The gang sits down with AWG poets Ashwin Verghese and Ron Giegle who do a great job of making poetry accessible. They talk form, their personal approaches to reading and writing poetry, what makes a poem "break containment," and more. They analyze poems selected in advance and then Ashwin and Ron recite poems of their own.

Here's what we talked about:

The Poetry Foundation

"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks

"Good Bones" by Maggie Smith

"Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins

"Ars Poetica" by Archibald Macleish

And here's the link to the performance of "The Stranger's Case" the gang discussed...they got 2 details right (it was Ian McKellen on Stephen Colbert) and everything else wrong...but it's defiitely worth a watch.

Stacie leads this discussion about side characters. What makes them memorable? How are they different from secondary characters? Which ones do we love?

Artwork mentioned:

"The Pitt" HBO Max

"Big Little Lies" "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty

"Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells ("All Systems Red" is #1)

"A Song of Fire and Ice" by George R.R. Martin

The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey ("Leviathan Wakes" is #1)

The Harry Bosch Series by Michael Connelly ("The Black Echo" is #1)

Jack Reacher books by Lee Child ("Killing Floor" is #1)

The Gentleman Bastard Series by Scott Lynch

"The Lies of Locke Lamora" #1

"Red Seas Under Red Skies" #2

"The Republic of Thieves" #3

"Lincoln in the Bardo" by George Saunders

Heated Rivalry books by Rachel Reid ("The Long Game" is #6)

When is a bad writing day a slump? And when is that slump creative despair? And what do you do about it? Michael, Stacie, and Lori, left their individual pits of despair to get together and talk about it and eat their feelings. The 24-layer cake at Carnegie Diner was just the ticket.