syntax, and your present self admoni...

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Lit from the Basement
Show 049 "Yours" by Mary Robison from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Owing to a house-wide plague, we are forced to pull a show from our reject pile. Please join us as we deviate from poetry to flash fiction with Mary Robison's "Yours" and as we go on way too long a...

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Lit from the Basement
Show 048 "Photo of a Girl, 1988: Cyborg" by Faylita Hicks from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We discuss the poem "Photo of a Girl, 1988: Cyborg" from Faylita Hick's debut collection Hoodwitch. Topics include: the mother figure in literature, enjambment, end-stopped lines, Afrofuturism, and...

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Lit from the Basement
Show 047 "A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican" by Dixon Lanier Merritt from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We tackle the limerick form with poetry scholar Mike Chasar as he leads a deep dive into two versions of "A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican" by Dixon Lanier Merritt. Topics include: humorous poetry, ...

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Lit from the Basement
Show 046 "Things that Leave an Aching Feeling Inside" by Lee Ann Roripaugh from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle introduces Max to the list poem form with Lee Ann Roripaugh's "Things that Leave an Aching Feeling Inside." Topics include: list form, The Pillow Book, the importance of poetry during the ...

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Lit from the Basement
Show 045 "Sensual Vocabulary" by Karyna McGlynn from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle introduces Max to the concept of Ars Poetica with Karyna McGlynn's poem "Sensual Vocabulary." Topics include: Ars Poetica, Marianne Moore, September Women Poets, modernists, and George Was...

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Lit from the Basement
044 "Who Would I Show It To?" by Sally Ball from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Addressing a recent loss in her own life, Danielle shares with Max an elegy by Sally Ball that helped with her grieving. Topics include: elegies, suicide, stages of grief, Virginia Woolf, W.S. Merw...

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Lit from the Basement
043 "The Immigrants (Winter Wear)" by Rane Arroyo from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We have another guest in our creepy basement; the author Scott Nadelson! He shares Rane Arroyo's poem "The Immigrants (Winter Wear)" with us. Topics include: tercets, Wallace Stevens, and Santa tem...

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Lit from the Basement
042 "Unmailed Letter" by Joy Harjo from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In celebration of her appointment as the United States Poet Laureate, Danielle shares Joy Harjo's poem "Unmailed Letter" with Max.

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Lit from the Basement
041 "Map" by Bruce Snider from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We open season three (and celebrate 4th of July) with a fistful of Americana as Danielle introduces Max to Bruce Snider through his poem "Map."

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Lit from the Basement
040 "A Citizen" and "Immediate Song" by Don Bogen from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

For our last show of season two, we have a twofer! Danielle shares Don Bogen's "A Citizen" and "Immediate Song" with Max. Talking points include lyric sequences, persona poems, an empire's twilight...

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Lit from the Basement
039 "Something New" by Carmen Giménez Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares Carmen Giménez Smith's "Something New" with Max. Talking points include love as work, marriage as labor, plushy chambers, and the etymology of mortgage.

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Lit from the Basement
038 "Ambition" by Gary Soto from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares Gary Soto's "Ambition" with Max. Talking points include friendship, Seneca, Cicero, zoomorphism, pleasure, and Max’s time as a disgruntled shoe salesman.

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Lit from the Basement
037 "Lightening" by A. Molotkov from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares A. Molotkov's "Lightening" with Max. Talking points include the prose poem, Aloysius Bertrand, fig trees, eye surgery, and Duncan MacDougall's dead-weighing experiments.

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Lit from the Basement
036 "[but the rain is full of ghosts tonight]" by dawn lonsinger from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares "[but the rain is full of ghosts tonight]" by dawn lonsinger with Max. Talking points include Danielle's coining of the term "maximalism," Edna St. Vincent Millay, ghosts of lovers ...

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Lit from the Basement
035 "Animals" by Frank O'Hara from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Guest host dawn lonsinger shares Frank O'Hara's "Animals" with Danielle and Max. Talking points include: idioms, the New York School, personism, dune buggies, time, and square things vs. round things.

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Lit from the Basement
034 "The Romantic Lead" by Ian Williams from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares "The Romantic Lead" by Ian Williams with Max. Talking points include contemporary sonnets, sextets and octaves, Swan Lake vs. Ladyhawk, reaction shots, and finding displeasure with ...

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Lit from the Basement
033 "The Soils I Have Eaten" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares "The Soils I Have Eaten" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil with Max. Talking points include strophes, memories of place, prospecting by taste, and the 1980s arcade game Dig Dug.

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Lit from the Basement
032 "Dangerous for Girls" by Connie Voisine from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares "Dangerous for Girls" by Connie Voisine with Max. Talking points include dead girls, associative leaps, capitalist consumption, and watching infomercials while depressed.

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Lit from the Basement
031 "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie and the Banshees from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle and Max discuss "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Talking points include Pompeii, verse-chorus form, March Vladness, Pliny the Younger, and Goth! Goth! Goth!

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Lit from the Basement
030 "The Same City" by Terrance Hayes from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode, Danielle shares "The Same City" by Terrance Hayes. Talking points include revision poems, cold and flu season, crappy weather, and mixing up biblical stepfathers.

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Lit from the Basement
029 "The Cinnamon Peeler" by Michael Ondaatje from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode, Danielle shares Michael Ondaatje’s “The Cinnamon Peeler.” Talking points include encounters with wild bears, how specifics make life interesting, persona poems, and Dune spice.

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Lit from the Basement
028 "Litany" by Rebecca Lindenberg from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode, Danielle shares Rebecca Lindenberg’s “Litany.” Talking points include Gal-entine’s Day, the classical formula of god summoning, lethologica vs. aphasia, and sabotaging people’s eff...

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Lit from the Basement
027 "What Myth Is" by Carl Phillips from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode, Danielle shares Carl Phillips’s “What Myth Is.” Talking points include what myths we identify with, Sonnet 130, the blazon, objective correlatives, and languid fingering.

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Lit from the Basement
026 "Letter from New York" by Erika L. Sánchez from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode, Danielle shares Erika L. Sánchez’s “Letter from New York.” Talking points include, well, New York, obviously, the epistolary form, our flooding basement, and poet Richard Hugo lite...

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Lit from the Basement
025 "Report from the Daughter of a Blue Planet" by Yona Harvey from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares with Max Yona Harvey’s "Report from the Daughter of a Blue Planet." Talking points include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Audre Lorde, and perfect line breaks.

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Lit from the Basement
024 "[ode]" by D.A. Powell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode, Danielle overcomes Max's resistance to D.A. Powell's "[ode]." Talking points include Pindar vs. Horace, odes, hyacinths, trochees, and blue movies.

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Lit from the Basement
023 "Meditation at Lagunitas" by Robert Hass from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

For her 40th birthday, Danielle has selected Robert Hass’s “Meditation at Lagunitas.” Talking points include Platonic ideals, blackberries, the linguist Saussure, and mastodon steaks.

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Lit from the Basement
022 "Kindness" and "Burning the Old Year" by Naomi Shihab Nye from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle and Max slam the door on 2018 by reading Naomi Shihab Nye's poems "Kindness" and "Burning the Old Year." Talking points include the new year, empathy, cruelty, and metaphorical landscapes.

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Lit from the Basement
021 "Visitation" by Mark Doty from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

For this Christmas week, Danielle introduces Max to Mark Doty's "Visitation." Talking points include the holidays, the Christmas Whale, and complicated joy.

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Lit from the Basement
020 "Nightingale" by Paisley Rekdal from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle and Max celebrate the 2018 winter solstice by reading Paisley Rekdal's “Nightingale." Talking points include handling a rude guest lecturer, John Keats, Odysseus/Ulysses, dwelling in do...

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Lit from the Basement
019 "Portrait of the Alcoholic Floating in Space with Severed Umbilicus" by Kaveh Akbar from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle introduces Max to the poet Kaveh Akbar with the poem “Portrait of the Alcoholic Floating in Space with Severed Umbilicus.” Topics include addiction, the sublime, and why we love people in ...

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Lit from the Basement
018 “Visions and Interpretations” by Li-Young Lee from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares the poem “Visions and Interpretations” by Li-Young Lee with Max. Topics touched upon include elegies, miscommunications, and Mercury in retrograde.

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Lit from the Basement
017 "What is the Body" by Hannah Dow from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares Hannah Dow's poem "What is the Body" from her debut collection with Max. Topics touched upon include René Descartes, nesting instincts. and tape worms.

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Lit from the Basement
016 "I Watch Her Eat the Apple" by Natalie Diaz from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares Natalie Diaz’s poem “I Watch Her Eat the Apple” with Max... who gets the poem very, very, very wrong. Topics include Thanksgiving, Oedipus, and some ugly facts about the Pilgrims.

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Lit from the Basement
015 "Drift" by Brenda Shaughnessy from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle shares Brenda Shaughnessy’s brutally clever poem “Drift” with Max. Topics touched upon include metaphysical poets, paradox, and staying in bad relationships.

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Lit from the Basement
014 "Door" by Dana Levin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle explains her personal connection to Dana Levin's "Door," working for a mean art dealer, and the dream that lead her to teaching. Max laments too many choices and, once again, brings up Wat...

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Lit from the Basement
013 "Ghazal of Dark Death" by Federico García Lorca from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

By sheer coincidence, our 13th show falls on Halloween week! Danielle sets the Halloween mood with Lorca's "Ghazal of Dark Death." Max is a little disappointed to find it has nothing to do with the...

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Lit from the Basement
012 "Departure" by Ocean Vuong from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle explains what an aubade is to Max by sharing Ocean Vuong's wonderfully dark poem "Departure" with him. Max is thrilled. Maybe too thrilled.

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Lit from the Basement
011 "Wishbone" & "Planet of Love" by Richard Siken from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this extended episode, Shaun and Danielle discuss two poems from Richard Siken's "Crush" and how they work together in that crazy, sexy thrill ride of a book.

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Lit from the Basement
011 "Wishbone" by Richard Siken from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle is in Washington, DC with friend Shaun Daniels to discuss Wishbone from Richard Siken's crazy, sexy thrill ride of a book.

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Lit from the Basement
010 "Rodin's Fallen Caryatid" by Lindsay Bernal from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

While discussing Lindsay Bernal's poem, Danielle tries to explain "ekphrasis" to Max.

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Lit from the Basement
009 "Be Ahead of All Parting" by Rainer Maria Rilke from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We have our first guests! Portland-based Douala Olivia Murphy brings Rilke's poem to the show and tells us why she loves it. Max pays Danielle the best compliment she has ever received.

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Lit from the Basement
008 "Manistee Light" by Samiya Bashir from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We discuss how Samiya Bashir's poem can be an anti-pastoral work, our poor gardening, and Danielle explains some math terms to Max.

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Lit from the Basement
007 "Obedience, or the Lying Tale" by Jennifer Chang from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Jennifer Chang's poem leads to a discussion of the "flatness" of fairy tale characters, and how her poem defies it with the complexity of her speaker.

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Lit from the Basement
006 "The Explosive Expert's Wife" by Shara Lessley from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Lessley's poem prompts D&M to contemplate the geopolitical complexities of love and where to meet in the afterlife.

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Lit from the Basement
005 "White, White Collars" by Denis Johnson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

To celebrate Labor Day, we share a Denis Johnson poem sure to make you further hate your office job.

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Lit from the Basement
004 "Researchers Find Mice Pass On Trauma to Subsequent Generations" by Lisa Fay Coutley from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Danielle and Max try to have a glib, upbeat conversation about Lisa Fay Coutley’s poem on inherited trauma…and fail.

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Lit from the Basement
003 "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

This Robert Hayden poem leads D&M into a conversation about parental love and sacrifice.

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Lit from the Basement
002 "Thirst" by Tracy K. Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

D&M discuss this Tracy K. Smith coming-of-age poem "Thirst," disagreeing on their interpretations.

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Lit from the Basement
001"Closing Time - Iskandariya"by Brigit Pegeen Kelly from 2018-08-28T00:00

Danielle uses Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s poem to change Max's opinion of a discovery that he initially found to be unsettling.

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Lit from the Basement
001"Closing Time - Iskandariya"by Brigit Pegeen Kelly from 2018-08-28T00:00

Danielle uses Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s poem to change Max's opinion of a discovery that he initially found to be unsettling.

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