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Poems about Motherhood by Sharon Olds and Bernadette Mayer

Season 3 Episode 6 | 25m 38s

Sharon Olds’s “The Language of the Brag” and Bernadette Mayer’s “The Desires of Mothers to Please Others in Letters” are exuberant, boisterous tributes to motherhood. Both poets join host Elisa New, actor Donna Lynne Champlin, writer Emily Oster, activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, obstetrician Lorna Wilkerson, and co-founders of Our Bodies Ourselves to explore the miracle, and mess, of creating new life.

Aired: 02/24/22 | Expires: 03/25/22
Support for Poetry in America is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Dalio Family Fund, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Deborah Hayes Stone and Max Stone, Nancy Zimmerman and Walmart. Seasons 4 & 3 are distributed to PBS stations nationwide by PBS Plus, with Seasons 1 & 2 distributed nationally by American Public Television.
Extras
Poems by Wheatley with Amanda Gorman, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Richard Blanco, and more.
Performers, politicians, preachers and more join Elisa New to celebrate American poems.
Leslie Jamison, Olivia Gatwood, & more read a sonnet by Millay with host Elisa New.
Linda Hogan & Alberto Ríos explore their poems with host Elisa New, Jeff Corwin & more.
Caroline Kennedy, Tracy K. Smith & more read Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” with Elisa New.
Cassandra Wilson, Elisa New & more read Evie Shockley’s “you can say that again, billie.”
DJ Spooky, Joshua Bennett, & more discuss A.R. Ammon’s “Cascadilla Falls” with Elisa New.
Gloria Estefan & more read Richard Blanco’s "Looking for The Gulf Motel" with Elisa New.
Tony Kushner, David Strathairn & more read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” with Elisa New.
Poets, public figures, and everyday Americans join host Elisa New to read American poems.
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Leslie Jamison, Olivia Gatwood, & more read a sonnet by Millay with host Elisa New.
Linda Hogan & Alberto Ríos explore their poems with host Elisa New, Jeff Corwin & more.