NPR’s Book of the Day: ‘Atlantic’ Writer James Parker on Odes to Everyday Life

Episode: ‘Atlantic’ writer James Parker says his odes are exercises in gratitude and attention
Date: August 21, 2025
Host: Andrew Limbong
Guest: James Parker (interviewed by Anthony Brooks)
Book Discussed: Get Me through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive

Episode Overview

This episode explores James Parker’s unique approach to the ode—a poetic form of appreciating both ordinary and extraordinary moments in life. Parker, a staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses his new book, Get Me through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive, which gathers odes that celebrate subjects ranging from cold showers and crying on airplanes to deeper experiences such as fainting and refraining from alcohol. Through witty and thoughtful conversation, Parker reveals how writing odes helps him practice gratitude and sharpen his attention to life’s small miracles.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Odes? The Origin and Evolution

• Definition & History
  • James Parker relates the classical roots of the ode, referencing Greek poet Pindar, who wrote them as celebrations for athletic victories.

    “Pindar the Greek, so they say, invented the ode back in whenever it was 500 B.C… they began as ways of celebrating.” (02:16)

• Personal Approach
  • Parker sees odes as a means to “get under the skin of things… to see what’s wriggling around underneath.” (02:40)

2. Celebrating the Everyday

• The odes in Parker’s collection run the gamut from grandiose themes to humble particulars:
  • Ode to America
  • Ode to Falling Off a Horse
  • Ode to Meditation
  • Ode to Cold Showers
  • Ode to Brain Farts
  • Ode to Crying on Airplanes
  • Ode to My Flip Phone
• Parker admits:

  “The table of contents is what I'm actually most proud of in the whole book.” (03:00)

3. Reading and Discussing Specific Odes

• Ode to Cold Showers (03:33-04:34)

  • Parker reads an excerpt describing the physical and meditative jolt of a morning cold shower:

    “The water hits, and biology asserts itself, you are not a tired balloon of cerebral activity. You are a body, and you are being challenged... It's a species of accelerated mindfulness, really... the cold behind the cold, the beautiful, immobile zero.” (03:47)

  • He reveals using cold showers to manage his personal “seam of sluggishness and depression.” (04:44)

• Ode to Coming Round on the Bathroom Floor

  • Written after fainting episodes, Parker found beauty in regaining consciousness:

    “Fainting is ghastly. But coming round for me at least, was very beautiful, a very orderly kind of restoration... you end up marveling at the solidity of the bathroom floor… an ode to kind of being at home in the universe.” (05:24)

4. Ode as a Creative Tool

• He draws inspiration from Pablo Neruda, who used the ode as a “perceptual Swiss army knife,” an adaptable form to probe the world’s layers.

  “You pull it out of your back pocket and you get jimmying and you get chiseling and you get poking.” (06:30)

5. The Form and Feeling of Odes

• His odes sometimes appear as tight poems, sometimes as prose:

  “They just kind of come out that way... If it starts to rhyme, basically then I know I'm in a poem.” (07:23)

• Writing poetry as psychological health:

  “I am at my most psychologically healthy, I think, when I've just completed a poem.” (07:34)

6. Humor and Vulnerability: Favorite Odes Shared

• Ode to Not Drinking (06:41)
  • Parker reads a witty, bittersweet rhyme about abstaining from alcohol:

    “I note the change when I resist my alcoholic whim. The mornings are more sparkling, but the evenings are more dim.” (06:56)

• Ode to Hugs (07:41-09:11)
  • A moving reflection on Parker’s affection for hugs, rooted in his experiences during London’s rave and ecstasy scene:

    “Not everyone likes them as much as I do... But me, I'm wired for hugs and there’s not a lot I can do about it... A communion of groans ribcage to rumbling ribcage.” (07:53)

  • Touches on the transformation from buttoned-up private education to open vulnerability through dancing and hugs:

    “With the advent of ecstasy culture, suddenly everybody was going bananas and hugging each other... That was the beginning of me being hooked on hugs. And that has never gone away.” (09:18)

7. Gratitude, Attention, and Being "Ode Ready"

• Parker describes ode writing as “exercises in gratitude or in attention, which… may in the end be the same thing.” (01:25)
• An “ode ready” state is defined as being open and attentive to the world:

  “You have to be in a state to receive what is coming at you... Being alert, being in the moment. Don’t use boring words. Don’t use other people’s words. Use your own words. Trust your own perceptions.” (10:13–10:23)

• Parker offers the life advice:

  “Be on the lookout for your next ode.” (10:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I have a great seam of sluggishness and depression in my personality, which I have to regularly attack with heavy metal or cold showers or poetry or whatever it may be.” – James Parker (04:44)
• “How long is this day? Like, it’s still going. But then, of course, if you do drink, you know, you will pay the next morning promptly.” – James Parker, on giving up alcohol (07:02)
• “Full contact, lingering pressure, the works, with sound effects if possible. A communion of groans ribcage to rumbling ribcage.” – James Parker, on hugs (08:05)
• “Don’t use boring words. Don’t use other people’s words. Use your own words. Trust your own perceptions, trust your own feelings, trust your own insights, trust your own ears and eyes. Yeah, all of that.” – James Parker (10:23)
• “I think I’m kind of at my best as a writer when I’m on the lookout for an ode.” – James Parker (10:40)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:02 – 00:45: Andrew Limbong’s introduction; the premise of appreciating little things.
• 01:25 – 02:10: Anthony Brooks introduces James Parker’s work and his definition of an ode.
• 03:00 – 03:26: Sampling of ode titles from Parker’s book.
• 03:33 – 04:34: Reading of "Ode to Cold Showers."
• 04:44 – 05:24: Parker on using odes and rituals to counter depression.
• 05:24 – 06:06: Story behind "Ode to Coming Round on the Bathroom Floor."
• 06:30 – 06:41: On the ode as a tool (inspired by Pablo Neruda).
• 06:41 – 07:01: Reading "Ode to Not Drinking."
• 07:41 – 09:11: Reading and discussion of "Ode to Hugs."
• 10:13 – 10:45: What it means to be “ode ready”; the call to listeners.

Tone and Takeaways

James Parker’s conversation is playful, candid, and poetic, mixing humor with moments of vulnerability and wisdom. The episode invites listeners to pause, pay attention, and find their own sources of everyday awe—reminding us all to stay “ode ready” and grateful for life’s passing details.