“So far, our town hadn’t had a proper genius, and I intended to supply the deficiency.” So says Larry, the precocious young narrator of Frank O’Connor’s 1957 short story “The Genius.” It is one of several of O’Connor’s stories told from the perspective of a child, and follows our genius Larry navigating the lesser minds around him, questioning where babies come from, and trying not to look dumb in front of his new crush Una. This episode features Joe reading this classic story, along with some musings from another of our favorite deep thinkers, humorist Jack Handey. We also feature Richard Wilbur reading his poem, “The Last One,” and as always, some wonderful music. We hope you enjoy it!

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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