Today we’re revisiting a favorite conversation with poet and author Ocean Vuong, following the release of his new book, Time Is a Mother.

He first joined us in June of 2021. We discuss reckoning with one’s work from a distance (6:18), why he wrote his autobiographical novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (7:40), the cage of American masculinity (12:10), how he’s stayed the course, creatively, amidst oppressive systems (19:56), and what it means to be a first-generation writer (23:53).

On the back-half, we wrestle with the grief of his mother’s passing and the tragic shootings in Atlanta (29:40), along with the collective uncertainty of the year (44:48). Before we leave, a tribute to his late mother (51:42).