Sophomore Lit
Episodes
87: The Importance of Being Earnest
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The truth is rarely pure and never simple. However, podcasts are both. Ollie Brady discusses Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). ...
86: The Yellow Wallpaper
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Caroline Fulford returns to discuss a nice story about home decorating, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” John McCoy with Caro...
85: The Long Winter
27 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
John’s wife, Marina, returns to discuss strange birds, hidden wheat, and barrel turkeys in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter. John McCoy wit...
84: Guy De Maupassant
08 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Anaïs Concepcion returns to discuss necklaces, hypocrisy, and roasted chickens in jelly in Guy De Maupassant’s “The Necklace” and “Boule de...
83: The Day of the Locust
20 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some people just want to watch the world burn. Josh Hollis and Brian Skinner discuss Nathaniel West’s 1939 novel, The Day of the Locust. John McCoy ...
82: Guys and Dolls
05 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve never done a musical before / now all at once it’s Guys and Dolls forevermore. David Loehr discusses the original high school musical. John ...
81: The Call of the Wild
15 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Will we answer the Call of the Wild or will we say “new phone, who dis?” Laura Hayes discusses mushing, wolves, and the surprising amount of Socia...
80: A Child's Christmas in Wales
24 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There were always podcasts at Christmas. Pour some whiskey in your eggnog and join Rosalynde Vas Dias in discussing Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Chris...
79: The Red Badge of Courage
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Hither and thither, the entire Snell Family is here to discuss Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage (1895). John McCoy with Jason Snell, Laur...
78: A People's History of the United States
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rise up and seize the methods of producing history textbooks! Daniel Daughhetee discusses the alternative textbook A People’s History of the United ...
77: Over the River and Through the Woods
22 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The horse knows the way—but to WHOSE house? The answer may surprise you. The McCoy Boys are all here for the annual drunk Thanksgiving episode to di...
76: An Enemy of the People
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Election Day Special: What does a 19th Century play have to do with fake news and ecological disaster? Probably nothing, but Shannon Campe and Zach Po...
75: The War of the Worlds
26 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
No one would have believed in the first years of the twenty-first century that this podcast was being listened to keenly and closely by intelligences ...
74: A Prayer for Owen Meany
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Carla Curtsinger talks armadillos, armlessness, and all caps in John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany. John McCoy with Carla Curtsinger.
73: Holes
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If only, if only the woodpecker cries, this podcast would adhere to a regular schedule. Matt Skuta returns to discuss Louis Sachar’s beloved middle-...
72: The Westing Game
21 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Fun for the whole family! Ages 10 and up! Dan McCoy discusses Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game (1978). John McCoy with Dan McCoy and Nathan Alderma...
71: William Carlos Williams
04 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is Just to Podcast David Loehr and I will not be making the obvious joke that is just sitting there and which you were probably expecting for...
70: Waiting for Godot
13 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nobody comes, nobody goes, but every few weeks we have a podcast, like this one where Brian Hamilton tries to make sense of Beckett’s Waiting for Go...
69: Ulysses
20 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Marina McCoy talks about Ulysses yes and Joyce and Ireland yes and jessamine and geraniums and cactuses yes and shall I wear a red yes John McCoy wi...
68: Ender's Game
07 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Can’t we play Catan instead? Liz Riegel joins to discuss that most emo young adult novel, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. John McCoy with Liz...
67: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
23 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Hope you like the Smiths. Hayden Gibson discusses the modern classic of introvert life, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. John McCoy with Hayden Gibs...
66: Little House in the Big Woods
07 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Wolves, fiddles, maple candy, and manifest destiny. Lisa Schmeiser discusses Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. John McCoy with ...
65: A Streetcar Named Desire
24 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t you just love those long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn’t just an hour, but an hour spent discussing Tennessee Williams’...
64: Winesburg, Ohio
04 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Small towns aren’t all fun and games and Journey songs. Erin Gambrill discusses Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio (1919). John McCoy with Erin...
63: A Farewell to Arms
19 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If the world is in no special hurry to kill you, why not join Jason Snell to discuss war, love and vermouth? It’s Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to...
62: Frankenstein
31 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Glenn Fleishman returns to the show to discuss today’s modern Prometheuses. It’s the long-awaited episode on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818-3...
61: Alas, Babylon
01 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Time enough at last…to read novels about nuclear Armageddon! Jelani Sims guests to discuss Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon. Jelani Sims.
60: The Outsiders
12 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nothing gold can stay, but that won’t stop Matt Skuta and John from talking about the greasy hair and switchblades in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders....
59: John Donne and Andrew Marvell
25 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Had we but world enough and time, we could talk about more poems than just these two: John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and Andr...
58: Watchmen
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What do you see when you look at this inkblot: a masterpiece of sequential art, or a confusing mess? Christy Admiraal discusses the unavoidable Moore ...
57: A Tale of Two Cities
16 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It may not be the best of times, it may not be the worst of times, but it’s time for a new episode so let’s discuss Charles Dickens’s novel of b...
56: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
01 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Time to appreciate the finer things in life, by sleeping on them. Tamar Avishai discusses E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E...
55: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
23 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
ARRR, it be Thanksgiving so it’s time for gettin’ drunk and talkin’ poems with family. Dan and Rob McCoy join in to discuss Samuel Taylor Coleri...
54: The Haunting of Hill House
30 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Gena Radcliffe discusses sanity and shuffles in Shirley Jackson’s spookifying The Haunting of Hill House. Happy Halloween! John McCoy.
53: The Awakening
20 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Beth Auron discusses why you should never swim less than 20 minutes before reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. John McCoy.
52: Lamb to the Slaughter
05 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If only he’d been a vegetarian. Shannon Campe returns to discuss one of Roald Dahl’s shockers for adults, “Lamb to the Slaughter.” John McCoy ...
51: A Wrinkle in Time
09 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you don’t take your clock out of the dryer soon enough? You get A Wrinkle in Time. Matt Skuta returns to discuss tesseracts and bo...
50: Dubliners
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sophmore Lit hits 50 episodes with the return of John Siracusa as we sort the living from The Dead in James Joyce’s Dubliners (1914). John McCoy w...
49: McTeague
04 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Despite all my rage, I am still just a canary in a cage. Jason Snell returns to discuss San Francisco, steam beer, and gold teeth in Frank Norris’s ...
48: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
21 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What’s waiting ‘round the bend, my Huckleberry friend? Jelani Sims helps make sense of the glorious mess that is Mark Twain’s The Adventures of ...
47: The Handmaid's Tale
07 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Before the Hulu series that everyone told you you had to watch was the Margaret Atwood novel that everyone told you you had to read. Caroline Fulford ...
46: Annie John
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, a girl just wants to play marbles. Kwame Phillips discusses the Caribbean, doctor fish, and Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John. John McCoy wi...
45: Hawthorne tales
08 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Unsightly blemishes! Toxic maidens! David Loehr returns to discuss two short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s...
44: Invisible Man
02 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
And you thought your electric bill was nuts. Jane Dempsey returns to discuss Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. John McCoy with Jane Dempsey.
43: The Glass Menagerie
10 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It’s nothing a little glue won’t fix. David Loehr is here to discuss Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie. John McCoy.
42: The Stranger
30 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Do you cry at funerals? If not, maybe you’re the protagonist of Albert Camus’s The Stranger. Matt Skuta returns to puzzle this absurd novel out. M...
41: Forever...
01 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Guys let’s all be mature about this. Shannon Campe returns to discuss Judy Blume’s forbidden book for teens, “Forever…” John McCoy with Sha...
40: Absalom, Absalom!
03 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley Challinor and John spend a long still hot weary dead September afternoon discussing not merely a Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner, nor yet the ide...
39: Slaughterhouse Five
26 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We return to both Kurt Vonnegut and to Jason Snell, as we discuss the most famous book about time and birdsong ever written, Slaughterhouse Five. John...
38: Edna St. Vincent Millay
19 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Are you unsure of how candles work? Then join Megan Tripp and John as we discuss the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. John McCoy with Megan Tripp.
37: The Giver
08 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to these podcasts, we give and give and you take and take! But that’s okay, because this time Matt Skuta and I are discussing Lois Low...
36: The Seagull
03 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In mourning for your life? Then why not join Ethan Warren and John as they discuss Anton Chekov’s The Seagull. John McCoy.
35: The Courtship of Miles Standish
24 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Look, it’s Thanksgiving and Dan and I are drunk. Let’s discuss Longfellow’s The Courtship of Miles Standish. John McCoy with Dan McCoy.
34: Crime and Punishment
30 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. We’re talking about 600 pages of time. Zach Powers joins the discussion of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dost...
33: Stories of Ambrose Bierce
21 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a good thing the rope broke so now we have time to talk about Ambrose Bierce’s “A Horseman in the Sky” and “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bri...
32: Bless Me, Ultima
14 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Have you heard the Good News about the Golden Carp? Joel Torres is here to help us survive the perilous childhood of Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultim...
31: The Rivals
21 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Quick, what was George Washington’s favorite play? If you guessed Richard Sheridan’s The Rivals, congratulations, you know how to use Google! Darr...
30: To the Lighthouse
05 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Will a family of repressed middle-class Brits ever, in fact, make it To The Lighthouse? Join Trevor Gibson and John as we attempt not to be afraid of ...
29: Edgar Allan Poe
04 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Need something to do while you’re holed up in the palace avoiding the plague? Why not discuss a couple of Edgar Allan Poe stories with Daniel Daughh...
28: Their Eyes Were Watching God
15 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Dempsey discusses the birds and the bees—well, the bees at least—in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. John McCoy.
27: The Little Prince
02 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What is essential is invisible to the eye—but we can still podcast about it. Anaïs Concepcion discusses The Little Prince. Anaïs Concepcion.
26: Brave New World
13 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Time for a Soma Holiday! This time Jason Snell discusses Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. John McCoy with Jason Snell.
25: Stories II: Jackson and O'Connor
24 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Our high school years were full of teen angst. Let’s really give ourselves something to be upset about! Shannon Campe and Caroline Fulford discuss t...
24: Moby-Dick
05 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Is it a damp, drizzly November in your soul? Then why not spend two hours with Glenn Fleishman discussing Herman Melville’s leviathantic Moby-Dick? ...
23: Death of a Salesman
25 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The only thing you’ve got in this world is what you can sell. And we’re selling this fine podcast! Check out the quality workmanship that Nicolas ...
22: Jane Eyre
16 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Reader, we take on Jane Eyre: Caroline Fulford discusses bad childhoods, brooding noblemen, and something cray cray in the attic. Caroline Fulford.
21: Watership Down
06 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Bunnies. ‘Nuff said. Malcolm Nygard joins to discuss Richard Adams’s epic tale of lagogmorphs, Watership Down. John McCoy with Malcolm Nygard.
20: Animal Farm
22 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Elliott Kalan joins in for a quiet weekend in the country with George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Four legs: good! Four eyes: nerd! John McCoy with Ellio...
19: Romeo and Juliet
20 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Two co-hosts, alike in dignity, Sharlene Wellington and Stuart Wellington join in for a star-crossed discussion of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and J...
18: Stranger in a Strange Land
13 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
You asked for it. Oh, why did you ask for it? Jason Snell returns to discuss Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, in a double-sized podc...
17: Pride and Prejudice
21 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Let’s not jump to conclusions. This time Sammi C joins in to discuss Jane Austen’s inescapable classic, Pride and Prejudice. Put on your empire dr...
16: The Scarlet Letter
07 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This time historian Daniel Daughetee of The Lesser Bonapartes joins in to discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s inescapable novel The Scarlet Letter. What? ...
15: The Chocolate War
22 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Do you dare disturb the universe? If not, do you dare to read the über-depressing novel The Chocolate War by Robert Corimer? Join Shannon Campe as ...
14: A Raisin in the Sun
30 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ocomogosiay! This time John atones for the shame of not having read Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun back at his lily-white high school. For...
13: Short Stories I: The Lady, or the Tiger?, The Monkey's Paw, The Most Dangerous Game
01 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Careful which door you choose. Or what you wish for. Or which island you wind up stranded on in the middle of the night with a couple of crazy foreign...
12: Poetry: Frost and Sandburg
08 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Don your berets! This time Erik Stadnik joins in to look at some of the poems we read in high school, by flinty New Englander Robert Frost and exubera...
11: Cat's Cradle
04 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t be a stuppa. Forget your granfalloon and let this podcast be your wampter. Jason Snell joins in to discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. B...
10: The Old Man and the Sea
28 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What must a man endure? Must a man endure a podcast about Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea? Sure, why not. Erika Ensign joins in to discus...
9: The Skin of Our Teeth
18 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dinosaurs and mammoths and the end of the world, oh my! This time Phil Gonzales joins in to discuss the time we made it through by The Skin of Our Tee...
8: Wuthering Heights
16 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
I’m so co-o-o-old, let me in-a your window so we can talk about Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. This time I’m joined by Shannon Campe to di...
7: Of Mice and Men
23 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie, O, what a podcast for thy iPhone! David Kalan joins in for a discussion of John Steinbeck’s meditation ...
6: A Separate Peace
17 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of the books we read in high school were downers, but only one book was literally about falling down, out of a tree. Al Lewis attended the real ...
5: To Kill a Mockingbird
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t go poking around the old Radley house. But if you do, bring along bona fide southern belle Beth Lewis Auron as we discuss Harper Lee’s To Ki...
4: Fahrenheit 451
20 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As Nelly might say, It’s getting hot in here, so put away all your books. Liza Daly joins me in discussing a world without books (which for our youn...
3: The Great Gatsby
15 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Do you believe in the Green Light? Guest host Carla Curtsinger does. Join us as we discuss yellow cars, neglected babies, and giant eyes on billboards...
2: The Catcher in the Rye
02 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Phonies watch out. This discussion of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye is extra long. Who’d have guessed that John Siracusa would have so much t...
1: Lord of the Flies
22 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode we explore how similar-sounding a host’s and guest’s voices can be as John is joined by his brother, Dan, of the Flop House P...