Poetry and spoken word at The White House, minus Green Eggs and Ham January 12, 2011: When The White House invited James Earl Jones to perform poetry for An Evening of Poetry, Music, and Spoken Word earlier this year, his first instinct was to go for either Dr. Seuss or Shakespeare. Knowing that he could never top Jesse Jackson's rendition of Green Eggs and Ham, he settled for Othello. Other clips from the same evening are [...] by Harriet Staff

Ghostface Conrad January 11, 2011: Watch CA Conrad's creepy/funny/sexy new video on his Philly Sound blog. by Harriet Staff

The cubicle is no place of rest for Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz January 10, 2011: Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz talks at TEDxPhilly about "how you can turn nerdy obsessions into things that can transform your life," but not without working for it. Aptowicz spent eight years working in a cubicle (the same cubicle) and writing, publishing, and touring on the side before making the decision that she was going to live the life of [...] by Harriet Staff

Kwame Dawes reports from Haiti in poetry January 10, 2011: Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Collins has an answer for last week's very serious question: Does poetry matter? Collins cites Kwame Dawes and his travels to Haiti over the past year documenting the "human side" of the earthquake's effects as irrefutable evidence in poetry's favor. The PBS NewsHour, in partnership with USA Today and The [...] by Harriet Staff

Patton Oswalt dedicates his death wattle to poetry January 6, 2011: In honor of one of Harriet's favorite comedians launching his first book this week, let's revisit this classic bit: by Harriet Staff

Some poetry from Grandaddy to start your day January 4, 2011: Thanks, Emerson. by Harriet Staff

Reading and FEELING with Chuck McCarthy December 29, 2010: Since 2008, comedian Chuck McCarthy has been providing the world with ideas for inventions he will never make. He reveals his poetic side in this video, though he doesn't get much further with his poetry than he's gotten with any of his inventions. Inspired by the classics (Poe, Frost.... Poe and Frost), his kitchen and The Sugar Hill Gang, [...] by Harriet Staff

Poetry embedded on the front lines December 13, 2010: In the 1967 documentary Vietnam War: The Battle of Con Thien, Mike Wallace observes that when things started to heat up, there was no longer time for "casual cleaning of weapons." Some Marines like Ned Broderick, who would go on to co-found the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, found alternative ways to channel their feelings on [...] by Harriet Staff

Closed captioning provided by used books December 8, 2010: The Wave Pictures - Sweetheart from Ben Reed on Vimeo. This music video for The Wave Picture's "Sweetheart" is made out of animated, torn up, drawn on and maybe even a few intact secondhand books. "I will write you without poetry," they sing, but no matter-- it's all in the visuals. The text and images go together beautifully, just like [...] by Harriet Staff

Vintage Wrestling Poetry Smackdown December 7, 2010: This video raises one of the more urgent questions of the day: What poem would you break over someone's head? And whose? by Harriet Staff