# Bonus Episode — PASSAGES: On Morrison featuring Tracy K. Smith and Namwali Serpell

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-slowdown-poetry-reflection-daily-7043130/bonus-episode-passages-on-morrison-featuring-tracy-k-smith-and-namwali-serpell
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-slowdown-poetry-reflection-daily-7043130/bonus-episode-passages-on-morrison-featuring-tracy-k-smith-and-namwali-serpell.md
Podcast: [The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-slowdown-poetry-reflection-daily-7043130)
Published: 2026-05-23T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/bonus-episode-passages-on-morrison-featuring-tracy-k-smith-and-namwali-serpell--72129644
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72129644/theslowdown_20260523_20260523_128.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-slowdown-poetry-reflection-daily-7043130/episodes/bonus-episode-passages-on-morrison-featuring-tracy-k-smith-and-namwali-serpell
Duration seconds: 1865

## Resource

Today we’re excited to share a bonus episode: the first episode of "PASSAGES: On Morrison," produced by our friends at Random House Publishing Group. This new podcast takes reading on the road, as Namwali Serpell — novelist, critic, and Harvard professor — joins fellow writers and skilled readers in conversation to pore over excerpts of Toni Morrison’s prose. The show is the record of a traveling salon, a celebration of Morrison’s extraordinary work, and a love letter to reading closely in community. You’ll hear Serpell in conversation with poet and former host of The Slowdown, Tracy K. Smith. Together, they read the opening of THE BLUEST EYE, Toni Morrison’s debut novel, and discuss all that the passage emits and erases. The second episode, featuring acclaimed poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib, is also available to listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

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## Transcript

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