Breaking the Silence, October 11, 2026

Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams

A Life Shaped by Poetry: From Paris and India to the Smithsonian with Lee Woodman

Poet Lee Woodman joins Dr. Gregory Williams for a full hour on Breaking the Silence, reading from her Heartscapes collection and tracing a global childhood in Paris and India through a long career at the Smithsonian into the healing craft of poetry.

A Rescheduled Guest and a Full Hour

Dr. Gregory Williams opens the broadcast from his home in Houston, Texas, overlooking the Texas Medical Center, and tells listeners the show survived a bit of technical difficulty before tonight's guest arrived. He explains that last week's scheduled guest had to cancel after her father and her husband's father both passed away in the same week, and he reassures listeners that he and the guest have already rescheduled her appearance for the middle of November. Williams calls out the station's number, 888-627-6008, reminding callers that BBS Radio and BBS TV can patch them straight through to him and his guest, and notes the program streams live on the Shattered by the Darkness Facebook page and will reach more than 150 podcast platforms within days. He decides to give tonight's guest the entire hour rather than working through a prepared list of questions, saying he wants the conversation to feel like coffee between friends rather than a rehearsed interview.

Introducing Poet Lee Woodman

Williams introduces Lee Woodman as the author of a series of poetry collections he calls the "Scapes" books: Heartscapes, Colorscapes, Soulscapes, Artscapes, Lifescapes, Homescapes, and Mindscapes, with Heartscapes released that August. He jokes that if he had written that many books the next one would be called Escape, and Woodman laughs along. Williams reads through a long list of honors, including the Indie Reader Discovery Award, the Independent Press Gold Award, the Nautilus Gold Award for Poetry, the William Meredith Prize for Poetry, the Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition Merit Award, and a first prize from Carve Magazine. Woodman thanks him and says she finds it interesting to talk with someone who mixes medical knowledge, mental health, and ministry, predicting a good conversation. Williams admits he saw her face for the first time only a minute before the broadcast began, since he prefers not to hold pre-interviews and wants their talk to come from the heart rather than from a publisher's prepared questions.

What Makes Poetry Special

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