VS

We’re off over the rainbow with the wonderful wizard of this pod, Suzi F. Garcia! The poet and editor takes Franny and Danez on a deep dive into the nuances and oddities of The Wizard of Oz, and it’s a wild wild world. Come down the yellow brick road with the squad! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Monica Sok is on the pod! Franny and Danez talk with the author of A Nail the Evening Hangs On, which came out in 2020 on Copper Canyon, about working through a traumatic collective history and coming out the other side, the delight of learning Khmer in pandemic times, finding a home for her mind, and much much more. This one is a gem, friends! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

torrin greathouse is in the VS house! The author of Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, Torrin talks about queering form with the utmost intention, examining what community actually means, returning to martial arts after many years, searching for truth in journalism and poetry, and much more! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Franny and Danez get to talk to a poet they’ve stanned for many a year–Eduardo Corral! A poet and Professor at NC State, Eduardo’s newest book Guillotine came out last year. He talks about writing into loneliness, sticking with the wound, the sublimity of bad reality TV, and much more. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

The VS fam returns to kick off Season 5! After an announcement about the future of the show, we get into a great conversation with the wonderful poet Ada Limón. We talk birds, epiphanies, loneliness, and much more. Plus, a new game and a goofy-ass outro. Enjoy! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

VS Season 4 wraps up with a whisper, a bang, a smile, and a hug from Naomi Shihab Nye! The legendary poet brings a fistful of sunshine to her conversation with Franny and Danez about learning from her four year-old grandson, holding onto hope and wonder, the magic and utility of child brain, creating welcoming poems, and so much more.  NOTE: VS is going to be taking its customary break between seasons, but will be returning for a fifth season next year. Stay tuned for updates! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Franny and Danez get their hands dirty with the inimitable Aracelis Girmay! The prolific and wonderful poet talks about the childhood joy of dirt, parenting in a pandemic, how she centers truth in her poetry, and much more. Plus, we start off with a potential new name for the show…? NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

On this episode, we get to talk on this episode with the legend, superstar, and self-proclaimed “baby yoda” Marilyn Chin. We talk about her long journey toward building Asian-American poetics, being the Nicki Minaj for so many young writers (in that all of these bitches are her sons), how she’s balancing quarantine with Youtube rabbit holes, and so much more. Plus, the play-by-play of a legendary physical brawl, in which she scraped with a beloved American poet. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Nandi Comer climbs in the ring with Franny and Danez for this wonderful, warm episode of VS. The Detroiter, whose new book Tapping Out is available now from Northwestern University Press, talks about her love of lucha libre mexican wrestling, writing into a tradition that isn’t her own, the ways that academia can rob poets of their humanity, and DETROIT! Pick up Nandi’s book Tapping Out here: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/tapping-out NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Danez and Franny have the honor and pleasure of chopping it up with the brilliant Randall Horton on this episode of the show. Randall, whose newest collection {#289-128}: Poems just dropped this month, talks about coming to know his story so that he could eventually write about it, resisting being boxed in as a poet who was incarcerated, and what he’s learned from his collaborations with jazz musicians. Get into it! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review