Sophomore Lit

187: The Apology

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Love of wisdom means never having to say you’re sorry. Professor Marina McCoy joins her husband to discuss Plato’s The Apology (c. 399-90 BCE). Jo...

186: "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

First-time co-host Daniel Heddendorf joins in to discuss clocks and jellybeans in Harlan Ellison’s short story, “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the...

185: The Third Policeman

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like. Shaenon K. Garrity returns to discuss Flan O’Brien’s enigmatic The Third Policeman (wri...

184: I am the Cheese

08 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Hope you’re not lactose intolerant! Matt Skuta returns to discuss John Cormier’s I am the Cheese (1977). John McCoy with Matt Skuta.

183: Christmas Special: "A Christmas Turkey"

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What, the one as big as me? Marina McCoy makes her holiday return to discuss Mário de Andrade’s sweet-and-salty “A Christmas Turkey” (1956). Jo...

182: The Watch House

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who watches the Watch House? Not us, the book is better. Ross Cleaver returns to discuss Robert Westall’s The Watch House (1977). John McCoy with R...

181: Thanksgiving Special: Protest Songs

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The answer, my friend…is not a lyric in the any of the songs the McCoy Brothers discuss. For this annual drunk Thanksgiving Special, Rob, Dan, and J...

180: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Podcasts could happen to anyone. David Loehr discusses exits and entrances in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (first performed ...

179: The Last Unicorn

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Don’t it allways seem to go, you don’t know what unicorns you got til they’re gone. Kathy Campbell discusses Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 The Last U...

178: R.U.R.

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

BEEP boop what is… love? Well, we don’t figure this out, but John Siracusa does return to Sophomore Lit to discuss Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (1...

177: The Pushcart War

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brush up on the Large Object Theory of History. Shaenon K. Garrity returns to discuss Jean Merrill’s The Pushcart War (1964). John McCoy with Shaen...

176: Walden, or Life in the Woods

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re suffering from Quiet Desparation, why not listen to the not-so-quiet voices of Dan Daughhetee and me discussing Henrey David Thoreau’s W...

175: Elizabeth Bishop Poems

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Somebody loves us all. Rosalynde Vas Dias discusses three poems by Elizabeth Bishop: “Sestina” (1956), “Filling Station” (1956), and “Crusoe...

174: The Chrysalids

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Podcasts are the original voices in your head. David Dredrick discusses John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids (1955). John McCoy with David Dedrick.

173: The Visit

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Make money fast with this one weird trick. Glenn Fleishman discusses Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit (1956). John McCoy with Glenn Fleishman...

172: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

And indeed there will be time to discuss this, the most mid-life white-guy crisis poem of all. Lisa Schmeiser discusses T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Son...

171: Frank O'Connor Stories

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I’ve heard it said by men of wide experience that podcasts used to be better in the old days. Kieran Healy discusses three short stories by Frank O’...

170: Emily Dickinson Poems

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Forever is composed of podcasts. Caroline Fulford discusses selected poems by Emily Dickinson (c. 1860-65). John McCoy with Caroline Fulford and Mar...

169: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cigars are always trouble. Marina McCoy discusses Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972). John McCoy with Marina McCoy.

168: The Time of Your Life

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes you want to go where everybody is a thread in the fabric of the human condition. Also they know your name. Phil Gonzales discusses William S...

167: Thanksgiving Special: Comfort Reads

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hey, things are tough. The McCoy Bros, Rob, John, and Dan, discuss the books that get them through. John McCoy with Rob McCoy and Dan McCoy.

166: The Owl Service

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ross Cleaver returns to talk owls, plates, and Welsh mythology in Alan Garner’s The Owl Service (1967). John McCoy with Ross Cleaver.

165: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode has many omissions, and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate. Jacob Haller tries to make sense of Douglas Adam...

164: Lysistrata

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What’s more cultivated and genteel than classical theater? David Loehr discusses Aristophanes’s Lysistrata (411 B.C.E.) John McCoy with David J. ...

163: The Twenty-One Balloons

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Because twenty would be too few and twenty-two would be ridiculous. Shaenon K. Garrity discusses William Pène du Bois’s The Twenty-One Balloons (...

162: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rain Main meets Air Bud. Dan McCoy discusses stims and happy endings and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003). Joh...

161: A Canticle for Leibowitz

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a bunch of monks sitting around copying stuff. Jelani Sims returns to discuss Walter M. Mille...

160: Why I Live at the P.O.

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stick some stamps on the top of our heads. Deborah Stanish discusses Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.” (1941) John McCoy with Deborah Sta...

159: The Phantom Tollbooth

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between. Moisés Chiullán discusses Norton Juster’s The Phantom...

158: A Perfect Day for Bananafish

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Podcasters: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things?? Let’s Find Out! Jason Snell talks about marine life in J.D. Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for B...

157: The Veldt

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lions and tigers and bea— you know what, just lions. Jordan Morris is here to discuss Ray Bradbury’s story “the Veldt” (1950). John McCoy wit...

156: Heart of Darkness

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Podcast! The Podcast! John Holt discusses the ill-fated cruise that is Joseph Conrad’s novelette Heart of Darkness (1899). John McCoy with John...

155: Tom Sawyer

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Though his mind is not for rent, it still is the subject of this episode. Jacob Haller discusses Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer (1876). John McCoy with Ja...

154: Wide Sargasso Sea

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Actually, I need this sea in an extra wide. Caroline Fulford discusses postcolonialism and recurring fires in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea (1966). ...

153: The Burglar's Christmas

24 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Burgermeister Meisterburger has nothing on this burglar! My wife Marina joins me for our annual Christmas episode. This time we discuss Willa Cath...

152: The Prince in Waiting

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The waiting is the hardest part. Ross Cleaver and James Randall discuss the apocalypse, palace intrigue, and the charm of 80’s BBC television in thi...

151: Thanksgiving Special: Poor Richard's Almanack

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fish and visitors stink in three days, but podcasts are evergreen! Dan and Rob return for the annual Thanksgiving nonsense with Benjamin Franklin’s ...

150: Valley of the Dolls

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Raggedy Ann, Barbie, Chucky—they’re all here. That’s what this book is about, right? Erin Gambrill discusses Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the...

149: On the Beach

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why just sit around waiting for the end of the world when you can hear a podcast about it? Jelani Sims discusses Nevil Shute’s On the Beach (1957). ...

148: History of the Peloponnesian War

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kids today love Thucydides, right? Anyone? Daniel Daughhetee returns to discuss this late fifth century BCE chronicle of Athens v. Sparta. John McCoy ...

147: James Thurber

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a naive literary podcast without any breeding, but I think you’ll be amused by its presumption. Dan Cassino discusses James Thurber’s “Th...

146: Through the Looking-Glass

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you’ve believed six impossible things before breakfast, why not listen to this podcast before lunch? Phil Gonzales discusses Lewis Carroll’s Th...

145: The Grapes of Wrath

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After eight years of the podcast I finally do the inevitable. Shelly Brisbin discusses John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939). John McCoy with...

144: Howl's Moving Castle

10 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Howl likes to move it, move it. Audrey Lazaro and Dan McCoy are on to discuss Diana Wynne Jones’s book Howl’s Moving Castle (1986). John McCoy w...

143: Long Day's Journey Into Night

12 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I don’t care how long this day’s journey has been, so help me I will turn this car around if you kids don’t stop. Kris Markel discusses Eugene O...

142: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jean, Jean, the roses are red and all of the leaves have gone green, so Glenn Fleishman and John are discussing Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jea...

141: Carrie's War

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ross Cleaver discusses Carrie’s War (what is it good for?), Nina Bawdwin’s 1973 children’s book about evacuations, skulls, and grumpy Welshmen. ...

140: The Snows of Kilimanjaro

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Grab a whisky and soda and put your leg up. My dad and I discuss Ernest Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1936). Bonus content: a visit to...

139: Beloved

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jelani Sims returns to discuss the literal and metaphorical ghosts of Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Beloved (1987). John McCoy with ...

138: Great Expectations

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I have good feelings about this one! Zach Powers returns to discuss desparate criminals and mysterious benefactors in Charles Dickens’s Great Expect...

137: A Christmas Carol

24 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There are many podcasts from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited. John and Marina discuss Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Ca...

136: Stuart Little

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is one weird mouse book. Phil Gonzales and John discuss E. B. White’s Stuart Little(1945). John McCoy with Phil Gonzales.

135: Thanksgiving Special: The Wreck of the Hesperus

24 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Thanksgiving, so of course Rob, John, and Dan drink and discuss “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1842). John McCo...

134: Macbeth

13 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Probably best not to listen to this episode while you’re in a theatre. Shannon Campe and John discuss Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1605-ish). John McCoy...

133: The Picture of Dorian Gray

06 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The podcasts that the world calls immoral are podcasts that show the world its own shame. Tamar Avishai and John discuss Oscar Wilde’s The Picture o...

132: The Canterbury Tales

25 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Those smale foweles maken melodye got nothin’ on us: Kathy Campbell and John discuss Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (c. 1400). John McCoy with Ka...

131: Beowulf

28 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The original Farewell to Arms. Nathan Alderman discusses Beowulf (c. 1000). John McCoy with Nathan Alderman.

130: Epic of Gilgamesh

29 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gilgamesh, a king, at Uruk. It’s not just a Star Trek meme. Gregory Fried talks ritual sex, heavenly bulls, and sneaky snakes in the Epic of Gilgame...

129: The Metamorphosis

24 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gregor’s mother warned him about days like this. Jason Snell discusses Franz Kafka’s inescapable novella, The Metamorphosis (1915). John McCoy wi...

128: Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Audrey Lazaro discusses Mellville’s 1853 story, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” one of the top three bits of scrivener fiction ever. John McCoy with ...

127: The Egypt Game

15 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

No, I won’t make a Bangles joke. Erin Gambrill discusses Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Egypt Game (1967). John McCoy with Erin Gambrill.

126: Bambi, a Life in the Woods

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bambi’s not so cute in this gritty new reboot. Glenn Fleishman discusses Felix Salten’s 1923 parable about what goes on in the woods. Also we talk...

125: At the Mountains of Madness

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Climb ev’ry mountain—except these mountains, they’re nuts. Phil Gonzales discusses H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness,” written...

124: Under Milk Wood

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To begin at the beginning: David Loehr is back in the slow, black, crowblack, podcast-bobbing sea to discuss Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood (1954). ...

123: The Bell Jar

01 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New Year’s is a time for optimism, but instead Christy Admiraal discusses Sylvia Plath’s 1963 roman à clef, the Bell Jar. Also, John totally ge...

122: Christmas Special: Gift of the Magi

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

But I sold my Zune to buy you this podcast! Marina and John discuss hair, watches, and O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.” John McCoy with Marin...

121: Thanksgiving Special: Burma-Shave

25 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s turkey time / once again / Dan and Rob / dive right in / we discuss / Buma-Shave! John McCoy with Dan McCoy and Rob McCoy.

120: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a podcast, for example, where Bill O’Donnell discusses Jerome K. Jerome’s very si...

119: Peter Pan

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Grab on to your happy thought and join Shannon Campe in discussing James Barrie’s complicated children’s novel Peter Pan (1911), originally called...

118: Spoon River Anthology

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Spoon River…wider than a mile. Okay, now that we have that out of our way, join Lisa Schmeiser as we discuss Edgar Lee Master’s poetic collection ...

117: The Dispossessed

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anarchy in the U. K. (LeGuin)! David Woken talks a lot of politics and a little story as we discuss The Dispossessed (1974). John McCoy with David Wo...

116: Kerouac and Ginsberg

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gena Radcliffe and John don’t blab any drab gab—they chatter hep patter about Jack Kerouac’s “October in the Railroad Earth” (1957) and Alle...

115: Flowers for Algernon

03 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I no I wil be smart won day. Until thin I will diskus Daniel Keyes’s epistolary novel Flowers for Algernon (1966) with Jason Snell. John McCoy with...

114: Dracula

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Please invite in Jelani Lee and Matt Skuta to discuss Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). We can’t start until you do. John McCoy with Jelani Sims and...

113: Hans Christian Andersen

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s all hunker around this match and discuss some of the tales by Hans Christian Andersen. David Loehr returns. John McCoy with David J. Loehr.

112: George Orwell Essays

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s phraseology and pachyderms, as Daniel Daughetee discusses Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” (1946) and “Shooting an Elephant...

111: Our Town

31 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Enjoy every, every minute of Phil and John discussing Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (1938). John McCoy with Phil Gonzales.

110: Persuasion

08 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe you should consider listening to this episode, in which Sammi C. discusses Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1817). Actually, we must insist. John McC...

109: Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Marina McCoy returns to discuss faith, fairies, and newspapers in Francis Pharcellus Church’s “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” (1897). Jo...

108: The Crucible

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Why am I persecuted here? Travis Bedard discusses Arthur Miller’s 1953 The Crucible. John McCoy with Travis Bedard.

107: Trees

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I think that I will never see brothers so drunk as we three. Drunken Thanksgiving continues this year with Rob, Dan, and John discussing Joyce Kilmer’...

106: Atlas Shrugged

31 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Who cares who John Galt is? Bridget Kennedy discusses the geniuses and moochers of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (1957). John McCoy with Bridget Kenned...

105: Native Son

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jelani Sims returns to discuss Richard Wright’s 1940 wake-up call, Native Son. John McCoy with Jelani Sims.

104: Walt Whitman: Lincoln Poems

25 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

O Captain, My Captain, the podcast has begun! Daniel Daughetee discusses two Whitman poems about Lincoln. John McCoy with Daniel Daughetee.

103: White Noise

04 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I considered posting an hour of static, but instead here’s Erin Gambrill and me discussing Don Delillo’s postmodern novel White Noise (1985). John...

102: Rebecca

11 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last night I dreamed I did a podcast again. It seemed to me that Gena Radcliffe discussed Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (1935). John McCoy with Gena R...

101: Little Women

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Christmas isn’t Christmas without presents, and literary podcasts aren’t literary podcasts without an exhaustive conversation about Louisa May Alc...

100: Required reading

29 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Happy 100th episode everybody! For this special Sophomore Lit, I asked random people what they remembered most about their high school literature clas...

99: "Tam O' Shanter" and "To a Mouse"

21 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Och, please dinnae make fun of non-Scottish people Darren Husted and John as they discuss and try to read aloud excerpts of Robert Burns’s “Tam O’...

98: The Martian Chronicles

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You’re the Martian now, Dog! Jason Snell discusses frontiers and sad houses in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (1950). John McCoy with Jas...

97: A Christmas Memory

24 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It’s fruitcake weather! John and Marina discuss memory, dog bones, and kites in Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” (1956). John McCoy with ...

96: The Way of All Flesh

18 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a big long book about Victorian religion and railroad investments! Daniel Reifferscheid discusses Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh (1903)...

95: Casey at the Bat

29 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There is no joy in Mudville. My brother Dan discusses “Casey at the Bat” (1888). Happy Thanksgiving! John McCoy with Dan McCoy.

94: The Bear

16 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

And still bellowing he came. Jacob Haller discusses William Faulkner’s “The Bear” (1942). Jacob Haller.

93: Mrs. Dalloway

27 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Does anybody really know what time it is? Zach Powers discusses Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel, Mrs. Dalloway. John McCoy with Zach Powers and Jean M...

92: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

18 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I promise we won’t make any jokes about losing our heads. Sarah Ifft Decker discusses Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. John McCoy with Sarah Ifft D...

91: The Sword in the Stone

31 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We didn’t mention that the titular Sword is not the same thing as Excalibur because you already knew that. Rosalynde Vas Dias discusses T.H. White’...

90: The Wind in the Willows

09 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There is nothing half so much worth doing as messing about in boats, except maybe messing about in podcasts. Erin Gambrill discusses The Wind in the W...

89: Flatland

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John Siracusa returns to discuss Edwin Abbott’s Flatland (1884). Will it give us a new perspective or will it leave us flat? (Spoiler, John hated it...

88: Fifth Business

12 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

After four failed IPOs, we’re sure this one will work! Dan McCoy discusses Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business (1970). Dan McCoy.