Oh No! Lit Class

99: RJ Fails the Voight-Kampff Test

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Megan and RJ are back (again)! And they swear it's really them and not a couple of criminal deviant androids. For real, they pinky-promise and everyth...

98: It's Not Easy Being the Green Knight

28 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Um, hey, how's it going? Megan and RJ return from the void to bring you Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, a poem from Arthurian legend full of fun and ...

97: How the Grinch Got Cancelled

25 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's one fish, two fish, red fish, racism fish as we dive into the dark underbelly of Dr. Seuss (no, seriously). Learn which of his whimsical rhymes H...

96: Rent Owes Maya Angelou an Apology (and So Do We)

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We're blaming Rent: The Musical for mispronouncing Maya Angelou's last name all these years because we can. And because it's just another reason to ha...

95: The Divine Comedy Part 2: Take a Left at Lucifer's Junk, You Can't Miss It

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Happy 4th birthday to us! What did we get ourselves to celebrate? Ah, nothing much, just the epic tale of two pedantic idiots fighting over possession...

94: The Divine Comedy Part 1: Dante Alighieri - Short, Shredded King?

21 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

ON!LC is back and we're taking things in a new direction: straight to hell! Specifically, the Inferno, as we lay out the biography of Dante Alighieri ...

93: Dewey Decimal System? No, We Don’t!

24 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the 'cast, Megan and RJ had lost it at last. Answering listener questions about which authors to dat...

92: Grogu in Wonderland

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We'll get this out of the way now: No, we haven't watched season 2 of The Mandalorian. Yes, we know his name is Grogu. Now. After calling him Gorgu 50...

91: Who's Afraid of Virgender Woolf?

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This Thanksgiving, be thankful your significant other doesn't expect you to pull a Virginia Woolf and write them a stealth love letter in the form of ...

90: Victor Hugo Said ACAB

12 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Do you hear the people sing? Megan and RJ sure do as they get all kinds of Les Miserables on this special Patreon-request episode. Learn why no matter...

89: Paul Hollywood IS Mrs. De Winter IN Rebecca

29 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

So...there's an acclaimed spooky Gothic novel called Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and there's a new original movie on Netflix also called Rebecca and,...

88: We're Gonna Goose Your Bumps

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Listener beware, you're in for a scare, Megan and RJ are here to give you Goosebumps! Learn all about R.L. Stine, the man behind the bumps, plus: Hair...

87: The Phantom of the Hockey Rink

01 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"Christine, I am The Angel of Music, and you must never touch my mask...seriously, have you ever taken a puck to the face unprotected? Brutal." It's H...

86: Is the Evil Fairy Who Cursed Your Dick a Girlboss?

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Megan and RJ ask: What killed John Keats, arguably the softest of the Softboi Romantic poets? Lord Byron and Percy Shelley blame mean...

85: Clear Eyes, One Nut, Can't Lose

03 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL??? By which we mean a book about football. Specifically, Friday Night Lights, journalist H.G. Bissinger's journey to O...

84: Let's Get Lit(erary Theory)

20 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Life has thrown a lot at Megan and RJ lately, and so instead of a normal episode, they're going to explain lit theory, because that's easier somehow? ...

83: Romeo and Juliet — Young, Dumb, and Full of...You Know ;)

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's a real Throwback Thursday of an episode: Shakespeare! Vin Diesel reminding us of the importance of family! Rampant horniness! (Wait, that's just ...

82: Frederick Douglass Could Beat Up Alexander Hamilton

23 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sure, he was born about 14 years after Hamilton died but our point still stands. In an ON!LC first, we cover a memoir: The Narrative Life of Frederick...

81: Soothing Whale Sounds With RJ

09 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we cover author Witi Ihimaera and his culturally influential novel, Whale Rider, and learn the dangers of not properly appreciating y...

80: The Glass Malkovich (w/ Scottye Moore from BS Podcast Network)

25 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In an episode that will go down in history alongside Ethan Frome and Of Mice and Men as "wow, that sure went off the rails fast," podcasting maniac an...

79: Troy 2 — Odysseus Is Back...and He's Pissed

11 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Odyssey aka Part 2 of Homer's epic poetic duo features what is perhaps the worst and also most horny travelogue of the ancient world as Odysseus b...

78: The Zero Chilliad

28 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Get it? Because Achilles has zero chill? Megan and RJ also find themselves lacking chill as they attempt to navigate the first of Homer's epic poem du...

77: So It Kurt Vonnegoes (w/ Rob Kristoffersen From Our Strange Skies)

14 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There's no getting around it, this episode on Kurt Vonnegut's seminal novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, is big. It's all about time, space, war, trauma, and...

76: The House on Mascot Street

30 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What do Iowa tourism slogans, college mascots, Mel Gibson movie corrections, Miami Dolphins draft options, and institutionalized racism all have in co...

75: The Haunted Babysitters Club

16 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If we could turn back time, we'd probably make Cher less of a major cornerstone on this episode about Henry James's spooky novella The Turn of the Scr...

March Mini-Madness 4: Adaptation-Hating with The Narcissist Cookbook

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're at the razor's edge of madness as Matt Johnston aka The Narcissist Cookbook joins Megan to share his feelings on HBO's adaptation of the His Dar...

March Mini-Madness 3: Book-Huffing and Other Sins With Paul from Varmints!

26 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

March may be winding down but the madness continues with Paul Csomo, host of the amazing animal podcast Varmints! The exclamation point is part of the...

March Mini-Madness 2: Witcher-Guessing With Joe from Life, Death, and Taxonomy

12 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Witcher? I hardly know her! March Mini-Madness continues as Megan is given a lesson in Witcher Literature (Witcherature) by Joe Raspolich, co-host of ...

March Mini-Madness 1: Book-Shaming With Kate from Ignorance Was Bliss

05 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our first entry into Miniaturized Madness in March is with Webby-nominated(!) Kate Wallinga, host of Ignorance Was Bliss. Megan and Kate ostensibly di...

74: Oh No! Clip Show

27 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

RJ has officially left ON!LC HQ and Megan is totally handling it super well (he's fine, it's fine, we're fine). Until your favorite book idiots are re...

73: Much Ado About Doin' It

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're celebrating our 3rd birthday with Big Willy Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and everyone's* invited! Ready your "no" face to learn why vic...

72: Things Get Real on Beale

31 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

While we may be more equipped to talk about Sesame Street, in this episode we're covering If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin. Join us on a jo...

71: The Way the World Ends (Not With a Bang but a Meow)

16 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Megan and RJ are prancing and dancing their way into 2020 like a regular pair of Jellicle cats as they take on T.S. Eliot and his wildly disparate bod...

70: Crack Open a Cold Nut With the Boy

19 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Megan and RJ attempt to atone for their episode 69-related sins with a dose of wholesome holiday cheer via ETA Hoffmann's classic Christmas tale, The ...

69 (Part 2): Holy Cow! Mr. Grey Will See You Now

05 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ok, for real this time: E. L. James and her Twilight Businessman BDSM fan fiction are here and Megan and RJ are going to do everything in their power ...

69 (Part 1): Sort of a Grey Area

28 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's here. Episode 69. Which means it's time to gird your loins and put on your DJs. That's right, your Dom Jeans. Welcome to 50 Shades of Grey, Happy...

68: Robert Frost vs. the Soviet Union

14 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and we took the one that led to a dingdong joke, and that has made all the difference. It's time for some Robert ...

67: Just Vampire Gals Bein' Pals

31 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we learn that anything can happen on Halloween, including vampire lesbians as we read Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's gothic, sapphic novel...

66: The Hound of the Bastardvilles

17 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Who's that Pokemon? It's Sherlock Holmes! It makes sense in context! We continue our Halloween celebration by dipping our toes into the deep, dark dep...

65: This Old (Haunted) House (w/ Moxie LaBouche from Your Brain on Facts)

03 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's the Season of Spooks and Scares and we're starting with Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, with the help of Moxie, host of Your Brain ...

64: Not Another British War Drama

19 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Like a candy bar offered to you by a creepy British man, sink your teeth into this episode as we cover another writer still kickin’ it with the mode...

Study Break Bonus: This Episode is a Miserable Little Pile of Secrets

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From the Patreon-only vault: Megan, RJ, and Jared aka Best Day, huddle in Jared's closet around his terrible Snowball mic to discuss Japanese video ga...

Oh No! Law Class Episode 0: Ride that Horse to Justice

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What, two episode drops in one day? And one of them is a pilot for a potential series where RJ actually TEACHES YOU THINGS? Wild. That's right, There'...

63: Treasure Island — A Tale of Two Daddies

22 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Your favorite wildly unqualified hosts are back and have completely forgotten how to podcast! Join Megan and RJ as they once again venture onto the li...

62: Capote, I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore (w/ Kate Wallinga from Ignorance Was Bliss)

27 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Screw books! We're a True Crime podcast now! Megan and RJ are joined by Kate, host of the podcast Ignorance Was Bliss to get all up in Truman Capote's...

61: This Teen Angst Is Vintage

13 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Another special request episode takes us back down that old YA road to Paul Zindel's novel, Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball. Soak in that goo...

60: If She Breathes, She's a Thot: The Tragedy of Othello

30 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're back for more Big Willy, this time taking a look at Othello, the classic tale of tragedy, betrayal, and people flat-out refusing to JUST TALK TO...

59: The Remains of the Day — The Phantom Menace

16 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder why we keep talking about Star Wars as we recount Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed classic, The Remains of the Day, ...

58: A Long Title About Little (Golden) Books

02 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Take a trip to Little Golden Book Land as we take advantage of a mysterious delivery to revisit such greats as The Poky Little Puppy! Learn about LGB'...

57: I Can Feel It Cummings in the Air Tonight

18 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Oh Lord do we ever feel it coming as we dive back into the weird, wonderful, nearly constantly horny world of poetry with E.E. Cummings (and learn why...

56: The Lion, the Bris and the Wardrobe (w/ The Narcissist Cookbook)

04 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We step through CS Lewis's titular wardrobe into Narnia with Matt Johnston aka The Narcissist Cookbook to take a story of magical lands and good vs ev...

55: A Tale of Two Cities—and One Bane (w/ BJ Mendelson)

21 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined by author, comic writer, and Dickens-hating enthusiast BJ Mendelson as we read A Tale of Two Cities and learn that, while the revolution ...

54: We Welcome Our Insect Overlords

07 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The authors are only mostly dead in this special request episode that takes us to the sci-fi space futures of "Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler and "Sand...

53: Huckleberry Finn and the Magic Power of Chest Hair (w/ MC Lars)

21 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're talking Mark Twain and super excited to be rolling down the Mississippi River with literary rhyme-master and self-professed Huck Finn fanboy MC ...

52: Grendel's Mom Has Got It Goin' On (w/ Dr. Carla Maria Thomas)

07 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're celebrating TWO YEARS of unbridled book nonsense with an ON!LC first: getting someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about to ...

51: Orpheus and Eurydice vs. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

24 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Warm up those vocal cords and get ready to head to Hades because it's time to get mythological, baby! We're tackling the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice,...

50: Operation Death Sled (w/ Reid Messerschmidt From The Irrationally Exuberant Podcast)

10 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! ON!LC is back in a big way as Reid Messerschmidt of The Irrationally Exuberant Podcast joins us to make the case for Edith Wharton's n...

Study Break Bonus: It Turns Out Words Don't Actually Mean Anything

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What better way to get ready to ring in 2019 than with another bonus minisode from the ON!LC vault? Megan has a petty pet peeve over famous miscontext...

Study Break Bonus: I Literally Can't Even

25 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Merry Christmas! Dive under the Christmas tree and unwrap this previously Patreon-exclusive minisode where guest Matt Hocker, surrealist comedian, and...

49: Disney Rides are the Basis of All Historical Canon

13 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this final episode of 2018, all your burning questions will be answered, like what piece of classic literature needs to be made into a Muppet movie...

48: A Midsummer Night's Wet Dream

29 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Smash that emergency Shakespeare button for an appropriately semi-lucid episode on A Midsummer Night's Dream! Learn all about Shakespeare's famed come...

47: My Sister, My Sister, My Sister and Me

15 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we take a look at some positively lilliputian ladies in Louisa May Alcott's classic coming-of-age novel, Little Women. Learn why the ...

46: The Ballad of Count Jackula

31 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What's that in your candy bucket? Is it a bonus week of spooks and scares just in time for Halloween?! Join us and learn why A Rose for Emily is less ...

45: Who Names Their Kid Ichabod Anyway?

25 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Gird your gourds for more Halloween goodness as we begin our short story spookstravaganza! RJ discusses feminism and unfortunate interior decorating i...

44: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Bill Nye the Science Guy

11 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year! Halloween! Obviously. In this spine-tingling episode, Megan and RJ take a trip down Queer Street to exam...

43: Surf's Up, Agatha!

27 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Megan and RJ take Agatha Christie's sinister choo-choo train to her classic mystery novel, Murder on the Orient Express. Along for the ride is Jess, E...

42: Finding (and Escaping) Nemo

14 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we hold our breath to dive into the briny depths of Jules Verne’s adventure classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea! Learn the downsi...

41: The #Aesthetic of Dorian Gray

30 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe he’s born with it, maybe it’s a cursed, magical painting. Join Megan and RJ as they return to the wonderful world of Oscar Wilde to appraise...

40: H. P. Lovecraft Part 2: A City of Steve Buscemis (w/ Best Day)

16 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Join Megan, RJ, and Jared as we round out our journey through the Cthulhu-verse with The Shadow over Innsmouth, a tale of cursed villages, dark secret...

39: H. P. Lovecraft Part 1: Jostled to Death by Sailors (w/ Best Day)

02 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Megan and RJ open up their feeble brain meats to the untold cosmic horrors of H. P. Lovecraft! With special guest and Old God aficion...

Study Break Bonus: The Goatesque and the Oceanesque

26 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this free teaser of Study Breaks to come, ON!LC guest alum Monique McIntosh returns to teach Megan about a popular, unsurprisingly racist term used...

38: Hello from the Outside(rs)

19 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We’re inside, we’re outside, we’re every which way but the general direction of S.E. Hinton’s Twitter as we tackle her classic teen coming-of-...

37: Oops, We Bronte’d Again

05 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Get ready for THE DRAMA as Megan and RJ journey to the ghostly moors of Wuthering Heights! Learn why everyone who thinks this is a romantic love story...

36: A Nice Book About Bunny Rabbits (w/ Chris Osborne From Play Comics)

21 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What could go wrong in a book about bunnies? Plenty, if that book is Watership Down, a classic children’s novel that’s been traumatizing kids for ...

35: 1-800-Flowers for Algernon

07 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Oh Danny boy, the pipes are calling on this episode where we manage, despite our best efforts and potentially worst singing yet, to talk about the cla...

34: Of Mice and Men and Salads

24 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In an episode that could best be described as “Steinbeck adjacent,” we engage in some heavy petting, bacon thieving, obscure reference-making, and...

33: Mental Breakdowns in the Rye

10 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Get ready to #CatchTheseHands in the rye as your two favorite phonies set out to eviscerate Holden Caulfield, but mostly just feel bad for him. Learn ...

32: Part Man, Part Alcohol, Part Kangaroo: The Ernest Hemingway Story

26 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode, we take you on an intoxicated tour through the life, times, and wives of Ernest Hemingway, with a brief stopover at The Old M...

31: Down and Dirty John Donne

12 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

RJ takes the wheel to teach us a thing about John Donne: Reverend, husband, and mega-horny poet. Enjoy the tonal whiplash as we rocket between poems a...

30: Bowels of Darkness

29 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we head to Africa, not to bless the rains but to contend with Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. Megan is filled to the brim ...

29: A Tough Tesseract to Follow

15 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Crack open your guide to interdimensional travel because we’re about to Wrinkle some Time! Join us and our friend Scott for a magical story of quant...

28: Fightin’ and Philanderin’ With Daddy Dumas

01 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Get ready for some nougat-y goodness with The Three Musketeers, a novel less about swashbuckling and more about extra-marital cross-kingdom hookups, h...

27: ALL HAIL THE MAGIC CONCH!

15 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

British boys get stranded on a tropical island, and you won’t BELIEVE what happens next! …They get naked and try to murder each other. It’s Lord...

26: This Pie Tastes Like Murder

01 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

You guys, this show is a whole year old! In celebration, we bring you, from the depths of Shakespearean obscurity: Titus Andronicus, the play that ask...

25: Scout Finch Is Going to Kick Your Butt

18 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

They say it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, so we get to sinning with Harper Lee’s immortal required reading classic. Learn how Lee plagiarized her...

24.5: We A Some Qs

09 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a new year with new experiences to have and new challenges to face! Like having your schedule completely derailed by medical emergencies! (On a...

24: The Nightmare Before Christmas Carol

20 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We’re celebrating the last episode of the year with the double-feature of A Christmas Carol and The Gift of the Magi! Embrace the holiday spirit of ...

23: Ralph Ellison’s Big Book of Symbolism

07 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Who wouldn’t want to be an Invisible Man? Playing awesome pranks, sneaking into R-rated movies…wait, this isn’t that one? This is the one about ...

22: 99 Problems but a Witch Ain’t One

23 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We celebrate Thanksgiving by bringing America back to its awful roots with The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch hunts written during the communi...

21: Back to the (Bradbury) Future!

09 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Come take a trip with us to the Bradbury-Future of Fahrenheit 451: where firemen burn books, buildings, robots, each other, whatever gets in the way o...

20: Pour One Out for Your Poe-mies

26 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our Halloween celebration continues with the master of Gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe! Cower in fear at the return of the curséd city of Boston! Trem...

19: Don’t Kinkshame Dracula

12 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is there a more recognizable literary monster than Dracula? Maybe, but who cares, IT’S A HALLOWEEN EPISODE! Join us as we learn why wolves make grea...

18: The Gay Penguin Agenda – Banned Books Week ’17

28 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In an episode meant to explain and explore the world of banned and challenged books, Megan and RJ instead fail to resist drugs and violence, rewrite L...

17: The Big Willy Conspiracy

14 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode, we’re investigating a centuries-spanning, Da Vinci Code-style conspiracy: Did beloved wordsmith William Shakespeare actuall...

16: Adjust Your Expectations Accordingly

31 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this positively Dickensian episode, Megan and RJ attempt to discuss Great Expectations and its young hero Pip, but get sidetracked by everything fr...

15: I Love You, Most Awkwardly.

17 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single podcast in possession of a Jane Austen novel, must be in want of a guest host. Fellow Literary P...

14: Their Eyes Were Watching God Drop the Bass

03 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we cover Zora Neale Hurston’s novel about race, gender, and feminine agency in the horrible, horrible swamps of Florida. Learn wher...

13: Hamlet! REVEEEENGE!

20 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Big Willy Shakespeare returns! We learn about Amleth, the original Norse myth that’s better in every way, just how bad the “Bad Quarto” version ...

12: Giant Bugs, John Leguizamo, & the Jewish People

06 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Bodies change. One day you've got a slim waist with a beautiful head of hair and the next you’re a writhing, oozing insect monster. In this episode,...

11: Go Make Your Blue China Proud

22 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the nick of time for Pride Month, we baseball slide in with Oscar Wilde, and our first guest host: our friend and fellow Literature Masochist, Scot...