In today’s episode, we meet poet and prose writers Alice Osborn and David Poston, who share their socially conscious poetry, essays and songs (Alice sings, not David, who only hums a bit).

We explore a variety of thought-provoking and haunting topics, including David’s essay on how reading made him a better person in the face of the me-against-you movement and Alice’s obsession to write prose and sing songs about the Donner party, a family that traveled west for a new life over 170 years ago and got stranded in the snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We talk about Frankenstein, hear a poem about Chuck Norris and Jesus and one called “Bottom Drawer,” where a library book about civil rights was hidden by a young girl from her father.

We start first with Alice reading the poem, “Hunger” and David reading the poem, “When Hot People Die.”

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com