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Sophomore Lit

Latest episodes

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Mar 18, 2025 • 46min

173: The Visit

Make money fast with this one weird trick. Glenn Fleishman discusses Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit (1956). John McCoy with Glenn Fleishman Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Feb 25, 2025 • 37min

172: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

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 Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915). John McCoy with Lisa Schmeiser Show Notes & Links The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Complete text on the Poetry Foundation website Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Feb 3, 2025 • 58min

171: Frank O'Connor Stories

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’Connor: “First Confession,” “The Majesty of the Law,” and “Guests of the Nation.” John McCoy with Kieran Healy Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Jan 10, 2025 • 1h

170: Emily Dickinson Poems

Forever is composed of podcasts. Caroline Fulford discusses selected poems by Emily Dickinson (c. 1860-65). John McCoy with Caroline Fulford and Marina McCoy Show Notes & Links Emily Dickinson at the Poetry Foundation Biography and texts of many of her poems. Works in this episode linked below: I felt a funeral, in my brain I heard a Fly buzz - when I died - Forever – is composed of Nows – You left me – Sire – two Legacies – Wild nights - Wild nights! Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Dec 24, 2024 • 25min

169: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Cigars are always trouble. Marina McCoy discusses Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972). John McCoy with Marina McCoy Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Dec 6, 2024 • 1h 1min

168: The Time of Your Life

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 Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life (1939). John McCoy with Phil Gonzales Show Notes & Links The Time of Your Life (1976) The John Houseman directed television version for Theater in America, with Kevin Kline and Patti Lupone. Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Nov 27, 2024 • 25min

167: Thanksgiving Special: Comfort Reads

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 Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Nov 19, 2024 • 44min

166: The Owl Service

Ross Cleaver returns to talk owls, plates, and Welsh mythology in Alan Garner’s The Owl Service (1967). John McCoy with Ross Cleaver Show Notes & Links Owl Service dinner plate The titular service plate with its owl flowers. Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Oct 25, 2024 • 58min

165: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This episode has many omissions, and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate. Jacob Haller tries to make sense of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979). John McCoy with Jacob Haller Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.
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Sep 26, 2024 • 49min

164: Lysistrata

What’s more cultivated and genteel than classical theater? David Loehr discusses Aristophanes’s Lysistrata (411 B.C.E.) John McCoy with David J. Loehr Show Notes & Links Lysistrata Jones Trailer for the 2011 Broadway musical Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

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