Be True, Episode 84: Words as Weapons

Be True

1×

0:00

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -6:11

-6:11

Be True, Episode 84: Words as Weapons

John reads his poem “The First March” from his collection The Americans. He also discusses the challenges of protest and the devaluation of language in an age of slogans, algorithms, AI, and big data.

John Tessitore

Mar 17, 2025

Transcript

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

Support Be True: https://ko-fi.com/johntessitore

Instagram: @jtessitorewriter1

TikTok: @Jtessitorewriter

Facebook: JohnTessitore, Writer

Bluesky: @jtessitorewriter.bksy.social

Threads: @jtessitorewriter1

Discussion about this episode

Be True

In each episode, John Tessitore reads a poem he has published, and tells the story behind the poem. John has been a newspaper reporter, a magazine writer, a college lecturer, and a biographer. He has directed national policy studies on education and cultural policy, and serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of journals and he has published seven chapbooks and a novella available at www.johntessitore.com.

Listen on