Shows
CBAW Loves...Someplace Generous with Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame and Seema YasminIn this episode, we welcome Someplace Generous editors Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame and author/physician Seema Yasmin to discuss Someplace Generous- a vibrantly diverse and inclusive anthology of romantic short stories.
Topics include the rules of writing romance, reading as a tool for empathy, and the power of telling romantic stories that engage new and different dynamics.
Reference & Notes:
Purchase 'Someplace Generous' on CBAW Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/79565/9781955905626
'The neurologist gives us permission' by Seema Reza: https://poets.org/poem/neurologist-gives-us-permission
Correction from Elaina Ellis: "The author...2024-07-1659 min
Haymarket Books LiveBecause You Were Mine: Book Launch and Poetry ReadingIn their latest collection of poems, Cave Canem Poetry Prize winner Brionne Janae dives into the deep, unsettled waters of intimate partner violence, queerness, grief, and survival.
This event took place on July 6, 2023.
“I’ve decided I can’t trust anyone who uses darkness as a metaphor for what they fear,” poet Brionne Janae writes in this stunning new collection, in which the speaker navigates past and present traumas and interrogates familial and artistic lineages, queer relationships, positions of power, and community.
Because You Were Mine is an intimate look at love, loneliness, and what it costs to survive abuse at the h...2023-12-231h 00
The Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E10: “I’m a poet — and you're not going to stop me” (Season Finale)Dickinson Season One ends with a funeral, a wedding, and another Funeral, in Emily’s brain.
Is Emily subconsciously guilty about her relationship with Sue? Was Mrs. Dickinson a lush? Did George Gould really go for gold? And why are season finales so difficult? Plus, new poems from our cohosts — and the Dickinson verse that launched #emisueforevermore.
Jericho, Breezy and Aífe talk back to Dickinson Season One, Episode Ten "I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain."
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Poems featured in this episode:
One Sister have I in our house by Emi...2023-03-0753 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: Emily Dickinson, multimedia artist?In the finale of Dickinson, Season One, Emily gives Sue a poem so small she has to use a magnifying glass to read it.
On this bonus episode, Jericho, Breezy and Aife explore Emily Dickinson's radical experimentation with what we'd now call "mixed media" — using the skills of women's work the AppleTV+ series portrays her as not possessing.
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That poem Emily gives Sue:
One Sister have I in our house2023-02-2405 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E9: "Huge, cosmic kinds of leaps" w/Tracy K. SmithA solar eclipse darkens the skies over Amherst. Is it a miracle of God's creation? A disturbing omen? Or just a great place to take a date?
In the series' most emotionally wrenching episode so far, Emily grapples with all these possibilities — and ends up begging Death to let Ben live.
Breezy, Jericho, and Aífe, joined by special guest and two-time US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, talk back to Season 1, Episode 9 of Dickinson: "'Faith' Is a Fine Invention."
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Poems featured in the episode:
I’m “wife”—I’ve finished that b...2023-02-0855 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E8: "Are you from Whitman or are you from Dickinson?" w/Chen ChenIt's Christmas Eve at the Dickinsons, and they've got visitors, including bestselling author Louisa May Alcott (on a runner's high) and just-returned-from-Spain Aunt Lavinia (experiencing widow's euphoria). Conspicuously absent (though perhaps not missed) is Edward Dickinson, who heads off to DC — but not without leaving a double-edged gift for Emily.
Could Emily cook? Were Austin and Sue into hunching? And does being a writer have to mean turning your back on your family?
Breezy, Jericho, and Aífe, joined by special guest poet Chen Chen, talk back to Season 1, Episode 8 of Dickinson: “There's a Certain Slant...2023-02-0247 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: "The language can be bigger than a writer" w/Evie ShockleyOn Friday, we release bonus material that takes you deeper into the world of Emily Dickinson, and the work of our guest poets. This week Evie Shockley talks about the complexities of Zora Neale Hurston's legacy — and how Black women writers have found meanings and possibilities in Emily Dickinson's poetry far beyond what Dickinson might have had in mind.
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"Coloring Dickinson: Race, Influence, and Lyric Dis-reading" by Evie Shockley2023-01-2710 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E7: "Like science fiction in reverse" w/Evie ShockleyIt’s Election Day, and Rep. Edward Dickinson is showing his true colors, culminating in a literal blow to Emily.
Was Edward Dickinson dead set against his daughter becoming a poet? Can his refusal to embrace abolitionism be traced to the fact that both his and his wife's family fortunes depended on enslaved labor? And if her family hadn't profited from slavery, would Emily Dickinson have had the space to write the poems we continue to revere?
Breezy, Jericho, and Aífe, joined by special guest, poet and scholar Evie Shockley, talk back to Season 1, Epi...2023-01-2351 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonDickinson Q & A: Death on Edward Dickinson's watchDeath was a constant presence in 19th century America, including Emily Dickinson's Amherst. But if you were poor, Black, or indigenous — or all three — the risk of death from illness and overwork was much greater.
As our rogue scholar Aífe Murray describes in this bonus conversation, the prominent citizens of Amherst, including Emily's father Edward Dickinson, were vigilant about their own health. But they weren't much looking out for the health of their less advantaged neighbors and hired hands. In fact, if it suited their purposes, they just might send you out to die on the edge o...2023-01-1311 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E6: "She's turned on by brains" w/Amber FlameEmily feigns mortal illness so her family will leave her alone in her room to write. Sue, who's already suffered so much loss, hurries back from Boston to visit what she thinks is her friend and lover's deathbed, only to find it's a hoax. And to make it worse, Emily chooses this moment to tell Sue she should marry Austin, her possessiveness apparently softened by the previous night's poetic flirtation with her father's clerk Ben Newton.
What do we know about the real relationship between Emily and Ben? How can Emily be so insensitive to Sue? Is D...2023-01-1057 min
The Truth In This Art: Stories That MatterArtful Narratives: Great Migration's Influence | Curator Jessica Bell Brown InterviewWelcome aboard 'The Truth in This Art' podcast, under the guidance of your host, Rob Lee. On today’s episode, we have Jessica Bell Brown, the Curator and Department Head for Contemporary Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, who is renowned for her exceptional exhibition projects. With an impressive portfolio, including "How Do We Know The World?" and "A Movement In Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration," co-organized with the Mississippi Museum of Art, she continues to shape the art landscape. Having held influential positions at esteemed institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Ac...2022-12-0931 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s Dickinson"Dickinson is a crazy show" w/Alena SmithIn this special episode, cohost Jericho Brown is in conversation with Alena Smith, creator and show runner of AppleTV+'s Dickinson. They go inside the making of the show, and why Emily Dickinson's life and poems continue to inspire.
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Poems in this episode:
You cannot put a fire out by Emily Dickinson
The Soul selects her own Society by Emily Dickinson
Duplex (I Begin With Love) by Jericho Brown
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This conversation was recorded at Smith College on September 29, 2022. We thank Smith for permission to use...2022-12-0259 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: Election Day Special w/Evie ShockleyFor Election Day, we're sharing a bit of our recent conversation with poet and scholar Evie Shockley, who shares her poem women's voting rights at 100 (but who's counting?) and talks with Jericho Brown about why, in spite of our democracy's shortcomings and outrages and betrayals, we vote.
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Featured in this episode:
Evie Shockley: women's voting rights at 100 (but who's counting?)2022-11-0807 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonDickinson Q&A: Was Austin a draft-dodger?On Fridays, we bring you bonus material that takes you deeper into the work of our poets, and the world of Emily Dickinson.
This week, Jericho asks about the Dickinson men and the Civil War, and Aife reveals the fascinating (and when you look straight at them, shocking) details of Austin Dickinson's absolutely legal evasion of the draft.
2022-10-2804 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: "I don't think James Baldwin would have had 10 seconds for me"On Fridays, we bring you bonus materials that take you into the worlds of Emily Dickinson and our poets.
This time, it's Jericho on James Baldwin, racial insult, and just wanting to have this drink.
2022-10-2102 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: "It was its own world" w/Malcolm TariqEvery Friday, we release bonus material that takes you deeper into the world of Emily Dickinson, and the work of our poets.
This week, our Rogue Scholar Aife Murray asks Jericho Brown, Brionne Janae, and special guest Malcolm Tariq about where they first found their voice. And all three recounted experiences from the Black churches of their childhoods -- speaking, singing, writing, and much more.
2022-10-1406 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E5: "A moment of betrayal" w/Malcolm TariqThere are rumors there's a fugitive slave in Amherst, which means the the threat of the slavecatcher hangs over all Black people in the town, including the Dickinsons' hired hand Henry. So how does Emily respond? By encouraging Henry to play Othello in her Shakespeare Club's latest production! George, having been rebuffed by Emily, decides to take the patriarchal route to get her to marry him. And in Boston, it's intimated that Sue may be sexually assaulted by the man who employs her as a governess for his children. It's a lot! (Probably too much.)
Learn what...2022-10-1145 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: Heroes who disappoint w/Ada LimónEvery Friday, we release bonus material that takes you deeper into the world of Emily Dickinson, and the work of our guest poets.
In Season 1, Episode 4 of Dickinson, Emily has a disappointing encounter with one of her literary heroes, Henry David Thoreau. In this bonus episode, Jericho, Breezy and US Poet Laureate Ada Limón reflect on poets (Carolyn Kizer, Louise Glück, Thomas Sayres Ellis) whose work they love but who let them down (or even broke their heart) in real life. And they celebrate poets (Toi Dericotte, Terrance Hayes, Yona Harvey) who showed them the way to be a...2022-10-0713 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E4 "Heaven forbid a woman be wild" w/Ada LimónEmily's father scoffs at her objection to cutting down an old tree to make way for the railroad, sending her (and suitor George) on a pilgrimage to to see Henry David Thoreau, a visit that ends in disappointment. Should we be disappointed in the portrayal of Thoreau? Why does Emily's sister Lavinia play at being an Indian? Who are the real indigenous people in the background of this episode? And how do solitude and the wild figure in a poet's life?
Breezy, Jericho, and Aífe, joined by special guest US Poet Laureate Ada Limón, talk ba...2022-10-0346 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonBonus: Poets who are Black (and readers who aren't) w/Danez SmithEvery Friday, we release bonus material that takes you deeper into the world of Emily Dickinson, and the work of our guest poets.
This week, Danez Smith talks with Breezy and Jericho about why the title on the cover of their latest book (Homie) is not its real title, and what that has to do with language, access, and who you're writing for. And in the middle of it all, Danez transports us to the scene "at the downlow house party".2022-09-3006 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E3 "That's some freaky shit" w/Danez SmithA party jumps off at the Dickinsons, and raises lots of questions: Were they taking opium in 19th century Massachusetts? How did the son of a samurai end up there? What's with the colorblind twerking? And why doesn't anybody seem to understand Sue? Plus, the perils of poetry about Black death in a world of white readers.
Breezy, Jericho, and Aife, joined by special guest poet Danez Smith, talk back to Season 1, Episode 3 of Dickinson "Wild Nights."
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Poems featured in the episode:
Color - Caste - Denomination by Emily Dickinson
2022-09-2748 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonDickinson Q&A: Black self-defense in the Yankee North -- the story of Angeline PalmerEvery Friday, we release bonus material that takes you deeper into the work of our guest poets, and the world of Emily Dickinson. The story of Angeline Palmer reveals how tenuous freedom was for Black people, even in the Yankee North -- and how the Dickinsons weren't exactly reliable allies.2022-09-2418 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E2 Emily's so-called life? w/Rage HezekiahWhat do we know about the reality of domestic servants in the Dickinson household, and about Maggie in particular? How was cross-dressing different when the emotional worlds of men and women were sharply separated? And as Emily erupts, sexually and poetically, Jericho asks: Where was queer TV like this when I needed it?
Breezy, Jericho, and Aife, joined by special guest poet Rage Hezekiah, talk back to Season 1, Episode 2 of Dickinson "I have never seen 'Volcanoes'". 2022-09-2039 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E1 "Oh, she's getting provided for"Emily and Sue share a rain-soaked kiss -- what's the historical truth of their queer relationship? How can Emily not realize her father will flip out about her publishing her poems? Why do the first lines from a Black character come from Wiz Khalifa as Death? And how to react to a privileged young white woman who says "I'm a slave"?
Jericho, Breezy, and Aife leap in and talk back to the pilot that started it all.2022-09-2036 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonSeason One Preview!Season One of The Slave is Gone is finally here! Get a taste of what Jericho, Breezy, and Aife will be talking about with guest poets including Rage Hezekiah, Danez Smith, and US Poet Laureate Ada Limón.2022-09-1502 min
The Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E1: "Oh, she's getting provided for"Emily and Sue share a rain-soaked kiss -- what’s the historical truth of their queer passion? How can Emily not realize her father will flip out about her publishing her poems? Why do the first lines from a Black character come from Wiz Khalifa as Death? And how to react to a privileged young white woman who says “I’m a slave”? Jericho, Breezy, and Aífe leap in and talk back to the pilot that started it all.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theslaveisgone/message2021-11-0336 min
United Against SilenceWhat Joy Has Kept Us Here with Brionne JanaeBrionne Janae is a poet and teaching artist living in Brooklyn. They are the author of Blessed are the Peacemakers (2021) which won the 2020 Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize, and After Jubilee (2017) published by Boat Press. Brionne has received fellowships to Cave Canem, Sewanee Writers Conference, Vermont Studio Center and Hedgebrook. Their poetry has been published in Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review, The Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, The Sun Magazine, jubilat, and Waxwing among others. Off the page they go by Breezy.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cbaw/support2021-10-0822 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonThe Slave Is Gone: Season 1 TrailerGet a taste of how our hosts Jericho Brown and Brionne Janae -- and "rogue scholar" Aife Murray -- will talk back to Dickinson, and bring context to Emily Dickinson's poetry and the world she lived in. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theslaveisgone/message2021-08-1400 min
The Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonS1E1: "Oh, she's getting provided for"Emily and Sue share a rain-soaked kiss -- what’s the historical truth of their queer passion? How can Emily not realize her father will flip out about her publishing her poems? Why do the first lines from a Black character come from Wiz Khalifa as Death? And how to react to a privileged young white woman who says “I’m a slave”? Jericho, Breezy, and Aife leap in and talk back to the pilot that started it all.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theslaveisgone/message2021-08-0237 min
The Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonDickinson Q & A: Would Emily's Mom have freaked out if she found her kissing George?Would Emily's Mom have freaked out if she found her kissing George, the suitor Emily’s set up with in the show? This clip mentions Emily’s sister Lavinia.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theslaveisgone/message2021-08-0102 minThe Slave Is Gone: The Show That Talks Back to AppleTV+'s DickinsonDickinson Q & A: Black self-defense in the Yankee North -- the story of Angeline Palmer.The story of Angeline Palmer reveals how tenuous freedom was for Black people, even in the Yankee North -- and how the Dickinsons weren't exactly reliable allies. This clip mentions Emily’s father Edward Dickinson and Emily’s brother Austin Dickinson.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theslaveisgone/message2021-07-3118 min