Steven Allardi

May 18, 2024 | poetryinamerica.org | Martin Espada |Steven Allardi |Stephen Breyer |Jill Lepore

Long before he won the National Book Award, Martín Espada worked after school in a factory making legal pads. Espada, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, economists Natasha Sarin, Betsey Stevenson, and Justin Wolfers, historian Jill Lepore, and actor John Turturro join Elisa New to reflect on social mobility, and what connects manual labor with the raw materials of poetry and law. Interested in learning more?

Apr 26, 2024 | poetryinamerica.org | Evie Shockley |Steven Allardi |Robin D.G. Kelley |LisaGay Hamilton

Billie 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. Special thanks to our humanities advisers: Dr. Joshua Bennett; & Raquel Kennon.