Mary Jo Bang brings together poems united by astonishment at the continuation of a world that seems utterly self-destructive. She shares Claudia Rankine on the illusions of American optimism (“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely”), Srikanth Reddy on mortality and teaching literature (“Underworld Lit”), and Timothy Donnelly on the human experience of a polluted world (“In My Life”). She closes with her own “Cosmic Madonna,” an ekphrastic poem inspired by Salvador Dali.

Watch the full recordings of Rankine, Reddy, and Donnelly reading for the Poetry Center on Voca:

Claudia Rankine (October 19, 2005)
Srikanth Reddy (November 12, 2015)
Timothy Donnelly (October 19, 2023)

You can also enjoy a recording of Mary Jo Bang reading for the Poetry Center in 2011.

Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode.

Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.