Maybe in episode 4 they'll take a poet to Ikea...

Sometimes it seems like NYC is the center of the universe, according, at least, to people who live in NYC. On the one hand, this sort of metropolitan snobbery is exactly what perpetuates the feeling that some people have of being on the periphery, and is exhibit A of what Sarah Palin hates about “elites.” On the other hand, in both cultural and economic terms, its kind of true. And now there’s a new video journal, called Tourist Trap, NYC, devoted to following:

Touring poets to some of New York’s top tourist destinations, as well as lesser known bars, reading venues and unheralded back streets. Each episode features one or two poets as they explore the city, discuss their work, how urban landscapes influence their writing, the history or importance of landmark they’ve chosen to visit, as well as any conversations they might deem relevant along the way.

The interesting part of the project is that it necessarily makes everyone into a tourist. So instead of treating poets who live in NYC as hip to the pulse of the culture, the journal, intentionally or not, treats everyone as if their a tourist in their own culture. Which is kind of cool.