Best Penny English Podcasts (2024)

1
Adam's "Bone of My Bone" 6:05

33m ago6:05

6:05

Though rarely anthologized or even contemplated as such, today’s poem is arguably the very first–and its a solid beginning. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
William Butler Yeats' "Brown Penny" 7:44

23h ago7:44

7:44

Today’s poem is one of the purest and most earnest offerings from one of the most indefatigable lover-poets of the twentieth century. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Marianne Moore's "Silence" 9:51

2d ago9:51

9:51

Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. She was nominated for the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature. -bio via Wikipedia Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.co…

1
Matthew Hollis' "The Diomedes" 10:12

5d ago10:12

10:12

Today’s poem comes from Matthew Hollis’ remarkable collection, Earth House, which blends explorations of the four cardinal directions and original translations of Anglo-Saxon verse from the Exeter Book. Matthew Hollis was born in Norwich in 1971, and now lives in London. His debut Ground Water (Bloodaxe Books, 2004) was shortlisted for the Guardian…

1
Jim Daniels' "Short-Order Cook" 8:09

6d ago8:09

8:09

Today’s poem goes out to all the unsung heroes of the grease trap and the fry basket. Happy reading. Jim Daniels is the author of numerous collections of poetry, most recently The Middle Ages (Red Mountain Press, 2018) and Street Calligraphy (Steel Toe Books, 2017). His third collection, Places/Everyone (University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), won th…

1
Lucille Clifton's "cutting greens" 9:43

6d ago9:43

9:43

Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York, on June 27, 1936. Her first book of poems, Good Times (Random House, 1969), was rated one of the best books of the year by the New York Times. Clifton remained employed in state and federal government positions until 1971, when she became a writer in residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryla…

1
Robert Graves' "I'd Love to Be a Fairy's Child" 4:05

8d ago4:05

4:05

Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celticists and students of Irish mythology. Robert Graves produced more than 140 works in his lifetime. His poe…

1
Carl Sandburg's "Fog" 4:47

9d ago4:47

4:47

Today’s economical little poem from Carl Sandburg is jam-packed with allusion and metaphor. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Donald Davidson's "Lee in the Mountains" Pt. 2 5:04

12d ago5:04

5:04

The conclusion to yesterday’s poem. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Episode 6: Into the Cosmos (Pt.2) 38:02

13d ago38:02

38:02

To conclude our little journey into afro-futurism, Penny sites SOME of her favorite artists in the cannon of this universe. Calling this episode, "Descendants of Space Dust". All music composed by Penny English Lunaticus Records & Media Naptown, USA https://www.instagram.com/pennyenglish317/ https://pennyenglishwho.wordpress.com/ https://soundcloud…

1
Donald Davidson's "Lee in the Mountains" Pt. 1 6:24

13d ago6:24

6:24

Today, while the host works in the mountains, we are featuring the first half of a longer poem by Fugitive poet Donald Davidson, imagining the inner agonies of a Robert E. Lee in retirement. Part 2 tomorrow. Associated with the Fugitives and Southern Agrarians, poet Donald (Grady) Davidson was born in Tennessee and earned both a BA and an MA from V…

1
Robert Bly's "The Moon" 7:06

14d ago7:06

7:06

Robert Bly (born December 23, 1926, in Madison, Minnesota) is the author of more than thirty books of poetry, including Stealing Sugar from the Castle: Selected Poems (W. W. Norton, 2013); Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems(W. W. Norton, 2011); Reaching Out to the World: New and Selected Prose Poems (White Pine Press, 2009); My Sentence Was a …

1
Jane Kenyon's "Otherwise" 7:34

15d ago7:34

7:34

Jane Kenyon (1947–1995), former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire, was the author of four volumes of poetry. Her collected poems were published by Graywolf Press in 2007. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
R. S. Gwynn's "Shakespearean Sonnet" 7:06

16d ago7:06

7:06

Today’s poem isn’t what you think, until you do some thinking–then its exactly what you thought. R. S. Gwynn (born 1948) is the author of six collections of poetry, including Dogwatch (2014) and the University of Missouri Breakthrough Award winner The Drive-In (1986). -bio via Library of Congress Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypo…

1
Bonny Light Horseman 57:19

17d ago57:19

57:19

The circle is complete. I’ve had recent interviews with Anais Mitchell (together with Charlotte Cornfield) and with Eric D. Johnson, but now that we’ve added Josh Kaufman, this is a full-on Bonny Light Horseman episode. I enjoyed this conversation immensely because we dove into their collective process, not just their individual processes. And list…

1
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 94 ("They that have power") 10:26

19d ago10:26

10:26

Today’s poem, a lover’s plea disguised as a meditation on virtuous restraint, marks the end of our week of sonnets. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 147 ("My love is as a fever...") 10:30

20d ago10:30

10:30

Today, the Bard gets bitter. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 ("That time of year...") 6:52

21d ago6:52

6:52

Today’s sonnet details a painful reality: even great poets lose their hair sometimes. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 ("Not marble...") 7:21

22d ago7:21

7:21

Today, a (biased) case for poems as the monuments that can outlast monuments. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee...") 8:59

23d ago8:59

8:59

Today’s poem–arguably the Bard’s most famous sonnet–will set the stage for four days of dramatically underrated Shakespearean sonnets. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Oliver Herford's "The Early Owl" 3:07

26d ago3:07

3:07

From a New York Times obituary of Oliver Herford (1860-1935): "His wit…was too original at first to go down with the very delectable highly respectable magazine editors of the Nineties. It was odd, unexpected, his own brand. It takes genius to write the best nonsense, which is often far more sensible than sense. Herford's, the result of care and po…

1
A. A. Milne's "Bad Sir Brian Botany" 4:19

27d ago4:19

4:19

Today’s poem is a good reminder about noblesse obliges. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Robert Louis Stevenson's "My Bed is a Boat" 4:24

28d ago4:24

4:24

Today’s poem might be a perfect companion to a bedtime-reading of Where the Wild Things Are on a balmy summer evening. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Hilaire Belloc's "Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably" 8:03

30d ago8:03

8:03

Today’s poem is another from Belloc–one of his Cautionary Tales for Children just in time for the beginning of a quiet summer (maybe?). Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
DIIV 58:16

30d ago58:16

58:16

All four members of DIIV (Zachary Cole Smith, Andrew Bailey, Colin Caulfield, Ben Newman) joined me to talk about their individual songwriting processes. This interview could've gone on forever because they are so passionate about creativity. What's interesting is that their individual songwriting processes don't have too much in common, but perhap…

1
Hilaire Belloc's "On the Gift of a Book to a Child" 3:47

1M ago3:47

3:47

Today’s poem is a series of increasingly vital pleas. Happy reading. For more of Belloc’s advice to the young, find yourself a copy of Cautionary Tales for Children! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Helping migrants in Australia to improve their English: A chat with Dory Wang from SBS Learn English 55:25

1M ago55:25

55:25

Moving to a new country is never easy (did someone say culture shock?), but it can be especially challenging if you need to learn how to live your life in a different language when you get there. How will you buy groceries or make a doctor’s appointment? How do you get a job and then, once you have one, navigate the workplace? Our guest for this ep…

1
Bonus: "Morituri Salutamus" in full 16:22

1M ago16:22

16:22

Today we’re feeling out a Saturday bonus episode featuring a reading of “Morituri Salutamus” in its entirety. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Selections From Longfellow's "Morituri Salutamus" 8:38

1M ago8:38

8:38

Today’s episode features selections from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s fifty-year retrospective on his own graduation, the lengthy speech-in-verse, “Morituri Salutamus: Poem for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Class of 1825 in Bowdoin College.” Come back tomorrow to hear the poem in full. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at d…

1
Christina Rossetti's "Up-Hill" 6:06

1M ago6:06

6:06

Today’s poem from Christina Rossetti is not about high school or college, but it might still be about graduation. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
C. P. Cavafy's "Che Fece...Il Gran Rifiuto" 9:20

1M ago9:20

9:20

Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy, was a Greek poet, journalist, and civil servant from Alexandria. A major figure of modern Greek literature, he is sometimes considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century. -bio via Wikipedia Get full access to T…

1
Matthew Zapruder's "Graduation Day" 8:57

1M ago8:57

8:57

Matthew Zapruder is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently I Love Hearing Your Dreams, forthcoming from Scribner in September 2024, as well as two books of prose: Why Poetry (Ecco, 2017) and Story of a Poem (Unnamed, 2023). He is editor at large at Wave Books, where he edits contemporary poetry, prose, and translations. From 2016-7 …

1
John Ciardi's "An Emeritus Addresses the School" 10:18

1M ago10:18

10:18

About the creative process itself, John Ciardi argued in the Writer that “it isn’t easy to make a poem,” adding, “It is better than easy: it is joyously, consumingly difficult. As it is difficult, too, though without joy, to face one’s failures.” Noting that the creation of successful verse requires definite skill, he wrote: “I insist that a poet n…

1
Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper 50:51

1M ago50:51

50:51

Does the mind of Eric Earley from Blitzen Trapper ever rest? I think not. After all, he told me that he liked to solve math problems in college while he was making breakfast. Earley is a voracious reader who just finished his self-proclaimed "Time of the Tomes," in which he read nothing but, well, tomes. (The longer, the better. Infinite Jest? Plea…

1
Matsuo Bashō's Spring Haiku 9:52

1M ago9:52

9:52

Today’s poems are all about the ineffable experience of spring. Happy reading! The 17th-century Japanese haiku master Bashō was born Matsuo Kinsaku near Kyoto, Japan, to a minor samurai and his wife. Soon after the poet’s birth, Japan closed its borders, beginning a seclusion that allowed its native culture to flourish. It is believed that Bashō’s …

1
Thomas Nashe's "Spring, the sweet spring" 8:00

1M ago8:00

8:00

Today’s poem–an unambiguous paean to spring–suggests Thomas Nashe and T. S. Eliot had very different feelings about the month of April. Happy reading! Thomas Nashe (1567 - c. 1601) –English pamphleteer, poet, dramatist, and novelist– was the first of the English prose eccentrics. Nashe wrote in a vigorous combination of colloquial diction and idios…

1
Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Spring" 8:21

1M ago8:21

8:21

Today’s poem is a more complicated take on spring. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
E. E. Cummings' "[O sweet spontaneous]" 7:07

1M ago7:07

7:07

E.E. Cummings, in full Edward Estlin Cummings, (born October 14, 1894, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.—died September 3, 1962, North Conway, New Hampshire), American poet and painter who first attracted attention, in an age of literary experimentation, for his unconventional punctuation and phrasing. Cummings’s name is often styled “e.e. cummings” i…

1
Phillis Levin's "End of April 7:45

1M ago7:45

7:45

What started as an early spring is now not long for this world. In an attempt to stave off an early summer, we have a week of poems dedicated to the fairest of the seasons. Happy reading. Phillis Levin (born 1954) is the author of four poetry collections, including May Day (Penguin, 2008). She also served as editor for The Penguin Book of the Sonne…

1
Deerlady 54:04

2M ago54:04

54:04

Deerlady is Mali Obomsawin and Magdalena Abrego, and their debut album Greatest Hits is my favorite album of the year, and this is also one of my favorite interviews because we had so much fun. I first heard Deerlady while listening to my old college radio station, WTHS at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. They played "Bounty," and it was one of t…

1
Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" 5:23

2M ago5:23

5:23

Today’s poem is a Robert Frost classic of which everyone always remembers the wrong part. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Robert Southey's "His Books" 10:04

2M ago10:04

10:04

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a radical but became steadily more conservative as he gained respect for Britain and its institutions. Other romantics such as Byron accused him of siding…

1
William Butler Yeats' "When You Are Old" 5:17

2M ago5:17

5:17

Today’s poem goes out to all the ‘pilgrim souls.’ Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
John Keats' "How many bards gild the lapses of time" 9:01

2M ago9:01

9:01

In today’s poem, John Keats isn’t worried about authenticity–and that’s just fine. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Dorothy Wordsworth's "Loving and Liking" 9:36

2M ago9:36

9:36

Today’s poem reminds us how much is sometimes riding on the proper grammatical distinctions. Born in Cumberland, British Romantic poet and prose writer Dorothy Wordsworth was the third of five children. Her mother died when Wordsworth was six, and she moved to Halifax to live with her aunt. In 1781 she enrolled in Hipperholme Boarding School. When …

1
Emily Dickinson's "Tell all the truth but tell it slant–" 3:59

2M ago3:59

3:59

Today’s poem is almost too bright for our infirm delight. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
H. D.'s "Eurydice" 6:19

2M ago6:19

6:19

Today’s poem features a failed resurrection and a response that spirals through all the customary stages of grief. Hilda Doolittle was born on September 10, 1886, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She attended Bryn Mawr College, where she was a classmate of Marianne Moore. Doolittle later enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where she befriended E…

1
C. S. Lewis' "Stephen to Lazarus" 5:04

2M ago5:04

5:04

Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a posit…

1
Paul Ruffin's "We Write Nasty Notes at the Academic Conference" 6:26

2M ago6:26

6:26

Find somebody to watch the kids while you giggle through today’s poem. Happy reading. Respected editor, publisher, writer and poet, Paul Ruffin often relied upon his experiences growing up in the South as a foundation for his stories. He was born in Millport, Alabama, and grew up outside Columbus, Mississippi. After serving in the U.S. Army, Ruffin…

1
A. E. Stallings' "Dead Language Lesson" 9:51

2M ago9:51

9:51

Today’s poem ponders what love makes of language. Happy reading. A.E. (Alicia) Stallings is the Oxford Professor of Poetry. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia, and studied classics at the University of Georgia and Oxford University. Her poetry collections include Like (2018), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Olives (2012), which was nominated for a …

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