Lit from the Basement
54 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 31 ratingsThis is a podcast in which Professor Deulen introduces poetry to her irreverent husband, Max. Each show is a close reading of a single poem. They discuss it for a bit, allowing the conversation to take on a life of its own.
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Episodes
Show 052 KMUZ Interview as Our Last Episode for a While
June 10, 2021 22:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBWith the boys old enough for school, Max went and got himself a job, and now we just do not have enough time to do the show proper. We hope to drop the occasional show in the future, but are uncertain if it will be back with the release frequency from before. This interview was conducted at KMUZ (who have been awesome and broadcasting our show across the Willamette Valley) on February 18, 2020, a few months before we moved to Atlanta. Thank you for spending time with us. -Danielle & Max
Show 051 "To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian" by Ross Gay
December 16, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBWe are back from our sickness hiatus with “To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian” by Ross Gay. Topics include: gratitude, single-scene poem, short line breaks, and figs in myth.
Show 050 "To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian" by Ross Gay
December 16, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBWe are back from our sickness hiatus with “To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian” by Ross Gay. Topics include: gratitude, single-scene poem, short line breaks, and figs in myth.
Show 050 "Autobiographical: Another Draft" by Jacqueline Osherow
November 18, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 43.9 MBFor their 50th show, Danielle goes big with a long, long, powerful poem by Jacqueline Osherow. Topics include: terza rima, formalism, Willa Cather, interruptive syntax, and your present self admonishing your past self.
Show 049 "Yours" by Mary Robison
November 04, 2019 08:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBOwing to a house-wide plague, we are forced to pull a show from our reject pile. Please join us as we deviate from poetry to flash fiction with Mary Robison's "Yours" and as we go on way too long about personal ghost stories. Topics include: Halloween, fall, mortality, May/December romances, and failing to keep your atheist cred while discussing the supernatural.
Show 048 "Photo of a Girl, 1988: Cyborg" by Faylita Hicks
October 21, 2019 07:00 - 58 minutes - 40 MBWe discuss the poem "Photo of a Girl, 1988: Cyborg" from Faylita Hicks's debut collection Hoodwitch. Topics include: the mother figure in literature, enjambment, end-stopped lines, Afrofuturism, and the ampersand.
Show 047 "A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican" by Dixon Lanier Merritt
October 07, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 42.4 MBWe tackle the limerick form with poetry scholar Mike Chasar as he leads a deep dive into two versions of "A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican" by Dixon Lanier Merritt. Topics include: humorous poetry, "children's" literature, the pleasures of rhyme, and the 1913 Armory Show.
Show 046 "Things that Leave an Aching Feeling Inside" by Lee Ann Roripaugh
September 16, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBDanielle introduces Max to the list poem form with Lee Ann Roripaugh's "Things that Leave an Aching Feeling Inside." Topics include: list form, The Pillow Book, the importance of poetry during the Heian period, and breaking your own heart.
Show 045 "Sensual Vocabulary" by Karyna McGlynn
September 02, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 42.6 MBDanielle introduces Max to the concept of Ars Poetica with Karyna McGlynn's poem "Sensual Vocabulary." Topics include: Ars Poetica, Marianne Moore, September Women Poets, modernists, and George Washington as a school marm.
044 "Who Would I Show It To?" by Sally Ball
August 19, 2019 07:00 - 59 minutes - 40.6 MBAddressing a recent loss in her own life, Danielle shares with Max an elegy by Sally Ball that helped with her grieving. Topics include: elegies, suicide, stages of grief, Virginia Woolf, W.S. Merwin, and Dancer pose.
043 "The Immigrants (Winter Wear)" by Rane Arroyo
August 05, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 46 MBWe have another guest in our creepy basement; the author Scott Nadelson! He shares Rane Arroyo's poem "The Immigrants (Winter Wear)" with us. Topics include: tercets, Wallace Stevens, and Santa tempting Jesus in the desert.
042 "Unmailed Letter" by Joy Harjo
July 15, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBIn celebration of her appointment as the United States Poet Laureate, Danielle shares Joy Harjo's poem "Unmailed Letter" with Max. Topics include: irrational numbers, dialectical argument structure, and frustrating relationships.
041 "Map" by Bruce Snider
July 01, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 48.4 MBWe open season three (and celebrate 4th of July) with a fistful of Americana as Danielle introduces Max to Bruce Snider through his poem "Map." Talking points include the ghazal structure, Indiana, the color yellow, homoerotic Americana, and Walt Whitman.
040 "A Citizen" and "Immediate Song" by Don Bogen
May 06, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 28.8 MBFor our last show of season two, we have a twofer! Danielle shares Don Bogen's "A Citizen" and "Immediate Song" with Max. Talking points include lyric sequences, persona poems, an empire's twilight, and phrenology.
039 "Something New" by Carmen Giménez Smith
April 29, 2019 07:00 - 56 minutes - 25.9 MBDanielle shares Carmen Giménez Smith's "Something New" with Max. Talking points include love as work, marriage as labor, plushy chambers, and the etymology of mortgage.
038 "Ambition" by Gary Soto
April 22, 2019 07:00 - 58 minutes - 26.7 MBDanielle shares Gary Soto's "Ambition" with Max. Talking points include friendship, Seneca, Cicero, zoomorphism, pleasure, and Max’s time as a disgruntled shoe salesman.
037 "Lightening" by A. Molotkov
April 15, 2019 07:00 - 56 minutes - 25.9 MBDanielle shares A. Molotkov's "Lightening" with Max. Talking points include the prose poem, Aloysius Bertrand, fig trees, eye surgery, and Duncan MacDougall's dead-weighing experiments.
036 "[but the rain is full of ghosts tonight]" by dawn lonsinger
April 08, 2019 07:00 - 53 minutes - 24.6 MBDanielle shares "[but the rain is full of ghosts tonight]" by dawn lonsinger with Max. Talking points include Danielle's coining of the term "maximalism," Edna St. Vincent Millay, ghosts of lovers past, and rain, rain, rain.
035 "Animals" by Frank O'Hara
April 01, 2019 07:00 - 58 minutes - 27 MBGuest host dawn lonsinger shares Frank O'Hara's "Animals" with Danielle and Max. Talking points include: idioms, the New York School, personism, dune buggies, time, and square things vs. round things.
034 "The Romantic Lead" by Ian Williams
March 25, 2019 07:00 - 56 minutes - 25.7 MBDanielle shares "The Romantic Lead" by Ian Williams with Max. Talking points include contemporary sonnets, sextets and octaves, Swan Lake vs. Ladyhawk, reaction shots, and finding displeasure with Aquaman.
033 "The Soils I Have Eaten" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
March 18, 2019 07:00 - 58 minutes - 26.8 MBDanielle shares "The Soils I Have Eaten" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil with Max. Talking points include strophes, memories of place, prospecting by taste, and the 1980s arcade game Dig Dug.
032 "Dangerous for Girls" by Connie Voisine
March 11, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 28.1 MBDanielle shares "Dangerous for Girls" by Connie Voisine with Max. Talking points include dead girls, associative leaps, capitalist consumption, and watching infomercials while depressed.
031 "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie and the Banshees
March 04, 2019 08:00 - 57 minutes - 39.2 MBDanielle and Max discuss "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Talking points include March Vladness, Pompeii, verse-chorus form, Pliny the Younger, and Goth! Goth! Goth!
030 "The Same City" by Terrance Hayes
February 25, 2019 08:00 - 50 minutes - 23.3 MBIn this episode, Danielle shares "The Same City" by Terrance Hayes. Talking points include revision poems, cold and flu season, crappy weather, and mixing up biblical stepfathers.
029 "The Cinnamon Peeler" by Michael Ondaatje
February 18, 2019 08:00 - 56 minutes - 25.7 MBIn this episode, Danielle shares Michael Ondaatje’s “The Cinnamon Peeler.” Talking points include encounters with wild bears, how specifics make life interesting, persona poems, and Dune spice.
028 "Litany" by Rebecca Lindenberg
February 11, 2019 08:00 - 55 minutes - 25.3 MBIn this episode, Danielle shares Rebecca Lindenberg’s “Litany.” Talking points include Gal-entine’s Day, the classical formula of god summoning, lethologica vs. aphasia, and sabotaging people’s efforts to break up with you.
027 "What Myth Is" by Carl Phillips
February 04, 2019 08:00 - 55 minutes - 25.6 MBIn this episode, Danielle shares Carl Phillips’s “What Myth Is.” Talking points include what myths we identify with, Sonnet 130, the blazon, objective correlatives, and languid fingering.
026 "Letter from New York" by Erika L. Sánchez
January 28, 2019 08:00 - 55 minutes - 25.6 MBIn this episode, Danielle shares Erika L. Sánchez’s “Letter from New York.” Talking points include, well, New York, obviously, the epistolary form, our flooding basement, and poet Richard Hugo literally dropping bombs on five-year-old poet Charles Simic in Belgrade.
025 "Report from the Daughter of a Blue Planet" by Yona Harvey
January 21, 2019 08:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBIn this episode, Danielle shares with Max Yona Harvey’s "Report from the Daughter of a Blue Planet." Talking points include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Audre Lorde, and perfect line breaks.
024 "[ode]" by D.A. Powell
January 14, 2019 08:00 - 57 minutes - 26.6 MBIn this episode, Danielle overcomes Max's resistance to D.A. Powell's "[ode]." Talking points include Pindar vs. Horace, odes, hyacinths, trochees, and blue movies.
023 "Meditation at Lagunitas" by Robert Hass
January 07, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 27.6 MBFor her 40th birthday, Danielle has selected Robert Hass’s “Meditation at Lagunitas.” Talking points include Platonic ideals, blackberries, the linguist Saussure, and mastodon steaks.
022 "Kindness" and "Burning the Old Year" by Naomi Shihab Nye
December 31, 2018 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBDanielle and Max slam the door on 2018 by reading Naomi Shihab Nye's poems "Kindness" and "Burning the Old Year." Talking points include the new year, empathy, cruelty, and metaphorical landscapes.
021 "Visitation" by Mark Doty
December 24, 2018 08:00 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBFor this Christmas week, Danielle introduces Max to Mark Doty's Visitation. Talking points include the holidays, the Christmas Whale, and complicated joy.
020 "Nightingale" by Paisley Rekdal
December 17, 2018 08:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBDanielle and Max celebrate the 2018 winter solstice by reading Paisley Rekdal's “Nightingale." Talking points include handling a rude guest lecturer, John Keats, Odysseus/Ulysses, dwelling in doubt, and autolysis.
019 "Portrait of the Alcoholic Floating in Space with Severed Umbilicus" by Kaveh Akbar
December 10, 2018 08:00 - 57 minutes - 26.4 MBDanielle introduces Max to the poet Kaveh Akbar with the poem “Portrait of the Alcoholic Floating in Space with Severed Umbilicus.” Topics include addiction, the sublime, and why we love people in recovery.
018 “Visions and Interpretations” by Li-Young Lee
December 03, 2018 08:00 - 1 hour - 27.7 MBDanielle shares the poem “Visions and Interpretations” by Li-Young Lee with Max. Topics touched upon include elegies, miscommunications, and Mercury in retrograde.
017 "What is the Body" by Hannah Dow
November 26, 2018 08:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBDanielle shares Hannah Dow's poem "What is the Body" from her debut collection Rosarium with Max. Topics touched upon include René Descartes, nesting instincts. and tape worms.
016 "I Watch Her Eat the Apple" by Natalie Diaz
November 19, 2018 08:00 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBDanielle shares Natalie Diaz’s poem “I Watch Her Eat the Apple” with Max... who gets the poem very, very, very wrong. Topics include Thanksgiving, Oedipus, and some ugly facts about the Pilgrims.
015 "Drift" by Brenda Shaughnessy
November 12, 2018 08:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBDanielle shares Brenda Shaughnessy’s brutally clever poem “Drift” with Max. Topics touched upon include metaphysical poets, paradox, and staying in bad relationships.
014 "Door" by Dana Levin
November 05, 2018 08:00 - 58 minutes - 26.6 MBDanielle explains her personal connection to Dana Levin's "Door," working for a mean art dealer, and the dream that lead her to teaching. Max laments too many choices and, once again, brings up Watership Down.
013 "Ghazal of Dark Death" by Federico García Lorca
October 29, 2018 07:00 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MBBy sheer coincidence, our 13th show falls on Halloween week! Danielle sets the Halloween mood with Lorca's Ghazal of Dark Death. Max is a little disappointed to find it has nothing to do with the Ghostbusters antagonist.
012 "Departure" by Ocean Vuong
October 22, 2018 07:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBDanielle explains what an aubade is to Max by sharing Ocean Vuong's wonderfully dark poem "Departure" with him. Max is thrilled. Maybe too thrilled.
011 "Wishbone" & "Planet of Love" by Richard Siken
October 15, 2018 07:00 - 1 hour - 34.8 MBIn this extended episode, Shaun and Danielle discuss two poems from Richard Siken's Crush (Wishbone and Planet of Love) and how they work together in that crazy, sexy thrill ride of a book.
011 "Wishbone" by Richard Siken
October 15, 2018 07:00 - 52 minutes - 24.1 MBDanielle is in Washington, DC with friend Shaun Daniels to discuss Wishbone from Richard Siken's crazy, sexy thrill ride of a book Crush.
010 "Rodin's Fallen Caryatid" by Lindsay Bernal
October 08, 2018 07:00 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MBThis week we look at Lindsay Bernal's poem Rodin's Fallen Caryatid from her book What It Doesn't Have to Do With, which won the 2017 National Poetry Series. We discuss Danielle's history with the poet, Godzilla studies, and Danielle tries to explain "ekphrasis" to Max.
009 "Be Ahead of All Parting" by Rainer Maria Rilke
October 01, 2018 07:00 - 55 minutes - 25.5 MBWe have our first guests! Portland-based Doula Olivia Murphy brings Rilke's poem to the show and tells us why she loves it. Topics touched upon include the 2008 financial crisis, translation, winter in Vermont, Greek myth, and enduring hardship with grace. Max pays Danielle the best compliment she has ever received.
008 "Manistee Light" by Samiya Bashir
September 24, 2018 07:00 - 56 minutes - 38.9 MBSeptember Women Poets month wraps up with Samiya Bashir's poem. We discuss the pastoral tradition and how this poem can be an anti-pastoral work, our poor gardening, and Danielle explains some math terms to Max.
007 "Obedience, or the Lying Tale" by Jennifer Chang
September 17, 2018 07:00 - 56 minutes - 25.8 MBJennifer Chang's poem leads to a discussion of the "flatness" of fairy tale characters, and how her poem defies it with the complexity of her speaker.
006 "The Explosive Expert's Wife" by Shara Lessley
September 10, 2018 07:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBLessley's poem prompts D&M to contemplate the geopolitical complexities of love and where to meet in the afterlife.
005 "White, White Collars" by Denis Johnson
September 02, 2018 07:00 - 55 minutes - 25.6 MBTo celebrate Labor Day, we share a Denis Johnson poem sure to make you further hate your office job.