Dear Ale is a pop-up podcast about being separated from the ones you love during a global pandemic.
My girlfriend is stranded in Peru, and I am writing her a love letter everyday until she is able to return home. By broadcasting this journey live, I’m hoping to support other folks who are missing someone they care about and struggling to keep it together. Let’s put more love into the universe!
Letter 1: Look at your face
When the one you love goes on a long journey and doesn’t come back — including a reading of the Louise Glück poem, “Happiness.”
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Letter 2: You dance inside my chest
The speed of time (and love) changes in a pandemic — including a reading of the Rumi poem, “Chinese Art & Greek Art.”
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Letter 3: Normal never looked so good
It’s time to return to the simple, everyday pleasures — including a reading of “The Charm of 5:30” by David Berman.
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Letter 4: All my heart longs to accomplish
Letting go of our anxiety-ridden narratives about what’s going to happen — including a reading of a Sappho poem.
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Letter 5: Anything can happen
We were so innocent before. Taking an inventory of absence and a reading of the Rita Dove poem “Flirtation.”
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Letter 6: Whistling in the dark
Netflix escapism and imagining us growing old together, with a reading of Mary Oliver’s poem “The Whistler.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:58 — 4.5MB) | Embed
Letter 7: What I do is me
Where have all the birds gone with their song? Including a reading of “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
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Letter 8: You must change your life
The mood of 2020 is a wave surfing on top of another wave, with a reading of the “Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rilke.
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Letter 9: Nothing in the world is usual today
Is a florist an essential business? How essential is love, beauty, and poetry? With three short poems by Izumi Shikibu.
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Letter 10: I hold my word tight to my breast
Navigating this vast sea of emotions and uncertainty. With a reading of a Navajo incantation on the power of words.
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Letter 11: Jilted by the universe
Playing games with the universe to create the illusion of control, with a reading of a short Rumi poem.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:58 — 4.5MB) | Embed
Letter 12: Dance me through the panic til I’m gathered safely in
What do you do with your dance partner when the music has stopped? With a reading of a Leonard Cohen song.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:53 — 4.5MB) | Embed
Letter 13: I want sweet ukulele music
In love and war and pandemics, time is relative. There are weeks where decades happen. With a reading of “On Not Flying to Hawaii” by Alison Luterman.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:42 — 4.2MB) | Embed
Letter 14: Not knowing is the most intimate
We’re all seeing each other in our most intimate state right now. Plus, some positive news and a reading of the Elizabeth Bishop poem “Casabianca.”
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Letter 15: How many minutes spent waiting for this moment
Ale comes home. A love letter from the car as I pick her up at Dulles International airport in DC at midnight on April 10th after a long day of travel.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:25 — 9.6MB) | Embed