VS - Pod.casts

Paul Tran vs. the Past

February 19, 2019 06:00 - 49 minutes - 46 MB

We back and we back and we back with Season 3! We start off a whole new season of the same ole shindig with the brilliant poet Paul Tran. They talk about learning history to ask the questions they had about their family, creating new a new poetic form, and the gawd Toni Morrison. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

VS Live with Fatimah Asghar, José Olivarez, and Paul Tran

January 29, 2019 06:00 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MB

Happy new year y’all! VS returns with a special bonus episode to tide you over until Season 3 drops in February. In the meantime, savor and enjoy this live episode with the squad Fatimah Asghar, José Olivarez, and Paul Tran, recorded as part of the Chicago Podcast Festival. Season 3, on the way!!!

Jamila Woods vs. The Remedy

December 13, 2018 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.7 MB

Can we fanperson out for a goshdarn second? We have the one and only Jamila Woods in the building! She talks about her family’s penchant for healing, sampling loopholes, lactose tolerance, bad interviews, and more.

Kara Jackson vs. Titles

December 04, 2018 06:00 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MB

This episode’s guest Kara Jackson is a poet, and she’s got the honorary prefix to prove it. She talks with Danez and Franny about being Chicago’s third Youth Poet Laureate, family nicknames in the South, introversion, and JONI MITCHELL. OH YES, JONI MITCHELL!

ReVS with Eve Ewing: Apocalypse Now

November 20, 2018 06:00 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MB

Hop in the wayback machine with us for our very first ReVS episode, in which we return to an already-released VS conversation and catch up with the ideas and themes that were discussed. On this ReVS, we jump back to our first episode ever, with the brilliant Eve Ewing–Franny and Danez discuss how we’ve survived and thrived through the last two years of apocalypse, what’s staying in their apocalypse knapsacks, and much more! Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Jonathan Mendoza vs. The Movement

November 06, 2018 06:00 - 53 minutes - 49.6 MB

Jonathan Mendoza is a poet, performer, and organizer who’s just getting his feet under him here in Chicago. He previously did his organizing thang in Boston and San Antonio, and now works as a housing rights organizer with Pilsen Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in the primarily Mexican and Mexican-American neighborhood. He’s also a real smartie and a real cutie.

Kimiko Hahn vs. Portals

October 23, 2018 05:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MB

Kimiko Hahn joins Danez and Franny as they go down some rabbit holes, and maybe even through a few portals. They talk her tenth book, poetic auntie status, Japanese poetry as inspiration, and closure. Follow VS on twitter: http://twitter.com/vsthepodcast!

Jacob Saenz vs. The Block

October 09, 2018 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MB

VS hits the block with Jacob Saenz, whose APR/Honickman Prize-winning collection Throwing the Crown just dropped on Copper Canyon Press. He chats with Franny and Danez about writing back to his childhood street in Cicero, IL, the fantasy series he wrote as a kid, care as craft, and more. Make sure to cop Throwing the Crown from your local bookseller!

H. Melt vs. Trans Liberation

September 25, 2018 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MB

H. Melt comes through the VS studio for a wonderful conversation about their work, how they build trans futures through rereading their past, and the paths they’re taking on their way to liberation. Plus, our first Chaco shoe reference. Which is exciting. Also, write us a review to gas up our egos and help VS reach new ears!

Emily Jungmin Yoon vs. Femininity

September 11, 2018 05:00 - 42 minutes - 39.2 MB

Poet and translator Emily Jungmin Yoon comes through the studio for a deep dive into her work translating contemporary and modern Korean poetry, her new collection A Cruelty Special to Our Species, and a beautiful conversation reimagining femininity in poetry. Plus, a truly diasporic This vs. That! Her new book is available September 18th.

Nate Marshall vs. Fear

August 28, 2018 05:00 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MB

VS hosts Danez and Franny chop it up with poet, editor, professor, and bald-headed cutie Nate Marshall. They discuss the terror of a new book, white supremacist Nate Marshall, masculinity and hero narratives, Voldemort vs. the Joker, and much more. Be sure to subscribe to VS, and leave us a wonderful review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Angel Nafis vs. Observation

May 29, 2018 14:00 - 1 hour - 62.9 MB

Angel Nafis is paying attention. She talks with Danez and Franny about learning to rescale her sight, getting through grad school with some new skills in her pocket, activated charcoal, and her two Franks (Ocean and O’Hara).

Safia Elhillo vs. Shame

May 15, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 57.7 MB

Safia Elhillo is a goshdarn timespace-suspending poet. She’s also this week’s guest. Danez, Franny, and Safia talk unraveling shame, opening the door to a queer Muslim literary community, caesuras and contrapunctals, and much much more!

Kaveh Akbar vs. Bewilderment

May 01, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 61.8 MB

Danez and Franny dive deep with Divedapper creator, poet, professor, and voracious reader Kaveh Akhbar. The squad talks Twitter, trees, memorizing poems while in love, and the Milwaukee Bucks, plus much more.

Britteney Black Rose Kapri vs. Black Queer Hoetics

April 17, 2018 05:00 - 59 minutes - 54.5 MB

Britteney Black Rose Kapri joins Danez and Franny for a hoot of a podcast, in which the squad breaks down Hoe Poetics, the joys and challenges of mentorship, and much, much more. Britteney’s upcoming book Black Queer Hoe, featuring a foreword by Danez, is dropping September 4th, and is available for preorder now.

Jamaal May vs. The Multiverse

April 03, 2018 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MB

Jamaal May blasts off into hyperspace on this episode of VS. Danez and Franny run with the poet, MC, professor, and thinker as they talk waves, matter, neurology, future, and even a few poems.

Hanif Abdurraqib & Angel Nafis vs. AWP Live!

March 20, 2018 05:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MB

VS gets live at AWP, where Danez and Franny hosted a packed show featuring the magnificent Hanif Abdurraqib and Angel Nafis. Hear some poems, some nipple-related discussion, and some rooftop giggles on this episode, recorded in front of a live audience on March 8th, 2018. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Tarfia Faizullah vs. Beauty

March 06, 2018 07:00 - 53 minutes - 49.6 MB

We’re back, baby! We kick off season 2 of VS with brilliant poet Tarfia Faizullah for a helluva convo about balancing the beautiful and the grotesque, finding silliness, and much more! Listen and subscribe now for a whole upcoming season of goodness!

Knockouts

February 27, 2018 06:00 - 5 minutes - 5.35 MB

Just because the podcast was in between seasons doesn't mean that Franny and Danez stopped being wrecked by the words and ideas around them. Peep some art that's been knocking them out, and subscribe to VS now. Season 2 premiere on the way next Tuesday March 6th Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Franny and Danez's Season 1 Favorite Moments

February 20, 2018 06:00 - 4 minutes - 4.13 MB

With Season 2 of VS on the way, Danez and Franny think back to some of their top Season 1 moments. Subscribe now, and listen to VS Season 2 when it premieres on March 6th! Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

VS Season 2: Coming March 6!

February 13, 2018 06:00 - 2 minutes - 2.36 MB

Franny and Danez get ready for Season 2 of VS, the podcast where poets confront the ideas that move them! Get familiar, and subscribe so that you get the Season 2 premiere when it drops on March 6th! Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Krista Franklin vs. Time Travel

November 14, 2017 06:00 - 1 hour - 55.8 MB

VS wraps up its wonderful first season with the gawd Krista Franklin. The squad hops through time, collapses the continuum, shares some laughs, and ends the first season in style. Plus a very special treat at the end of the episode…

Kuumba Lynx vs. Transformation

October 31, 2017 05:00 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MB

VS gets communal with Jacinda Bullie and Darius Parker of Kuumba Lynx, a youth-focused radical arts organization based in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The squad talks transformative spaces, becoming an institution, writing joyful poetry, and much more. Four voices in effect!

avery r. young vs. the Page

October 17, 2017 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MB

Chicago legend avery r. young comes through the VS studio and takes poetry off the page with Franny and Danez. The discussion bounces from writing in an enclave, to pain and survival, to holding his mule. Plus, a very special performance.

Raych Jackson vs. the Good Books

October 03, 2017 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MB

Raych Jackson swings through the VS studio to talk her win at NUPIC (The National Poetry Individual Competition), the brilliant kidlets in the third grade class she teaches, and remixing biblical tales in her first book, which is in the works. Plus, a new segment makes its debut, with a poem from a VS alum!

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