Poet's Return - The Poetry Podcast

Spoken word poet Caleb Miller White flew onto our radar at Theatre of Note's 2022 poetry slam, where he was a semi-finalist. Beyond impressed with his pieces and performance, we invited him as a featured poet in Towne Street's Theatre Sum Poetry at Stella Adler last July. Caleb is a writer, actor, and producer based in Los Angeles, CA and originally from Texas. His love of spoken word began in 2016 during a 5-year stint in New York City studying sketch writing and comedy improv. Since then, Caleb has cultivated a distinct poetic style, one he describes as "incorporating punchy rap, clever comedy, and intimate vulnerability to amplify his unique perspective and voice."

@calebmillerwhite

Pieces Caleb performs :

Argumentative (18:56)

P.K. (28:11)

Daddy/Puppy (38:33) Poet's Return Exclusive! First time performing this piece live :)

Music featured today: Pontorose in July by Gramatik

hosts @philasocial Ron Johnson and @capnbooey Melissa Booey

Sum Poetry footage can be found @townestreettheatre

Ron and Melissa are published writers themselves. You can find Ron's book The Milkcrate Monologues available online and Melissa's book of poetry BIRDBRAIN will be out this summer

Robert LaMarr Randle is a S.A.G. Actor, Musician, and Licensed Master Barber Hairstylist- an Artist on many levels! Today, we dive into his love of expressing himself through Spoken Word Poetry. A devoted husband and father, as well as a strong believer in God, Robert is an advocate for sharing lessons learned from real life experiences in order to help others. Poems performed today:  BLOOD-LINE- about slavery and its existence today (minutes 23:54-29:10) HISTORY-  follows the very human journey of not only one man of color, but many (minutes 42:57-46:34) 

Robert is publishing an autobiography titled "Break me to Make me." 

His son LJ joined us for this episode and is also a working actor on Abbott Elementary! 

Stand out moments from the studio:

"My story's already been written...I'm just catching up with it."  

"Sometimes you gotta break something down to build something up...." 

Robert LaMarr's instagram: @lamarr_randlecuts

Bridget is a 23 year old Utah resident who has been interested in poetry since a young age. Her interest has grown into a continuous passion, peaking thus far during Bridget's senior year of high school and again about three years after her graduation. Just before I hit record during our zoom interview, the poet disclosed a story about being accused of plagiarism as a thirteen-year-old, simply because her teacher didn't believe the poem she submitted could have possibly been written by her. Little did this instructor know or realize that adolescent writer Bridget had already established herself online, posting her poems to wattpad.com under the name "the karma bug." Proving that her work was her own, Bridget felt slightly insulted and flattered simultaneously, ultimately feeling empowered to pursue her passion as a writer and poet more fervently than ever. Ten years later, she is still writing, and her strong use of meter and rhymes mixed with prose, as well as her use of metaphor and imagery all combine to create a truly gifted young writer, who when asked about her thoughts on this artistic medium said: "Poetry is one of the most beautiful, soulful ways to express emotion as well as work THROUGH emotion, and I believe everyone should give it a shot!" We agree, my friend.

Poems in this episode by Bridget:

A Four-Letter Labor

I Can't Eat This

Pick a Color

Detached

Welcome Back

Huge thank you to @philasocial, co host Ron Johnson, as well as Adam Lucas for the rad tunes. Thank you to @bridget_e_hanson.

Musical credit: lukapotomus "Patagonia"

Opening poem: My Purple Notebook