PODCAST: There's a Poem in That

Todd's groundbreaking podcast turns strangers' most intimate stories into poetry. A poetry therapy practice without walls, There's a Poem in That (TAPIT) invites total strangers to participate in intimate interviews that culminate in a custom poem written just for them.

The podcast was inspired by Todd's 15-year practice of writing poems on private commission.

Launched March 1, 2023, TAPIT now has thousands of downloads and dozens of five-star reviews across platforms. It's available wherever you get your podcasts.

Co-produced by Hila Plitmann and Bronwen Clark, with original music by Esh Whitacre, Pedro Osuna, and Nir Yaniv, the project currently has eight episodes in production.

The podcast is now looking for production partners and sponsors.

It's fresh, saucy, and convention-defying.

— U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky

A holy wellspring. There’s a Poem in That is redefining the boundaries of what

poetry can do, and who it’s for. Blending therapeutic depth with poetic precision,

the show takes real-life guests through an intimate, emotional excavation ...

and if the effusive response to his first and second season are

any indication, he’s struck a nerve.

— LA Weekly

Beyond a general audience interested in personal transformation, storytelling, and the creative process, TAPIT is designed to inspire conversation among poetry practitioners about the role of poetry in society and its therapeutic, collaborative, communal powers. TAPIT utilizes an unusual reveal structure that presents a custom poem to the client in real time, capturing their reaction to it.

Anyone can become a guest by leaving a voicemail pitch at (808) 300-0449. It's a deep dive: Guests commit to as many as 3 one-hour phone calls, and can expect a poem within three months.

The podcast straddles Todd's interests in both literary and public art, while responding to his instinct for social activism. It aligns with Todd's motto: "Wake to the wonder of the world."

Todd Boss gave voice to my life.

—  Joan, guest, Episode 1

The answer to a prayer.

— Holly, guest, Episode 4

Fascinating. I don’t know anybody else who’s doing what [Todd’s] doing.

So often poetry falls under the umbrella of academia. If you have the dream

of being a poet, you’ll try to get a book published, and then you’ll

try to get a teaching post. Nobody ever thinks of soliciting clients.

That’s pretty inventive.

— poet Spencer Reece

Individual donations can be made using the DONATE link above. Every donation supports the mission of the podcast to "help strangers discover the poetry in their most intimate stories."

Click the image to hear Episode 1: Joan finds her voice.

Todd has long written poems on private commission — to celebrate a friendship, save a marriage, manage a crisis of faith, or mark a milestone. An early example is here. Fees have historically ranged from $1,000 - $1,500, but the podcast enables free access, offset by podcast donors and sponsors.

Todd's goal is to collaborate with guests to create poems that stand alone as great works of art in their own right. Resulting poems sometimes land in Todd's published poetry collections. Clients give them as gifts or preserve them as letterpress broadsides and heirlooms.

Todd envisions a worldwide network of writers working in this healthcare-adjacent modality, flexing their creative muscle in direct service to audiences everywhere, one person at a time.

If Todd can't write the poem he feels his guest needs, he finds a poet who can. Episode 7, for example, drafts President Barack Obama's inaugural poet and Pulitzer finalist Richard Blanco to write for Phillip, a Mexican immigrant who wanted a poem to celebrate his new US citizenship. The surprise left Philip in tears so choking he couldn't speak. Blanco, who once read a poem for millions on the steps of the US Capitol, called his TAPIT experience one of the most extraordinary of his career.

The podcast has spun off the world's first poetry commissioning agency, The International Bureau of Custom Poetry, which puts major professional poets at the fingertips of anyone wishing to commission them. TAPIT has also spun off a mobile unit called the Pop-Up Poetry Therapy Clinic, styled as a medical tent, that pops up in public spaces.

More at the official podcast website here.

Writing poems for others has long been one of the most rewarding elements of my writing practice. It's like a sacred trust, this intimate sharing of poetic feeling, and I'm grateful to be allowed into strangers' stories in such a big-hearted way.