Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith – "This world is full of everything good, everything beautiful."

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Sociology, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Arts, Culture, On Being, Society, Society & Culture, Science, Social Sciences

4.7 • 10.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From Krista: These days I sometimes have to remind myself to keep breathing. I think this is true of human beings across all of our differences and divides. But in a room in New York City just before the turn of this year, I was regrounded by this fierce and joyous conversation with Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith. I invite you to settle into your soft breathing body with these two wise women as companions and with a sense of poetry as a technology, as Tracy describes in her new book: a technology for rising to our truest, highest selves, even amidst grief and mystery and danger, and bearing witness to each other as we do so. I think all of us in the room left a little more lighthearted and alive as this conversation unfolded. I hope that will be your experience too. Tracy K. Smith and Joy Harjo are former U.S. poet laureates, beloved On Being guests, and friends. They are each wildly and deservedly awarded and not just as poets — Tracy also as a teacher and professor at Harvard, Joy as a saxophonist and painter. We were brought together at Symphony Space in Manhattan to celebrate their newest books: Fear Less by Tracy and Girl Warrior by Joy. Find an excellent transcript of this show, edited by humans, on our show page. Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to receive Krista's monthly Saturday newsletter, including a heads up on new episodes, special offerings, recommendations, and event invitations.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In the introduction I wrote after my first interview with the wonderful Joy Harjo, I read this
0:06.3	sentence from her memoir, Crazy Brave. Though we have instructions and a map buried in our hearts
0:14.6	when we entered this world, nothing quite prepares us for the abrupt shift to the breathing realm.
0:21.9	I know this is not exactly what she was talking about, but these days I often have to remind
0:28.1	myself to keep breathing. I think this is true of human beings across all of our differences
0:34.7	and divides. Those maps and instructions in our hearts can feel
0:40.1	hard to access or believe in. But in a room in New York City, just before the turn of this year,
0:46.9	Joy summoned them together with me and her fellow poet and friend Tracy K. Smith. I invite you now to settle into your soft, breathing body
0:57.7	with these two wise women as companions. And with a sense of poetry as a technology, as Tracy
1:05.3	describes in her new book, poetry as a technology for rising to our truest, highest selves, even amidst grief and mystery and danger,
1:16.4	and bearing witness to each other as we do so.
1:20.3	I think all of us in that room left a little more lighthearted and alive as this conversation unfolded, and I hope that will be your experience,
1:30.8	too. I'm Krista Tippett, and this is On Being.
1:43.9	Tracy K. Smith and Joy Haro are both wildly and deservedly awarded and not just as poets.
1:51.6	Tracy also as a teacher and professor at Harvard, Joy as a saxophonist and painter.
1:57.9	We were brought together at Symphony Space in Manhattan to celebrate their newest books.
2:07.1	I think you're as happy to be here as I am. I want to thank Symphony Space before we begin so much.
2:19.4	Yeah, I don't think I've ever said yes to an invitation more quickly than I did to this one
2:23.9	to sit with these two together.
2:26.4	I interviewed each of you when you were Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith, the 22nd U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2019, and Joy Harjo, the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2020.
2:42.1	Tracy and I did a live event here in New York City. By the time we interviewed Joy, we were in the middle of pandemic and lockdown. And so we met on Zoom. We've never met in person.
2:52.6	Now, I usually start an interview for Enviing with a question about origins, which was inspired
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from On Being Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of On Being Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.