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Lou Mitchell - On The Lyricism of Brandi Carlile

Release Date: 11/01/2021

Side B - On Poetry Giving Us Permission To Be Gentle

I Offer Poetry

In the final episode of Season One, explores by Mary Oliver. Mary Oliver’s work is greatly influenced by her upbringing in Ohio and her chosen home, New England, as well as the authors Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. While the focus of this episode is , Elizabeth also mentions two other poems of Oliver’s ( and ) which she highly recommends to the audience for further reading. A peaceful episode exploring answerless questions, admitting tough seasons often require post-it-note covered mirrors, and welcoming the invitation to stop feeling the need to constantly repent....

Kiran Subramaniam - On Using Poetry To Cope With Big Feelings

I Offer Poetry

In the final guest episode of Season One, Elizabeth hosts her friend Kiran Subramaniam and they discuss the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Kiran Subramaniam is a writer & performer living in Los Angeles by day, who dreams of the North Carolina mountains and beach by night. She currently works on the show Hightown as seen on Starz. She's a fan of chewy raspberry licorice, books, Spotify, and international architecture. Her first dog will be named Toby, a la the curmudgeonly Toby Zielger of The West Wing. During their discussion of the poem ‘To William Shelley’ the...

Side B - On Poetry About A Fiercer Mother Mary

I Offer Poetry

In this episode Elizabeth explores the poetry of contemporary poet Leila Chatti. The poem was originally sent to Elizabeth via snail mail and arrived as a page torn from the The New York Times Magazine; Confession by Leila Chatti. Timestamps: 00:00:41 Poem Reading (Elizabeth) Author Info 00: Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem 00:18:58 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:24:03 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us Poem & Links: | Instagram | Twitter (by ) I.O.P. Lexicon: Rivulets: (noun) a small stream; brook Voyeurs: (noun) a person who...

Gregory Sinche - On Poetry As A Way To Organize Your Mind

I Offer Poetry

In this episode Elizabeth hosts her cousin Gregory Sinche to discuss the unparalleled New England poet, Robert Frost. Throughout the episode there is discussion of the many roads we are offered in life, their varying vantage points, and how we can choose to move forward knowing that ‘way leads on to way’ and we are bound to end up where we are meant to. Greg expresses appreciation for the life he’s led up until this point even with its trade-offs, using poetry to reflect how far he’s come, and revisiting phrases that help him get through difficult moments. ...

Side B - Poetry Allowing Space For Grief In The Everyday

I Offer Poetry

On this week’s Side B, Elizabeth shares the brilliance of contemporary poet Hanif Abdurraqib. Also from Columbus, Ohio, Hanif is a well lauded poet, essayist, and curator of excellent playlists. This episode explores Hanif’s poem And What Good Will Your Vanity Be When The Rapture Comes which deals personally with loss and the reflection of our limited time here on earth. There is commentary on how potent Hanif’s writing is, both in this poem & his poetry collections, and his ability to make epic life questions somehow digestible. A poet who can distill loss and grief...

Stephen Stern - On Poetry Infusing Life Lessons

I Offer Poetry

This week on I Offer Poetry Elizabeth interviews her high school Honors Organic Chemistry Teacher, Mr. Stephen Stern. You read that correctly; Elizabeth took an honors level science class. It obviously didn’t pan out for her, but she still adores Mr. Stern and was thrilled to discuss all things creative in this episode. Stephen Stern was born and raised in California and moved to Elizabeth’s hometown of Columbus, OH in 1993 while his wife attended veterinary school at The Ohio State University. He and his wife ended up making Columbus their home; they have been married for 29 years,...

Side B - On Poetry Expressing Universal Emotion

I Offer Poetry

In this week’s Side B, Elizabeth brings us the poem Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’s notable influence on 20th century Indian literature is made all the more impressive by his being the first non-European to earn a Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1913. Unending Love is a poem about how universal our emotional landscapes can be, remembrance of the shy sweetness of meeting, and the merging of all love through song and poetry. It is a perfect piece for I Offer Poetry, a chance to explore how poetry gives everyone a voice, whether writer or reader. This episode...

Natasha Wright - On Poetry Fueling Self Empowerment

I Offer Poetry

This week on I Offer Poetry Elizabeth and her guest, Natasha Wright, discuss the inimitable power of Maya Angelou. Natasha lives in Washington, D.C. and currently serves as the Senior Advisor in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). In this role, Natasha is responsible for developing and implementing many of ACF’s strategic initiatives. Prior to starting this role in April 2021, she served for two years as a legislative analyst within the Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget at ACF. Our guest...

Lou Mitchell - On The Lyricism of Brandi Carlile

I Offer Poetry

Another first for the podcast; Concert Deconstruction. Elizabeth has invited a wonderful musician friend to dissect lyrics as poetry after attending a concert and getting to experience their live performance. Introducing Lou Mitchell, a singer songwriter from California who spent the majority of her childhood either in the dirt or out on the delta. Like any other small-town kid, she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She spent the majority of her twenties trying to blend in with the city only to realize she’ll always have a little more dirt on her shoes than the rest. Lou...

David Guerra - On How A Poem Ages With Us

I Offer Poetry

On this week's episode Elizabeth is excited to introduce her dear friend, David Guerra, who quickly takes the reins and teaches her more about Tennessee Williams, the conquest of Mexico City, and what it means to get deeply vulnerable about family. Our guest David is an award winning actor, director, teacher and performing artist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has worked and collaborated with a lot of respected institutions within Southern California, including the Center Theatre Group, the Geffen Playhouse, and the experimental physical theatre company that is Theatre...

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Introducing Lou Mitchell, a singer songwriter from California who spent the majority of her childhood either in the dirt or out on the delta. Like any other small-town kid, she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She spent the majority of her twenties trying to blend in with the city only to realize she’ll always have a little more dirt on her shoes than the rest. Lou started writing music right out of high school, mostly using it as an outlet as she ran in circles trying to find her place in the industry. She took a surprising turn back to her country roots and immediately felt at home within her music as it called on the most authentic version of herself.

In this week’s episode Lou and Elizabeth sing the praises of Brandi and her brilliant band. In terms of witnessing their performance, there is much commendation of the excellent musicianship of the entire group and fawning over the joy emanating from Brandi herself. Related to the lyrics themselves there is a great deal of discussion over how romantic relationships age and the honor it is to have a human safe space. Lou dives deep on how the song is not a standard structure and therefore lends itself to poetry so innately. Elizabeth crosses her fingers that writer Phil Hanseroth intentionally included a couplet in the song’s ending.

Although Elizabeth slips up once or twice and calls Lou by her full first name, Lauren, she is thrilled to celebrate the release of Lou’s first single. Newly available on Apple Music and Spotify, 'Wholesome' is a country song for those who are still finding themselves and accepting with grace and enthusiasm that they might just be really good at makin’ dumb decisions.

“[The lyrics are] written in four separate parts… and it's sort of out of the format that I'm used to writing in and that on the radio we're used to listening to, because [typically] you start with a verse and then pre chorus, chorus, and it's sort of in this structure that we're a little bit confined to. This song is so beautiful because it's just like, here's the first part of the story and the second and the third, and then we're going to come back and the fourth is the same. Lyrically the same as the first stanza, but by the time the song is over, it means so much more and has a different meaning. So I think that just the way that they broke the convention was really what stood out to me.”

- Lou Mitchell

Timestamps:

00:00:11 Guest Introduction

00:01:23 Lyric/Poem Reading (Lou)

00:02:57 Author Info

00:05:19 Lou’s Relationship to the Lyrics/Poem

00:15:56 Pause Lyric/Poem Reading (Elizabeth)

00:23:15 Reflection & Offering

00:25:58 Outro / Sample Lou’s First Single

Poem & Links:

The Story (Music Video)

The Story (Lyrics)