My interview with Todd Robinson concludes. We discuss two more poems from his collection MASS FOR SHUT-INS (this book, btw, is out in the world, so buy it!). One thing about Todd is he’s very real, and I think all these interviews show that, but here he goes into his experience being there for a friend who had tried to commit suicide. It’s harrowing stuff, but it’s also beautiful. Some additional highlights: Todd breaks down how he generates writing prompts, I rant about Ted Kooser, and we both ruminate on the impossibility of always being the “best” version of yourself. Later in the episode I go on a solo riff about war criminality and read an essay by Christopher Hitchens… a gifted polemicist who also happens to be a rather dubious dude. Music in this episode is from a golf video game, a song called “A shiver through the”, a snippet from Kanye West, some Post Malone, and a clip from an Amy Goodman-moderated debate between Hitchens and George Galloway.