In his new book, What Is the Grass, poet MARK DOTY traces the life and work of Walt Whitman and, in the process, examines his own experience as a writer. In this part memoir, part biography, Doty explores Whitman’s life, sexuality and American identity, reaching back in time and weaving a a kind of conversation between two poets centuries apart. He joins us to discuss what he discovered about Whitman, his own work, and what it means to be a gay man.