Podcast Summary: The Slowdown – Episode 1352: Blue by Jodie Hollander

Host: Maggie Smith
Date: September 15, 2025

Overview

This episode of The Slowdown centers on the theme of how color—both literal and metaphorical—shapes our perceptions, emotions, and memories. Host Maggie Smith uses a vivid, personal reflection on color in her home and life as a lead-in to Jodie Hollander’s poem “Blue,” which explores the deeply personal and sometimes isolating nature of emotional experience—particularly sorrow—and the subjectivity of memory and healing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Color in Our Lives

[01:35–03:30]

Personal Anecdotes:
- Maggie Smith describes her home as “full of bright, bold colors. Every wall is covered with art or lined with bookcases, or both.”
- She recounts her post-divorce choice of “shiny lemony lacquer” cabinets and the sometimes-surprised reaction of loved ones:
  - “My dad said, oh no, they sent the wrong ones. I laughed and told him, no, they were exactly the right ones.” — Maggie Smith [02:15]
- Discusses her preference for green:
  - “Green is another color I’m especially drawn to. It feels like the color of possibility... both calming and energizing at once.” — Maggie Smith [02:45]

2. The Emotional and Symbolic Weight of Blue

[03:30–04:10]

Blue as Beauty and Sorrow:
- Contrasts the serenity of blue (ocean, sky) with its longstanding association with sadness:
  - “But what about blue?... when we’re sad, we say we’re blue. We have the blues, might listen to or sing the blues.” — Maggie Smith [03:45]
Introduces the poem as a meditation on how personal experience colors perception.

3. Poem: “Blue” by Jodie Hollander

[04:10–07:16]

Summary and Thematic Highlights:
- The poem is set in the Denver Art Museum and explores the narrator’s recollection of the past, colored “blue”—not a simple blue, but one full of depth, sharpness, and pain.
- The narrator questions the objectivity of memory:
  - “Is this picture true? Or perhaps it’s a little bit distorted? How to ever really know for sure?” — Jodie Hollander [05:00]
- Attempts to view the memory differently (“once a friend told me it was green... a shrink suggested it was red”) are met with profound resistance.
  - “I flew into a rage. How could it be red, or any other color for that matter?” — Jodie Hollander [05:20]
- Explores the idea of confronting, immersing, or even being engulfed by sorrow—the color blue—wondering if transformation is possible:
  - “What if I dive in and immerse myself in the blue waves... let myself be dragged all the way down, down to where the blue turns into black? If I survive, do I get a brand new picture?” — Jodie Hollander [05:55]
- Ends with powerful imagery of destruction and rebirth:
  - “Once I dreamt the picture went up in flames…But then something emerged from the ashes, rather like this lovely picture here, a soft, almost inaudible fluttering of a blue butterfly escaping into the light.” — Jodie Hollander [06:45]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Once someone walked into my house and said, well, someone’s not afraid of color... Every wall is covered with art or lined with bookcases, or both.”
— Maggie Smith [01:35]
“Green is another color I’m especially drawn to. It feels like the color of possibility. After all, when someone is new at something we say they’re green. Green like a tiny shoot making its way out of the soil in springtime.”
— Maggie Smith [02:45]
“It’s deep and sharp. It’s not a common blue, and though I hate to look at it, I look and look. I cannot help myself.”
— Jodie Hollander [04:30] (on memory’s blue)
“So how to live within a blue picture?... Lakes are blue, as is the ocean ahead. What if I dive in and immerse myself in the blue waves... If I survive, do I get a brand new picture?”
— Jodie Hollander [05:55]
“A soft, almost inaudible fluttering of a blue butterfly escaping into the light.”
— Jodie Hollander [07:10]

Key Timestamps

01:35 – Maggie Smith introduces her home’s bold color palette and reflects on color after her divorce.
03:30 – Explores associations with blue—beauty vs. sadness.
04:10 – Full reading of “Blue” by Jodie Hollander.
05:00 – The narrator questions the objectivity of blue (memory and sorrow).
06:45 – Imagery of consuming fire, surviving sorrow, and the emergence of a blue butterfly.

Episode Essence & Takeaway

The Slowdown thoughtfully invites listeners to examine how individual experience shapes our perception of the world and ourselves. Maggie Smith’s approachable, vivid storytelling and Jodie Hollander’s introspective poetry together offer a meditation on the resilience of the human spirit, the trials of memory and grief, and the hope that something beautiful can eventually emerge from darkness—perhaps, like a blue butterfly, escaping into the light.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Want to make a difference in your community, but not sure how? Go to GoFundMe.com right now and start a GoFundMe. Seriously. Your next fundraiser doesn't have to start in a school parking lot or a church basement. You can start a GoFundMe today in just minutes. Fundraise for yourself, a friend or family member or an organization. All that matters is that you care about them. GoFundMe is the trusted place to fundraise for what you care about. With no pressure to hit your fundraising goal but tons of tools to help you reach it, you can confidently start fundraising right now. Whether it's creative, local, or critical, your cause matters. And there's a reason why GoFundMe is backed by millions and chosen by fundraisers everywhere. It works and it matters. GoFundMe helps you make a real difference. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com that's gofundme.com G O F U N D me dot com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe.

B (1:00)

Gas groceries eating out it all adds up fast. With the Verizon Visa card, you get rewarded every time you spend. Get 4% in rewards on gas, dining and at grocery stores, and you can put those rewards toward your Verizon bill or on new tech like a smartwatch and earbuds. Apply today at Verizon. Application required. Subject to credit approval. Must be a Verizon mobile account owner or manager or FIOS account owner. See verizon.com Verizon Visa card for terms and restrictions. The Verizon Visa signature card is issued by Synchrony bank pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc.

C (1:35)

I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the Slowdown. Once someone walked into my house and said, well, someone's not afraid of color. She's right. My house is full of bright, bold colors. Every wall is covered with art or lined with bookcases, or both. In the living room alone, there's a turquoise chair and ottoman, a pale pink chest of drawers, and a yellow sectional sofa. Yellow is one of my favorite colors. My dining room cabinets are a shiny lemony lacquer. After my divorce, when my house was sparsely furnished, I invited my family over for a new furniture assembly party. When we opened the boxes for those cabinets, my dad said, oh no, they sent the wrong ones. I laughed and told him, no, they were exactly the right ones. Green is another color I'm especially drawn to. It feels like the color of possibility. After all, when someone is new at something we say they're green. Green like a tiny shoot making its way out of the soil in springtime. I find the color both calming and energizing at once. But what about blue? It's the color of the ocean, of the sky, of some of what we find most beautiful and serene. On the other hand, when we're sad, we say we're blue. We have the blues, might listen to or sing the blues. Today's poem speaks to how we all see the world and our lives with completely unique eyes, with a vision colored by our own experiences. Blue By Jody Hollander at the Denver Art Museum this picture of the past I have is blue. It's deep and sharp. It's not a common blue, and though I hate to look at it, I look and look. I cannot help myself. I look until I'm inconsolable. Yet I wonder, is this picture true? Or perhaps it's a little bit distorted? How to ever really know for sure? Once a friend told me it was green. I closed my eyes but couldn't see the green. Then a shrink suggested it was red and I flew into a rage. How could it be red, or any other color for that matter? So how to live within a blue picture? I've changed the frame. I've painted over it, but the original always shows through. Lakes are blue, as is the ocean ahead. What if I dive in and immerse myself in the blue waves, in the cold blue current and let myself be dragged all the way down, down to where the blue turns into black? If I survive, do I get a brand new picture? If I could emerge like this picture here. See how the sharp blue begins to recede. But what happens to the small blue voice inside the blue badge I've earned from suffering? Once I dreamt the picture went up in flames and burned the old house I grew up in. I stood there and watched. I didn't do a thing as everything was consumed in orange and black. For a moment I was certain I had died. But then something emerged from the ashes, rather like this lovely picture here, a soft, almost inaudible fluttering of a blue butterfly escaping into the light. The Slowdown is a production of American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. To get a poem delivered to you daily, go to slowdownshow.org and sign up for our newsletter and find us on Instagram at at Slow down show and blue sky@downdownshow.org.