<< Full show notes and poems on Substack>>

When profound grief bears astonishing gifts, how do we hold both truths at once?

In the conclusion of this two-part mini-series, host Rachel Schroeder welcomes former students and current mentees — young women she’s mentored since 2020 across three continents, but never in the same room: Chiara Masci, a psychology graduate devoted to holistic wellbeing, dance, and the arts in Gubbio, Italy, and Mahnoushsadat Moossavi, an international Tai Chi champion, educator, and human rights advocate in Warsaw, Poland.

In keeping with the mini-series format, Chiara and Mahnoush read each other’s poems in English, and along with Rachel, follow the conversation wherever it leads. The poets then read their own poems in their mother tongues: Italian and Farsi. Through Mahnoush’s “ShirAli” and Chiara’s “Soul Gaze,” they encounter loss unflinchingly, and together, uncover its gifts.

Hosted & Produced by Rachel Schroeder • Music by Andrew Veivers • Cover Art by Mathayu Warren Lane • Sound Engineering by Revision Sound.

Recorded in New York City, on unceded Lenape land; in Gubbio, Italy; and in Warsaw, Poland. Engineered in Lewisville, Texas, on Jumanos and Kickapoo land.

... Because poetry lives between friends.

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What if you're the friend you've always longed for?

In the first of a two-part mini-series, host Rachel Schroeder welcomes former students and current mentees she has known since 2020 but has yet to meet in person: Carlotta Campara, a graduate student engaged at the intersection of psychology and the performing arts in Assisi, Italy, and Varsha Kini, a psychology graduate, multi-instrumentalist and translator in Gurgaon, India. Through Varsha's "A Girl of Thirteen" and Carlotta's "Authenticity: Instructions for Use," they explore accompaniment — the company we keep, and the company we learn to keep with ourselves.

Hosted & Produced by Rachel Schroeder • Music by Andrew Veivers • Cover Art by Mathayu Warren Lane • Sound Engineering by Revision Sound.

Recorded in New York City, on unceded Lenape land; in Assisi, Italy; and in Gurgaon, India • Engineered in Lewisville, Texas, on Jumanos and Kickapoo land.

Because poetry lives between friends.

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At the threshold between life and death, how do the dead look back at the living? And when we get there, how will we look back at ourselves?

Host Rachel Schroeder exchanges poems with Hester Kamin — award-winning poet, director, choreographer, arts educator, and Rachel’s soul sister — about violence, civic grief, responsibility, and the power of prayer. Through Rachel’s “Dear Lawmakers” and Hester’s “The Dead Pray For Us,” they explore what artists can do when lawmakers won’t, and how to pray with our feet.

Hosted & Produced by Rachel Schroeder • Music by Andrew Veivers • Cover Art by Mathayu Warren Lane • Sound Engineering by Revision Sound.

Recorded in New York City, on unceded Lenape land, and in Arlington, Virginia, on Powhatan, Monacan, and Cherokee land • Engineered in Lewisville, Texas, on Jumanos and Kickapoo land.

Because poetry lives between friends.