Kaveh Akbar

Often, it feels easier to retreat back into the familiar, the devil we know.

And there's a wonderful poem by Kaveh Akbar that explores that impulse.

It's entitled, I Wouldn't Even Know What to Do With a Third Chance.

What's inside my body is more or less the same as what's inside yours.

And I keep going back to it, so it's, it's such a great one.

And then I'm actually reading Martyr, which I actually have on my desk as well, by Kaveh Akbar.

And I'm, I'm 45, so I'm kind of, you know, my parents are getting older, and, you know, good or bad, I'm trying to figure out, like, my purpose in life [laughs] and, like, what I'm doing.

Does it lead to something, and all this other stuff, and, like, someone recommended this book, and it's such a great, great book.

Mm-hmm.

The great poet, Kaveh Akbar, who's a dear friend of mine, wrote that, "Art is where what we survive survives." And I wanted to write about some of what survives through art that otherwise would be impossible to survive-

Mm-hmm

...

Yeah, I mean, it's amazing because it was nominated for that.

And it's going to be Martyr by Kaveh Akbar.

And Akbar is mostly a poet, so this is actually his first novel.

So that should be really interesting.

But I'm sure his, I don't know, like I know Todd has read some of his poetry, but I'm sure the writing will be really poetic just because I feel like that all sure come through.

So Martyr by Kaveh Akbar.

And as always, you can find the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, all the places.

And apparently we have just come to 10,000 downloads.

Yeah, it was a Instagram funnel.

I heard her talking with Kaveh Akbar about his book Martyr, just a fantastic interview, and now it's got me excited to hear what Dua Lipa's reading from week to week.

So yeah, I'm, I'll definitely be checking out more episodes.

I've never heard the podcast.