Filmmaker Boots Riley's Ode to Boosters

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: Filmmaker Boots Riley's Ode to Boosters

Date: May 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of All Of It with Alison Stewart is an energetic exploration of filmmaker Boots Riley’s new action comedy, I Love Boosters. The film, inspired by an old song of the same name, focuses on a trio of Oakland-based “boosters”—shoplifters with a Robin Hood flair—whose exploits illuminate themes of capitalism, workers’ rights, creative theft, and Black culture. Riley joins Alison Stewart to dissect the film’s anti-capitalist undercurrents, collaborative creative process, and the specific cultural touchstones woven throughout.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Returning to “Boosters” and the Film’s Inspiration

• Boots Riley explains that the idea of “boosters” (shoplifters who resell goods in their communities) is more culturally and politically relevant than ever, with ongoing discourse around crime narratives in the media:
  • Quote: "The Intercept Investigative Journal did an expose that all these police unions got together in the wake of the George Floyd protests and hired publicists to seed stories in local news around the country about the supposed rise in crime and focusing on stuff like shoplifting, when actually it was going down." (04:47, Boots Riley)
• Riley’s personal connection: Having relied on boosters as a broke rapper, he saw their impact on communities and questioned the morality of their actions versus corporate actors.

Anti-Capitalist Comedy and Artistic Intent

• Riley identifies as a communist and wants his art to honestly reflect his politics:
  • Quote: "I'm a communist, and I believe that we should have a world where the people democratically control the wealth that we create with our labor." (04:16, Boots Riley)
• He builds story by starting with compelling characters and heightens life's contradictions to the point of absurdity, using comedy as a tool for both emotional and political insight:
  • Quote: "Comedy and tragedy both have irony in common. And that irony is very connected to contradiction." (05:50, Boots Riley)
• Riley insists that extracting comedy from serious issues removes important analysis from those experiences.

Visual Style, Music, and Message

• The film uses bold colors, live collage, camera movement, and sound design to create an immersive, visceral experience, building rhythmic visuals and sound inspired by groups like Parliament Funkadelic:
  • Quote: "If I have the camera pushing a character back with things whizzing by us, that's because that's part of the idea." (07:05, Boots Riley)
  • Music and score provided by Tune-Yards. (12:28)
• Riley sees the film’s visual, comedic, and thematic elements as inseparable—“not a balance, all one thing.” (06:33)

The Velvet Gang and Collaborative Character Development

• Cast includes Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylor Paige, with characters crafted in close conversation with the actors:
  • Riley doesn’t write roles for specific actors, instead shaping roles through “weeks to months of a lot of talking” to tap into the actors’ unique contributions. (10:19)
• Details matter: Riley integrates actors’ backgrounds into characters (e.g., tailoring Poppy Liu’s role based on her upbringing in China and her heritage).
  • Quote: "The more specific you can be, the more universal you are because the specificity allows for the humanity to be in there." (14:44, Boots Riley)

Highlighting Contradictions in Fashion, Culture, and Community

• The film exposes contradictions: “The stuff is made by people that can’t afford it. And the inspirations for fashion are from often Black communities... who can’t afford it.” (08:20)
• Visual and narrative juxtapositions reinforce these themes and comedic sensibilities.

The Antagonist: Kristi Smith

• Portrayed by Demi Moore, Kristi Smith is a fashion mogul who believes in changing the world with art, which Riley frames as an insufficient philosophy:
  • Quote: "She believes there’s nothing you can do to change the world and that all you can do is use your art... to change how people feel about the world. So, you know, if you know me, that's probably something I disagree with." (16:04, Boots Riley)
• Riley gives Smith outdated, coded insults as a satirical touch, e.g., “urban bitches,” “mumble crust whores,” and “fustillarian”—satirizing euphemisms used for Black communities and creative class tensions. (17:52, 18:22)
  • Quote: "That was like the code, like that word that used to be used, like when people didn't want to say Black and you knew they were talking about Black people and they said 'urban.'" (17:56, Boots Riley)

Crafting Performances and On-Set Collaboration

• Demi Moore brought her own research and suggestions to the role, influencing script changes.
• Riley recounts how serendipity and relationships on set (e.g., casting Kara Young) led to inspired performances and surprising on-screen chemistry:
  • Memorable Story: Kara Young was offered a part on the spot after an original actor dropped out, then inspired Don Cheadle to return to Broadway. (22:49, 23:24)
  • Regular cast bonding shaped the film’s authentic group dynamic.

Visual Storytelling and Lessons from “Sorry to Bother You”

• Riley applies lessons from his previous film, including inventive scene transitions and the importance of letting the camera “lead” the narrative flow:
  • Quote: "We have a lot of transitions built into the scenes that we filmed with where the camera leads you to something or the characters lead you to this next thing." (21:21, Boots Riley)

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Notable Quotes & Highlights with Timestamps

• On why revisit boosters now: "It's actually something that's in the news a lot now... that was maybe part of what's in the air, but really it was because I spent a long time being a broke rapper... worked with a lot of boosters who provided stuff for me... they were helping the community." (02:47-04:07, Boots Riley)
• On filmmaking approach: "I just make art that talks about the world in the way that I see it." (04:16, Boots Riley)
• On the intersection of humor and politics: "Comedy and tragedy both have irony in common. And that irony is very connected to contradiction." (05:50, Boots Riley)
• On collaborative character development: "A big part of my job is casting people in this... every actor that's in this is doing something you've never seen them do." (10:19, Boots Riley)
• On specificity/universality: "The more specific you can be, the more universal you are because the specificity allows for the humanity to be in there." (14:44, Boots Riley)
• On casting and serendipity: "I introduced Kara Young to Don Cheadle on this movie... she convinced Don that he should start doing Broadway again." (22:49-23:24, Boots Riley)

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Memorable Moments and Cultural References

• Parliament Funkadelic as a Cinematic Influence: Riley describes creating a visual “collage” inspired by their music—layered, eclectic, and funky. (09:36)
• Score by Tune-Yards: A unique soundscape matches the film’s explosive visuals. (12:28)
• Iconic insults and wordplay: Inventions like “mumble crust whores” deliver biting social satire.
• Hat Fashion: Riley sources his signature hats from Uptown Yardie (Brixton, London)—a playful tangent with Alison Stewart. (24:41-25:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:47] – Boots Riley on why he returned to “boosters” now
• [04:12] – Is this an anti-capitalist comedy?
• [06:33] – On the unity of “visual stimulation” and message
• [10:19] – How actors help shape their characters
• [14:44] – On specificity creating universality
• [16:04] – On Kristi Smith’s worldview and artistic conflict
• [17:56] – Decoding “urban” as code word in mainstream culture
• [21:21] – What Riley learned from Sorry to Bother You
• [22:49] – Kara Young and Don Cheadle’s Broadway inspiration story

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Episode Takeaways

• I Love Boosters is as much a vivid, giddy visual experience as it is a sly commentary on class, culture, and the flow of creative energy.
• Boots Riley’s political beliefs naturally suffuse his comedic storytelling, but his enduring point is that specificity—the minute details of culture and character—are what allow a story to resonate universally.
• Collaborative, detail-driven, and irrepressibly bold, Riley’s filmmaking continues to disrupt genre lines and challenge audiences while inviting them to laugh at—and think about—the world’s deeper contradictions.

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Film: I Love Boosters is in theaters now. Interview conducted by Alison Stewart, WNYC.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNY NYC Studios in soho. Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. I'm really grateful that you are here and thanks to everyone who came to the Green Space yesterday for our Broadway on the Radio event with the cast and creative team from Cats, the Jellicle Ball. A good time was had by all. If you didn't catch it live, you can go back and listen wherever you get your podcasts or go to WNYC's YouTube page to watch the video of the live performances. Here's what we have coming up on the show today. We'll map out some of New York State road trips with the head of the state's tourism board. We'll talk about why Froyo is having a moment and we'll hear from actor Chase Infinity who stars in the Hulu series the Testaments. That's the plan. So let's get this started with the new film I Love Boosters. Boots Riley was in a group and back in the day they recorded a song called I Love Boosters and the lyrics read I love them Boosters, they love them Boosters, you should love them too. Even if they don't know ya, they'll get it for you like a whole outfit or shoe. A booster is a person who jacks from the retail and sells it in the hood for dupe. Dirt cheap resale. Almost got it. That describes Riley's new action comedy message film of the same name. The film I Love Boosters is set in Oakland, California. It follows a trio of friends and professional shoplifters known as the Velvet Gang. They are fashion forward Robin Hook types who are offering an integral service to members of their community. Their latest target is a cutthroat fashion mogul named Kristi Smith who is making money off of the creativity of the street and wraps it up in girl bossification as the Velvet Gang and Christie face off. The film explores themes such as capitalism, workers rights and what it means to be an artist. The film is titled I Love Boosters. It enters theaters today. Joining me now to discuss it is Boots Riley.

[Interviewer]

It is nice to meet you.

[Boots Riley]

Great to meet you too.

[Alison Stewart]

So you were in the group that recorded I love boosters. It was like 20 years ago.

[Boots Riley]

Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Why did you want to return?

[Boots Riley]

That was when I was three, when

[Alison Stewart]

you were just a little bitty little bit boy.

[Interviewer]

Why did you want to return to

[Alison Stewart]

the idea this year?

[Boots Riley]

I mean, you know, it's actually something that's in the news a lot now. The Intercept Investigative Journal did an expose that all these police unions got together in the wake of the George Floyd protests and hired publicists to seed stories in local news around the country about the supposed rise in crime and focusing on stuff like shoplifting, when actually it was going down. So that's maybe part of what's in the air, but really it was because I've spent. You know, I spent a long time being a broke rapper that needed to stay fly and definitely worked with a lot of boosters who provided stuff for me. But at the same time, I saw how much they were helping the community, how much even though it was illegal, it was not more immoral than the folks that they were getting it from. And so I thought that in a time when there's a lot of villainization going on, and especially this is a group of black women, that it would be good to live with them for

[Alison Stewart]

a little bit sometimes. Critics have referred to this film as an anti capitalist comedy.

[Interviewer]

First of all, did you sit down, like, think I'm gonna write an anti capitalist comedy?

[Boots Riley]

No. I mean, I think about. Well, one, let me be clear. I'm a communist, and I believe that the people. We should have a world where the people democratically control the wealth that we create with our labor. So I believe that. So if I make some art that has to do with what I believe, it's going to be along the lines of those politics. I don't have to be like, I'm gonna try to make this. I just make art that talks about the world in the way that I see it. And. And I start with characters. I start with characters that we want to be with, that we want to experience their trials and tribulations, and it expands from there. And a lot of times what I'm doing, though, that I get from music is I want people to feel it. So I'm upping the ante on the contradictions. I'm heightening the contradictions to the point of absurdity in some ways. And then that ends up being funny. It ends up being. Cause comedy and tragedy both have irony in common. And that irony is very connected to contradiction. And so it's. It's, you know, so I don't Know, I don't know how to not write a comedy because life is so funny. Like, I think people have to do a lot of work to extract the comedy out of life. I've been to jail a few times, but the longest was for three days. And people laugh in jail. Right? Right. Like, we often look at certain ideas and problems and when we. I think when the comedy is taken out, we're taking out some actual important analysis.

[Alison Stewart]

You know, the film is really colorful.

[Interviewer]

It's sometimes it's really wacky in the best sense of the word. There's a lot of sight humor that's involved. But then you also talk about workers rights and stealing people's creativity. How do you think about balancing the idea of the visual stimulus stimulation that we're getting versus the deeper messages?

[Boots Riley]

It's not a balance. It's all one thing.

[Interviewer]

Oh, interesting.

[Alison Stewart]

So

[Boots Riley]

the visual stimulation that we're getting is also, I would say also music and sound effects are part of that stimulation. And I'm trying to take people through visceral experiences that are analogous to the emotional experiences folks are going through. And like I was saying, we're juxtaposing things. We're exposing contradictions. And. And I want, if I have the camera pushing a character back with things whizzing by us, that's because that's part of the idea. That's where we're going together and it leads to these other ideas. And again, like, when I'm writing it, I'm just being honest with myself about how I feel. These, these personal things connect with these larger things. So we are, you know, we're talking about here, we're talking about the large contradiction of, you know, boosters are not outside of capitalism. They are part of the distribution system. And these things are made of not just other things. They're made of people's time. And so the idea is to, you know, one of the ideas in the movie is we see both sides of that production line, and it's personal to us now that putting those together is ridiculous in and of itself. It's. The stuff is made by people that can't afford it. And the inspirations for fashion are from often from black communities and communities of color and other working class communities who inspire the fashion and can't afford it. So those contradictions are ridiculous. And when you really put it, when you put all of those things together, that comedy, that visual, that visual conflict as well, the colors, like, this is a very colorful movie. Partly because I need to build a rhythm of big swaths of color that change from this to that. I also am trying to have everything in camera so that you feel textures. There's a lot of collage in this. You know, one of my biggest cinematic influences is Parliament Funkadelic. And, you know, that, you know, they might have a lead guitar, electric guitar over an accordion with a gospel choir playing underneath it and someone doing spoken word. And it all fits together. And so I'm trying to visually do that same thing cinematically. Not just visually, but in editing and all of that.

[Interviewer]

I love that their lipsticks changed. That was my favorite part of it,

[Alison Stewart]

is watching their lipsticks change. We're talking to Boots Riley about his new film, I Love Boosters, the Velvet Gang. It's Corvette, Sade and Mariah, played by amazing actors Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackee and Taylor Paige. You said that you don't write roles specifically with actors in mind when they

[Interviewer]

come to the set.

[Alison Stewart]

How do they fit into the roles? Do you sort of tailor the roles to them? Do you?

[Boots Riley]

Yeah, well, we. You know, there's anywhere from weeks to months of a lot of talking. We just talk about life, talk about each other's lives, things like that. And they bring. And I'm casting people who are. Who I know are bringing things to the table. Sure, right. So a big part of my job is casting people in this. We're having people. I am having people do something. I think every actor that's in this is doing something you've never seen them do. However, it's something that I have found that's in them and decided that I want that on my screen. So that's a big part. Big part of it is talking about. And so therefore, I do change the character. I'm not one of those, like, people. I want actors to come from a place where they are having the emotion that the character is having. Not showing us that they're having that emotion, just having it. And I'll put the camera as close up to their face as we need to, to understand that, to feel it, but it's not. It's more grounded. And so, yeah, they have a big part of shaping the character. It's not necessarily in dialogue as it is in, you know, pacing and, you know, personification.

[Interviewer]

Let's listen to a little bit of I Love Boosters. This is Corvette, Sade and Mariah talking about their plans to rob Kristie Smith's stores. Let's listen.

[Actor(s) from I Love Boosters]

We gonna grab the videotapes, though, right? We be wearing wigs and the camera

[Interviewer]

angle interrupted to prove they don't know

[Actor(s) from I Love Boosters]

my name is Cassandra. We use fake IDs. They don't know where we live, none of this.

[Boots Riley]

Even if they can't prove it, they'll still know it was us, though.

[Actor(s) from I Love Boosters]

Let me be specific. I don't care if they know it was us. I care that Kristy Snook hates that they know it was us. We couldn't place out in 40 minutes or less. Be a lick. Picking up for us to sit back for a minute.

[Interviewer]

I like the sound design, too.

[Boots Riley]

That's Toon Yards. That does the score.

[Interviewer]

Oh, thank you for saying that. What did you think about the first time you saw those three actors, Kiki, Naomi, and Taylor, on screen together?

[Boots Riley]

Well, our rehearsal was just them sitting in a room and talking. Like, we thought we were gonna sit down and do a rehearsal. And they started talking and really vibing, and so I just sat. I was like, I'm not gonna ask them to do lines. This is the rehearsal. This is them getting to know each other. And, yeah, they were. It was electric. They really hit it off and became friends. And honestly, with the way that we shot this, this was a very complicated shoot. We had specific lighting requirements, things like that. Our dp, Natasha Breyer, is a genius, and she's. We had lenses invented for us by Panavision, and she had her own invention that she put in front of the lens to have color kind of wash and change on there. She doesn't like me to talk too much about it, but. Because she needs to get the patent. But. But the point is, they had a lot of time to vibe together in between stuff, so. Yeah, you really feel that. Like you are hanging with them and you want to keep hanging with them.

[Interviewer]

This was interesting at south by Southwest.

[Alison Stewart]

Actor.

[Interviewer]

I hope I pronounced her last name right.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Poppy Liu.

[Boots Riley]

Yep.

[Interviewer]

She said that this is so interesting. This. That you tailored her character to where.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Where she grew up.

[Boots Riley]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

In China.

[Boots Riley]

Yeah. Right.

[Interviewer]

And you went down sort of a rabbit hole about industrialized cities and industrial organizations in that part of China. And she speaks Mandarin, or she comes from people who speak Mandarin. That was very. That was very detailed of you.

[Boots Riley]

I don't know. I don't know how it's normally done, but that. That's. I've only been. This is only my third project, so I just thought that's what you're supposed to do.

[Interviewer]

Well, why are the details important to you?

[Boots Riley]

I mean, yeah, those. The. The details are. First of all, in life. I think that's how I got to this point, is I had a period of Time where I thought the details didn't matter. All that mattered is my work. And so the details of my life didn't matter. And then I flipped because that gets you very depressed. And. And then you get really into the details. What are things made of? What do things look like? And that was luckily before I started making film. And to me, the details are what it's all about. Like the specificity. The more specific you can be, the more universal you are because the specificity allows for the humanity to be in there, even if you don't know. And that's how I am about Oakland. These films are about. And TV shows are about Oakland. And you may never have been there before, but because there's this internal logic, then it relates to people all over the world.

[Interviewer]

We're talking to Boots Riley about his new film.

[Alison Stewart]

I love boosters. All right. In the film we're rooting for the Velvet Gang. I'm rooting for him anyway, against Kristi Smith, how would you describe Christy Smith?

[Interviewer]

She's played by Demi Moore.

[Boots Riley]

We should say yeah to me. And she does again, a performance that's unlike anything she's done before. And Kristi Smith is an artist who is, I mean, a fashion designer in this case. And she believes that her work is enough. She believes there's nothing you can do to change the world and that all you can do is use your art, in her case, fashion, to change how people feel about the world. So, you know, if you know me, that's probably something I disagree with. However, what I have all the characters saying are things that I actually do say and believe. So, you know, I put myself into those things and she. And so she comes into conflict with these boosters who are her, who idolize her and they run head up because she doesn't feel like her art should be treated that way.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's listen to a clip from I Love Boosters. Corvette sees Christy on the news answering a question about what she thinks of the Velvet Gang.

[Character in I Love Boosters]

Christy, Christy, what are your thoughts on the Velvet Gang?

[Boots Riley]

Christy Smith knows we exist low class urban bitches. With all due respect to urban bitches,

[Actor(s) from I Love Boosters]

Did she just call us urban bitches or so so early 2000s.

[Alison Stewart]

Why did you have Christy call them urban bitches?

[Boots Riley]

Just cause that was like the code, like that word that used to be used, like when people didn't want to say black and you knew they were talking about black people and they said urban. So I just gave her that.

[Interviewer]

Demi Moore has been in this business for, for years. What was something interesting that she brought to the character.

[Boots Riley]

Oh, man. You know, she would say, well, I. I have a friend that's a. That. That's a fashion designer. And they do this. You know, she had all this experience of that, right? And, you know, and. And. And she also. One of her notes was really good. That actually caused me to put something in a couple things in there that caused laughs because the character was a child prodigy who was an MIT genius who started doing fashion. I won't get into the whole thing, but started doing fashion at a young age. And so she was like, well, if she's a genius, I need more things that just tell us she's a genius. So I was like. So I looked up a lot of antiquated insults, you know, and coming from. So, you know, and. And they end up. They end up. So there's like. She calls them mumble crest whores, and she calls them fustillarian. And these are words like mumble crest is something that a. You know, someone from an aristocrat might call. Might try to insult someone for starving, even though they're the ones that are causing them to starve. Or fustillarian, meaning you have to fight for your life. Right. So if after this movie, you hear people using the words mumble crust or fustelarian, I need a footnote credit on that.

[Alison Stewart]

You're both the writer and director of this film. When does the screenwriter role end for you?

[Interviewer]

And when does the director begin?

[Boots Riley]

Or is it the same thing? They both are the same thing. When I'm writing the script, I need people to see the movie while they're reading it. And because I also. I'm usually giving it to people that either I need to get in, be in the movie, or fund the movie. So I want the. And also, I never know whether it's gonna get made. So I want that script to be a document that Maybe people read 20 years later and be like, this was. This would have been an amazing movie. So I'm describing. I'm describing production design. I'm describing the way camera moves, things like that. Obviously, they change later. But then when we're on the set, I'm often. I can be honest because it's my writing. I can be like, that's bad writing. Let's not do that. Let's do this other thing. And it's all happening at the same time.

[Interviewer]

We got a text here that says, sorry to bother your. Was one of the best movies ever from one of our listeners texted in.

[Alison Stewart]

So that's for you.

[Boots Riley]

Yeah, thank You.

[Interviewer]

What did you learn from Sorry to Bother your that you were able to use on this film?

[Boots Riley]

Okay, well, on Sorry to Bother your, for instance, we have this part where the papers are flying behind lakeith Stanfield's character, Cassius, and he feels defeated, and he sits back in his chair. The papers fall, fly. That took us, like, 20 to 30 minutes to get those papers flying. And everybody was like, this is an indie film. We had a budget of less than $4 million. They're like, why are we spending a huge part of the day trying to do this? And. And I pushed for it, and we got it, but once we started getting it, I was like. I felt bad, like, we wasted so much time. So I was like, I got to make this be worthwhile. So I thought about what the next scene was, and we added a transition in there. I had lakeith turn to the side and say, you're gonna stuff all that in your mouth. And it transitioned to the next scene, and it worked so well that when I was writing this, I was like, oh, I'm doing that to the thousandth time. And so we have a lot of transitions built into. Into the scenes that we filmed with where the camera leads you to something or the characters lead you to this next thing. And, you know, it's a thing that I'm very proud of in the movie.

[Interviewer]

I'm not gonna get into it, but

[Alison Stewart]

Don Cheadle and Cary Young are both in this.

[Boots Riley]

Oh, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Have you seen Proof?

[Boots Riley]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Matter of fact, Proof. They decided to do Proof while they were shooting that scene, while they're together in this movie. I introduced Kara Young to Don Cheadle on this movie. And. And. And. And because Kara, there was someone else that was going to play the character. And Cara is a good friend of mine. She was visiting the set. That person totally faked. I was on the phone. I looked over at Kara. I said, you want to play a role? And she was like, let me change my flight.

[Interviewer]

And.

[Boots Riley]

And people on the set, they weren't familiar, but she started going. And they were like, who is this? Who is this? And I introduced Don to her, and she convinced Don that he should start doing Broadway again.

[Alison Stewart]

All right. Kara was here last week. She's the best. She is the best.

[Boots Riley]

She is hilarious in this. Like, every. Every line she comes up saying on I love boosters gets people rolling. And she's amazing. And is. God is, too. I just went and saw that last week.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, she, Mallory, were here last week.

[Boots Riley]

I'm really hyped and if people don't know, she was also in my TV show, I'm a Virgo, so. And then Don Cheadle, you know, he's. We almost did it to where we didn't put his name in the credits. That was like, the initial idea. He was like, yeah, I'm down to do it. I don't want people to recognize me. And then people will find out years later that that was me. And then I was like, don, we really need to get butts in seats here.

[Alison Stewart]

We need your name on the poster.

[Boots Riley]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

First of all, can I also ask you where you get your hats?

[Alison Stewart]

Cause I have hats all over this.

[Interviewer]

I almost wore one today.

[Boots Riley]

Yeah, I love that. I was told coming in here that you do. So it's called Uptown Yardie. They are in Brixton in London. However, they are on Instagram and can get you hats wherever you want.

[Interviewer]

I like a townyardy in bed Stuy. Ashaka Givens.

[Boots Riley]

She's an amazing designer as well.

[Interviewer]

So check her out.

[Boots Riley]

Check her out. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

I've been talking to Boots Riley. His film I Love Boosters enters theaters this weekend.

[Interviewer]

Thanks for being here.

[Boots Riley]

It's there. Thank you.

[Character in I Love Boosters]

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[Maggie Smith]

Hi, I'm Maggie Smith, poet and host of the Slowdown. Each weekday, I share a poem and a moment of reflection, helping you turn listening into a daily ritual. It's five minutes to slow down, pay attention, and begin the day with intention. Find it in your favorite podcast app and make the Slowdown your new daily poetry practice.