[encore] 617: Places With Terrible Wi-Fi by J. Estanislao Lopez

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

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Summary

Today’s poem is Places With Terrible Wi-Fi by J. Estanislao Lopez.

The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re going back into the archive to revisit Ada Limón’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on February 23, 2022.

In this episode, former host Ada Limón writes… “Hiding has gotten so much harder these days. Growing up, I could hide by the creek or in the branches of a shrub. In high school, I could hide behind the dumpsters, or in the creek, or by the tennis courts. In college, I could hide by Greenlake or by Gasworks Park, or in the arboretum.But now, there is a little machine in my pocket that is always on. And you can always find me. How can we ever hide if we attach ourselves to these little machines that are hellbent on finding us? Today’s poem ponders what it is to be without the internet, and what it means to not have access to the constant buzz of the world. What comes is a reminder of what’s sacred.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, it's Major.
0:02.1	Today, we're reaching into the archives to bring you an episode from Ada Limon's time as host.
0:08.1	I'm thrilled to revisit one of her episodes with you.
0:11.1	And don't worry, the team is hard at work on a relaunch with a new host.
0:26.2	I'm Ada Limoan, and this is the slowdown.
0:41.6	Hiding has gotten so much harder these days. Growing up, I could hide by the creek or in the branches of a shrub. In high school, I could hide behind the dumpsters or in the creek or by the
0:47.7	tennis courts. In college, I could hide by Green Lake or by Gas Works Park or in the
0:53.7	Arboretum. But now there's a little
0:56.4	machine in my pocket that is always on, and you can always find me. How can we ever hide if we
1:04.6	attach ourselves to these little machines that are hell-bent on finding us.
1:17.3	In the early days of the pandemic, I had this thought that I wanted to be alone for a little while,
1:22.1	but I was already very, very, very alone.
1:29.2	My husband was working in another state, and my dog and cat and I just made the same small circles around our house for months.
1:32.4	Still, I could never really hide.
1:35.6	No matter how hard I tried, the Internet was with me.
1:40.1	The doom scrolling, the barrage of news, the world on fire. For a few days, we went to a cabin
1:48.3	in Kentucky with a porch that looked out over the poplar-covered hills and a fireplace around which
1:55.3	we'd play cards and scrabble. The best thing about this place is that it didn't have the internet. I told my
2:04.0	parents and my good friend, who was watching our dog, the number of the main house in case
2:09.2	something went awry. But otherwise, there was no scrolling or checking in or ASAP, or even
2:17.4	looking up, what are the rules to Gin Rummy anyway?
2:21.4	And let me tell you, it was fantastic.
	...

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