Poetry In America
Season 3
Scholar and host Elisa New travels the country, joining up with distinguished poets, celebrities, and everyday Americans to create a fully immersive experience in hearing, reading, and interpreting American poems.
Where to Watch Season 3
8 Episodes
- The Wound-Dresser, by Walt WhitmanE1
The Wound-Dresser, by Walt Whitman“The Wound-Dresser,” set in the battlefield infirmaries and operating theaters of 1860s Washington, D.C. Actor David Strathairn, playwright Tony Kushner, composer Matthew Aucoin, opera star Davóne Tines, physician-writers Rafael Campo and Abraham Verghese, and historian Drew Faust join Elisa New to discuss how the trauma of the Civil War shaped American history. - Looking for The Gulf Motel, by Richard BlancoE2
Looking for The Gulf Motel, by Richard BlancoRichard Blanco's poem "Looking for The Gulf Motel" transports readers to 1970s Florida, recalling a Cuban-American family’s vacations on the sparkling sands of Marco Island. Blanco and international superstar Gloria Estefan join Elisa New and a chorus of Cuban American adults in Miami and middle school students in New York City to reflect on family and what it means to call a place home. - Cascadilla Falls, by A. R. AmmonsE3
Cascadilla Falls, by A. R. AmmonsPicking up a hand-sized stone near a rushing waterfall, the speaker of A.R. Ammons’s poem “Cascadilla Falls” is catapulted into the cosmos. Planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, composer DJ Spooky, geologist Daniel Schrag, poet Joshua Bennett, CEO Larry Berger, and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein join host Elisa New to consider Ammons’s window onto the vast workings of the universe. - you can say that again, billie
E4you can say that again, billieBillie Holiday's haunting song "Strange Fruit" winds beneath the unsettling, satiric humor of Evie Shockley's poem "you can say that again, billie." Shockley, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, historian Robin D.G. Kelley, actor LisaGay Hamilton, novelist Beverly Lowry, and radio host Nick Spitzer join Elisa New to discuss the history of racism, violence, and artistic tradition in the American south. - The Language of the Brag & The Desires of Mothers to Please Others in L
E6The Language of the Brag & The Desires of Mothers to Please Others in LSharon Olds's "The Language of the Brag" and Bernadette Mayer's "The Desires of Mothers to Please Others in Letters" are boisterous tributes to motherhood. Donna Lynne Champlin, Emily Oster, and both poets join host Elisa New. - Sonnet IV; I shall forget you presently, my dear
E8Sonnet IV; I shall forget you presently, my dearIn 1920s Greenwich Village, Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote sonnets that challenged clichés of love and romance. To probe her unsentimental break-up poetry, host Elisa New speaks with Olivia Gatwood, Leslie Jamison, Philip Galanes and more.
