Hard or soft, accidental or intentional, plagiarism is always lurking in the shadows of the literary world. The recent exposure of a prolific plagiarist makes the topic timely. Katie, Tim, and friends discuss all with two of the victims, and then go deeper into anxiety of influence and deja-ku—sharing some poems along the way, as always.

Walt Whitman is the father of contemporary poetry, opening the door for a poetry of the self, the body, the ordinary. He had big ambitions and, for the most part, fulfilled them. Katie, Tim and friends discuss Uncle Walt. Do the poems live up to the legacy?

Let's talk about turns—shifts in the apparent direction of a poem. Sonnets formalize turns with the concept of the volta, but most of the best poems have turns of some kind … do they all? What is a turn, and how are they made? Katie, Tim, and friends discuss, and turn toward some great examples along the way!

Submissions are the heart of the traditional poetry world. What's it like to read them? What's the best way to submit them? Why do we call them submissions in the first place? Katie and Tim are joined by Mark Danowski of One Art, Roberta Beary of Modern Haiku, and other friends to talk about it all.

What the heck is a chapbook? How do you make them? Why would you? And what makes a Rattle Chapbook Prize winner? Katie, Tim and friends answer all your question, along with a special guest appearance by Michael Mark, who shared poems from his award-winning chapbook, Visiting Her in Queens Is More Enlightening than a Month in a Monastery in Tibet.

Weddings, funerals, inaugurations—public events are the places most people encounter poems. This week, Katie, Tim, and friends take a look occasional poems, reading some by Ada Limon, W.H. Auden, and more along the way. How do they work, and how are they different from what we usually write and share?

After last week's discussion about the need for more poetry criticism, we tried to practice what we preach, taking a careful look at contemporary poems. What is it that makes a good poem great? Katie, Tim and friends discuss, and read four poems in the process: Dick Westheimer's "In Kherson …," Maggie Smith's "Good Bones," Dorianne Laux's "Moon Ghazal," and Noor Hindi's "F- Your Lecture on Craft …."

Poetry criticism: Is there even such a thing, anymore? It seems like William Logan is the last poetry critic willing to take his gloves off and entertain us with strong opinions. But some call him a "serial skewer" and a "pompous ass." Is this kind of criticism harmful or good for poetry? On the other end of the spectrum is the book blurb review, in which friends and colleagues heap on the praise like frosting on cherpumple. Unfortunately there isn't much in between. Why is that? Katie, Tim, and friends discuss!

Just in time for Thanksgiving, this episode features an open mic for poems on gratitude. Katie, Tim and friends share their favorite thankful poems and some of their own, including poems by Mary Oliver, George Bilgere, and more.

The ghazal is one of the most powerful forms of poetry, but also one of the most misunderstood, and it's history and adoption into English feels surprisingly similar to that of haiku. Katie, Tim, and friends discuss form that's been flourishing in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu for almost a thousand years—joined by special guests Shannan Mann and Karan Kapoor.