Poetry In America

Season 1

TV-PG
Scholar and host Elisa New travels the country, joining up with distinguished poets, celebrities, and everyday Americans to create a fully immersive experience in hearing, reading, and interpreting American poems.

Where to Watch Poetry In America • Season 1

12 Episodes

  • I Cannot Dance Opon My Toes - Emily Dickinson
    E1
    I Cannot Dance Opon My Toes - Emily DickinsonThe series premiere spotlights Emily Dickinson. Host Elisa New, actor Cynthia Nixon, cellist Yo Yo Ma, dancer-choreographer Jill Johnson, and poet Marie Howe explore the challenges of art and audience across time, space, and artistic medium.
  • Fast Break -- Edward Hirsch
    E2
    Fast Break -- Edward HirschPoet Edward Hirsch, host Elisa New, NBA players Shaquille O'Neal, Pau Gasol and Shane Battier, and a group of pick-up basketball players read Hirsch's "Fast Break" and use basketball to understand poetry—and poetry to understand the game of basketball.
  • Those Winter Sundays - Robert Hayden
    E3
    Those Winter Sundays - Robert HaydenVice President Joe Biden; Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander; and psychologist Angela Duckworth.
  • Hymmnn and Hum Bom - Allen Ginsberg
    E4
    Hymmnn and Hum Bom - Allen GinsbergBono; US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera; the “Hymmnn” from Kaddish; and the anti-war chant “Hum Bom.”
  • Skyscraper - Carl Sandburg
    E5
    Skyscraper - Carl SandburgThe rise of skyscrapers and the emergence of the modernist poem. Includes architect Frank Gehry; Chinese visionary and real estate developer Zhang Xin; poet Robert Polito; and student poets from around the United States.
  • Harlem - Langston Hughes
    E6
    Harlem - Langston HughesPresident Bill Clinton; pianist and composer Herbie Hancock; poet Sonia Sanchez; and students from the Harlem Children's Zone
  • Musée des Beaux Arts - W.H. Auden
    E7
    Musée des Beaux Arts - W.H. AudenAmbassador to the United Nations Samantha Power; journalist and ethicist David Brooks; and poet, professor, and painter Peter Sacks.
  • Shirt - Robert Pinsky
    E8
    Shirt - Robert PinskyFashion designer Johnson Hartig; Bergdorf Goodman's Betty Halbreich; shoe designer Stuart Weitzman; and with fashion and poetry students from the New School.
  • To Prisoners - Gwendolyn Brooks
    E9
    To Prisoners - Gwendolyn BrooksSenator John McCain; playwright and activist Anna Deavere Smith; and poets Reginald Dwayne Betts and Li-Young Lee.
  • The Gray Heron - Galway Kinnell
    E10
    The Gray Heron - Galway KinnellEvolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson; poet Robert Hass; environmental photographer Laura McPhee; naturalist Joel Wagner; and children at an Audubon Society summer camp.
  • New York State of Mind - Nas
    E11
    New York State of Mind - NasHip hop artist Nas; music executive Steve Stoute; and scholar Salamishah Tillet.
  • The New Colossus - Emma Lazarus
    E12
    The New Colossus - Emma LazarusEmma Lazarus's iconic sonnet of immigration. Also includes Regina Spektor; United We Dream Foundation Cristina Jiménez; American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten; philanthropist David Rubenstein; and poet Duy Doan.

 

  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices