1358: Parts of a Body House by Erika Meitner

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

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Summary

Today’s poem is Parts of a Body House by Erika Meitner.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “It struck me recently how much technology has changed our relationships with our bodies. There are devices that tell us how well (or poorly) we slept the night before, how many steps we took in a given day, what our heart rate is when we work out. We have access to more data about our physical selves than ever, and we don’t even need to go to the doctor to get that data. We also have access to our own image more than ever before. I know that technology has made me more aware of my body and my face, because I see myself so often: on Zoom, on Facetime, in selfies.”

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Transcript

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1:05.9	I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the slowdown.
1:19.4	Thank you. Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown. It struck me recently how much technology has changed our relationships with our bodies.
1:31.6	There are devices that tell us how well or poorly we slept the night before, how many steps we took in a given day, what our heart rate is
1:39.0	when we work out. We have access to more data about our physical selves than ever, and we don't even need to go to the doctor to get that data.
1:51.5	We also have access to our own image more than ever before.
1:57.8	I know that technology has made me more aware of my body and my face because I see myself so often, on Zoom, on FaceTime, in selfies.
2:12.4	When I teach in a classroom, I'm looking at the students. When I give a talk in an auditorium or theater,
2:21.2	I see the audience. My gaze is outward. But when I teach a workshop or speak virtually, I see myself
2:31.1	doing it. I'm aware of myself as a physical being. That awareness adds another
2:38.5	layer to the experience, a layer I'm relieved to shed when my events are in person.
2:47.0	It's funny to think that we don't know what people see when they look at us. Not really.
	...

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