

Ross Gay
Poet, essayist, and professor known for writing about joy, delight, and attention in everyday life, and author of books such as The Book of Delights and Inciting Joy.
Top 10 podcasts with Ross Gay
Ranked by the Snipd community

61 snips
Jun 13, 2024 • 59min
Ross Gay — On the Insistence of Joy
Ross Gay, a poet and essayist, discusses the paradox of joy in a world of suffering, emphasizing the importance of advocating for what we love. He explores the practice of delight as a spiritual discipline and the power of finding joy in small moments. The conversation delves into fostering community through kindness, the significance of gardening, and resisting societal norms. Ross shares insights on redefining justice as uplifting what we cherish, focusing on love, joy, and tenderness as essential components of a more compassionate world.

31 snips
Sep 18, 2023 • 55min
Delight and Joy Are Survival Mechanisms and Acts of Resistance | Ross Gay
Ross Gay, acclaimed poet and essayist known for his bestselling work "The Book of Delights," dives into the transformative power of delight and joy as acts of resistance. He shares insights on how recognizing delight can counteract negativity bias and the ethical implications of joy. Through personal anecdotes, he discusses the connection between grief and joy, emphasizing that these emotions can be survival mechanisms. With a focus on meaningful human connections, Gay advocates for cultivating moments of joy in everyday life.

23 snips
Feb 13, 2026 • 1h 2min
Embracing the Messiness of Life: Finding Joy in Everyday Moments with Ross Gay
Ross Gay, poet and essayist who finds wonder in small moments. He explores attention, devotion, and the Delights practice. He talks about joy entwined with sorrow, tenderness and care, the seriousness of delight amid injustice, and how brief human connections and writing open up meaning.

22 snips
Mar 11, 2023 • 20min
Finding joy in the face of sorrow
Ross Gay, an acclaimed poet and author, explores the intricate dance between joy and sorrow in this thought-provoking conversation. He delves into how joy manifests physically and its role in resilience and community support during tough times. The discussion emphasizes the vital connection between joy and vulnerability, revealing its power to foster authentic relationships. Gay challenges societal norms around sadness, advocating for the embrace of life's complexities to find deeper meaning and connection, even amid adversity.

20 snips
Nov 20, 2024 • 59min
How to Let Joy Heal Us with Ross Gay
Ross Gay, an acclaimed poet and professor, shares his profound insights on finding joy in everyday life. He discusses practical ways to revitalize our 'delight muscle' and emphasizes the healing power of community connections. Ross encourages listeners to 'unknow' loved ones to rediscover delight in them, advocating for spontaneous acts of kindness. He explores the interplay between joy and shared sorrow, illustrating how these experiences strengthen our bonds and enhance our collective happiness.

14 snips
Jun 6, 2023 • 1h 4min
216. How to Find DELIGHT Today (and Every Day) with Ross Gay
Ross Gay teaches us how to notice delight and joy in our everyday lives. We discuss: concrete ways to rediscover and capture joy every day; how to rebuild your “delight muscle”; how to dissolve the myth of disconnection between us; and how to “unknow” our people so we can delight in them.About Ross: Ross Gay is an American poet, essayist, and professor committed to healing the world through observing and articulating joy, delight and gratitude. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his 2014 book, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. A devoted community gardener, Ross is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project. A college football player, he is a founding editor of the online sports magazine Some Call it Ballin'.

9 snips
May 31, 2025 • 58min
How to Find DELIGHT Today (and Every Day) with Ross Gay (Best Of)
Ross Gay, an American poet and essayist celebrated for his exploration of joy and gratitude, shares transformative insights on cultivating delight in daily life. He teaches how to rebuild your 'delight muscle' and reconnect with others. The conversation emphasizes the power of joy in fostering deep connections and the significance of vulnerability in relationships. Ross also discusses how loitering in genuine connection can resist consumerism and the joy found in community activities. It's a heartwarming reminder to savor everyday moments.

9 snips
Feb 24, 2020 • 9min
Ross Gay — Ode to Buttoning and Unbuttoning My Shirt
In this captivating discussion, poet Ross Gay, renowned for his explorations of everyday life and human connection, reflects on his poem "Ode to Buttoning and Unbuttoning My Shirt." He uses this mundane act to explore deeper themes of intimacy, identity, and our connection to daily rituals. Gay invites listeners to consider how seemingly trivial gestures can hold profound emotional significance. The conversation encourages mindfulness, asking what we are opening or closing in our lives, reminding us to pay attention to the stories our hands tell.

6 snips
Feb 14, 2022 • 15min
How to let more joy into your life
In this insightful discussion, poet Ross Gay, known for his work 'The Book of Delights,' shares his perspective on joy in everyday moments—like orchards and even weeds. He emphasizes the power of vulnerability and self-compassion in embracing joy. Gay encourages listeners to reconnect with their childlike wonder, highlighting how emotional openness can foster personal growth. He also shares practical tips for finding delight in daily life, reminding us that joy often flourishes through community and shared experiences.

5 snips
Jan 2, 2024 • 20min
Ross Gay on inciting joy while dining with sorrow
Poet Ross Gay talks with Brittany Luse about the complexity of joy and finding delight in the midst of sorrow. They discuss how joy and sorrow can coexist, the importance of connection and sharing sorrows, and finding joy as a form of resistance and incitement to joy. They emphasize the significance of staying connected to one another and seeking help, and reflect on the power of writing about joy in troubling times.


