Interesting People Reading Poetry

By Stermer Brothers

Arts

What's Interesting People Reading Poetry about?

A show where artists and changemakers read a favorite poem and talk about what it means to them. At the end of every episode, we check the Haiku Hotline for listener-submitted voicemail poems on a given theme. Co-created by Andy & Brendan Stermer.

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Songwriter Grian Chatten (F...

01.12.2021

In this episode, Grian Chatten reads “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Chatten is the frontman of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., recently described by NME as "the new heroes of the rock resurrection." The members of the group ...

Interesting People Reading Poetry episodes:

01.12.2021 Songwriter Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) Reads Gerard Manley Hopkins In this episode, Grian Chatten reads “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Chatten is the frontman of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., recently described by NME as "the new heroes of the rock resurrection." The members of the group ...
10.12.2020 Photographer Alec Soth Reads Wallace Stevens In this episode, Alec Soth reads "Of Modern Poetry" by Wallace Stevens. Soth is a photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has published over twenty-five books and has been called a "living legend" and "one of the most important photographers ...
01.21.2020 Counselor Sheryl Paul Reads Walt Whitman In this episode, Sheryl Paul reads from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman. Paul is a counselor working in the tradition of Jungian depth psychology. She runs the popular blog and website, Conscious Transitions, and is the author, most recently, ...
10.15.2019 Filmmaker Jennifer Crandall Reads Mark Strand In this episode, Jennifer Crandall reads "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand. Crandall is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She is the creator, most recently, of Whitman, Alabama – a must-watch web series in which Alabama residents recite passages from ...
08.13.2019 Biblical Translator Robert Alter Reads the Song of Songs In this episode, Robert Alter reads from his translation of the Song of Songs. Alter is a literary critic and translator based at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018, he published a landmark, one-man translation of the entire Hebrew ...
06.11.2019 Painter Enrique Martínez Celaya Reads Miguel Hernández In this episode, Enrique Martínez Celaya reads “Elegy for Ramón Sijé” by Miguel Hernández. Martínez Celaya is a world-renowned painter, sculptor, and the author of On Art & Mindfulness, among other books. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Miguel ...
04.08.2019 Composer Libby Larsen Reads Bill Holm In this episode, composer Libby Larsen reads “Wolf Song in Los Angeles” by Bill Holm. Larsen is one of the most prolific and most performed living American composers. Bill Holm (1943 - 2009) was a poet and essayist who lived ...
02.12.2019 Journalist Krista Tippett Reads Rainer Maria Rilke In this episode, On Being Project founder and CEO Krista Tippett reads “God speaks to each of us as he makes us” by Rainer Maria Rilke. She shares how the poem gave her courage and resolve during the creation of ...
01.14.2019 Representative Ilhan Omar Reads Warsan Shire In this episode, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar reads “Conversations about home (at the deportation centre)” by Warsan Shire and reflects on the many meanings of home. On November 6, 2018, Omar became the first Somali American, and one of the ...
10.23.2018 Entomologist Marla Spivak Reads Rumi In this episode, entomologist Dr. Marla Spivak reads “When Grapes Turn to Wine” by Rumi and discusses how Rumi can teach us to "think like bee." Dr. Spivak is a MacArthur “genius” Fellow known for her groundbreaking research on bee ...
07.24.2018 Playwright Harrison David Rivers Reads Essex Hemphill In this episode, playwright Harrison David Rivers reads “For My Own Protection” by Essex Hemphill and discusses the use of the poem in his recent play, This Bitter Earth. Rivers is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome ...
07.24.2018 Harrison David Rivers Reads Essex Hemphill In this episode, playwright Harrison David Rivers reads “For My Own Protection” by Essex Hemphill and discusses the use of the poem in his recent play, This Bitter Earth. Rivers is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome ...
06.18.2018 Novelist Chris Kraus Reads Steve Levine In this episode, writer Chris Kraus reads “Miserable Life” by Steve Levine and discusses how New York School poetry influenced the development of her distinctive style. Kraus is the author of I Love Dick (now an Amazon Original Series) and, ...
05.21.2018 Chef Amy Thielen Reads Jim Harrison In this episode, Amy Thielen reads “Death Again” by Jim Harrison and explores the relationship between great food and great literature. Amy Thielen is a chef and two-time James Beard Award-winning writer. She’s the author of The New Midwestern Table ...
05.21.2018 Amy Thielen Reads Jim Harrison In this episode, Amy Thielen reads “Death Again” by Jim Harrison and explores the relationship between great food and great literature. Amy Thielen is a chef and two-time James Beard Award-winning writer. She’s the author of The New Midwestern Table ...
04.16.2018 DJ Rekha Reads Audre Lorde In this episode, DJ Rekha reads "A Litany for Survival" by Audre Lorde and discusses dancing as an antidote to fear. DJ Rekha is a producer, curator, and educator based in New York City. Her classic debut album, DJ Rekha ...
10.30.2017 Chris Koza & Malena Handeen: Live! We're celebrating the last episode of our first season with a special double feature, recorded live at Java River Cafe in Montevideo, Minnesota. Our guests are Chris Koza and Malena Handeen. Chris Koza is the frontman of the Americana rock ...
10.23.2017 Marla Spivak Reads Rumi Honeybees are in trouble, and entomologist Dr. Marla Spivak is leading the fight to save them. Dr. Spivak is a MacArthur Fellow and a professor at the University of Minnesota. She is known for her groundbreaking research on bee behavior ...
10.16.2017 Comedian Mary Mack Reads Roald Dahl In this episode, comedian Mary Mack reads "Attention Please! Attention Please!" by Roald Dahl. Mack is a nationally touring stand-up comic, beloved for her singular oddball folk humor. She's been on Conan and WTF with Marc Maron. Her latest album ...
10.16.2017 Mary Mack Reads Roald Dahl Stand-up comic Mary Mack is known for her unique style of oddball folk humor. When she was little, however, she “wanted to grow up to be a serious person.” In this episode, Mack reads a Roald Dahl poem that she ...
10.09.2017 Attorney Nekima Levy-Pounds Reads Maya Angelou In this episode, Nekima Levy-Pounds reads "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou and discusses the strength she draws from the resilience of her ancestors. Pounds is a decorated attorney, ordained Reverend, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP. “Still I ...
10.09.2017 Nekima Levy-Pounds Reads Maya Angelou Nekima Levy-Pounds was nine years old when she decided to become a civil rights attorney. Today, Pounds is a decorated attorney, ordained reverend, and candidate for the Mayor of Minneapolis– but her journey has not always been easy. In this ...
10.02.2017 Memoirist Kao Kalia Yang Reads Mai Der Vang In this episode, Kao Kalia Yang reads "To the Placenta of Return" by Mai Der Vang and discusses the sacrifices mothers made to protect their families during America's Secret War in Laos. Over the course of two award-winning memoirs, Yang ...
10.02.2017 Kao Kalia Yang Reads Mai Der Vang Over the course of two award-winning memoirs, Kao Kalia Yang has charted the physical, political, emotional, and spiritual terrain of the Hmong journey to the United States in the aftermath of America’s Secret War in Laos. In this episode, Yang ...
09.25.2017 Biologist Rob Wallace Reads Derek Walcott In this episode, evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace reads "The Sea is History" by Derek Walcott and discusses the importance of questioning historical narratives that justify the status quo. Wallace was alt-CDC before it was a Twitter handle. He blogs at ...
09.25.2017 Rob Wallace Reads Derek Walcott Evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace was alt-CDC before it was a Twitter handle. He blogs at Farming Pathogens and is the author of “Big Farms Make Big Flu: Dispatches on Infectious Disease, Agribusiness, and the Nature of Science,” in which he ...
09.18.2017 Songwriter Gaelynn Lea Reads E. E. Cummings In this episode Gaelynn Lea reads "53" by E.E. Cummings and discusses the importance of acknowledging the duality of light and darkness in life. Lea is a folk singer, disability advocate, and the winner of the 2016 NPR Tiny Desk ...
09.18.2017 Gaelynn Lea Reads E. E. Cummings NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner Gaelynn Lea makes music that is often described as “haunting” and “heartbreaking.” At her live shows, however, Lea cracks jokes in between songs. “A lot of people, when they meet me, say, ‘Oh, I thought ...
09.11.2017 Journalist Krista Tippett Reads Rainer Maria Rilke In this episode, journalist Krista Tippett reads "God speaks to each of us as he makes us" by Rainer Maria Rilke. She shares how the poem gave her courage and resolve during the creation of her public radio show, On ...
09.11.2017 Krista Tippett Reads Rainer Maria Rilke Launching a public radio show about God and the meaning of life is no easy task. In this episode, On Being host Krista Tippett reads a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that gave her courage and resolve during the creation ...
09.04.2017 Activist Waziyatawin Reads John Trudell In this episode, Waziyatawin reads "Cry Your Tears" by John Trudell (pictured above) and explores the complexities of solidarity. Waziyatawin is a leading Dakota intellectual, activist, and the executive director of Makoce Ikikcupi, a non-profit dedicated to Dakota land recovery. ...
09.04.2017 Waziyatawin Reads John Trudell Calls for solidarity are common in our political climate, but is solidarity possible before widespread acknowledgement and rectification of past injustices? In this episode, Waziyatawin explores this question in the context of the poem, "Cry Your Tears," by the late ...
08.28.2017 Novelist Benjamin Percy Reads Brian Turner In this episode, Benjamin Percy reads "At the Lowe's Home Improvement Center" by Brian Turner. Percy writes the Green Arrow and Teen Titans series’ for DC Comics, and recently published a terrifying fourth novel, “The Dark Net.” “At the Lowe’s ...
08.28.2017 Benjamin Percy Reads Brian Turner Author Benjamin Percy is interested in “the ghosts we carry on our backs.” He writes the Green Arrow and Teen Titans series’ for DC Comics, and recently published a terrifying fourth novel, “The Dark Net.” In this episode, Ben reads ...
08.20.2017 Composer Maria Schneider Reads Ted Kooser In this episode, composer Maria Schneider reads "Walking by Flashlight" by Ted Kooser and discusses the process of setting poems to music. Schneider’s 2016 album, The Thompson Fields, won the Grammy for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album and includes a ...
08.20.2017 Maria Schneider Reads Ted Kooser Maria Schneider’s music has been hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.” Though she lives now in New York, Maria takes inspiration from the sounds, landscapes, and culture of the rural Midwest, where she grew ...
08.14.2017 Representative Ilhan Omar Reads Warsan Shire In this episode, Minnesota State Representative Ilhan Omar reads "Conversations about home (at the deportation centre)" by Warsan Shire and reflects on the many meanings of home. Ms. Omar is first Somali-American Muslim legislator in the United States. Her term ...
08.14.2017 Ilhan Omar Reads Warsan Shire On November 8, 2016, Ilhan Omar was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, making her the highest-elected Somali-American public official in the United States. In this episode, Ilhan reads and discusses “Conversations about home (at the deporation centre),” by ...
07.31.2017 Introduction Welcome to Interesting People Reading Poetry, a show where artists and changemakers read a favorite poem, and talk about what it means to them. At the end of every episode, we check the Haiku Hotline for listener-submitted poems on a ...