1555: Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
American Public Media
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 July 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
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Summary
Today’s poem is Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye.
The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “Wherever you live, you don’t have to be nice. But please be kind. We need more genuine, altruistic kindness in this world. So, how can you be more kind? By helping others without being performative about it, and without needing recognition. By letting people know you’re thinking of them, by reaching out when you know someone is struggling, and by practicing simple acts of kindness: holding a door open, letting someone go ahead of you in line, offering a sincere compliment. And one more thing: You can take in the wisdom of today’s poem and pass it along.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the slowdown. |
| 0:19.5 | Maybe you've heard the phrase Midwest Nice, or the more specific Minnesota Nice. |
| 0:28.0 | As someone born and raised in the Midwest, I have to admit something. |
| 0:33.9 | I've never been quite sure what this means. |
| 0:41.9 | I think of Midwesterners as friendly, warm, |
| 0:50.2 | and hardworking, and I'd like to think that on balance, we are welcoming and helpful to both friends and strangers alike. |
| 0:59.7 | But Midwest Nice, as it turns out, isn't much of a compliment. |
| 1:07.1 | Midwest Nice is sometimes described as being passive-aggressive, |
| 1:15.6 | being polite on the surface, in public, while privately harboring unkind thoughts. |
| 1:16.7 | Oof. |
| 1:22.2 | If I'm honest, there is some of that in the Midwest. |
| 1:25.6 | But isn't there some of that everywhere? |
| 1:31.4 | Humans can be prickly or judgmental or envious. |
| 1:35.7 | They can also deeply desire approval. |
| 1:39.3 | Humans are, well, human. |
| 1:47.8 | Considering regionality and niceness made me think more about the difference between niceness and kindness. |
| 1:51.3 | Niceness involves not ruffling feathers, making waves, or drawing too much attention to |
| 1:58.6 | yourself. |
| 2:00.2 | Niceness can be a step toward kindness, |
| 2:04.1 | which is investing more fully in the happiness and well-being of others. |
| 2:11.2 | Wherever you live, you don't have to be nice, but please be kind. |
| 2:23.5 | We need more genuine, altruistic kindness in this world. |
... |
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