
Sophomore Lit
A podcast about your 10th grade reading list, hosted by John McCoy.
Latest episodes

May 12, 2023 • 50min
143: Long Day's Journey Into Night
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’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night(written 1941, published 1956).
John McCoy with Kris Markel
Referenced Works
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Show Notes & Links
The Complete and Condenses Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, vol. 1
This clip dramatizes the stage directions for Long Day’s Journey into Night Act 2, Scene 1.
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Apr 18, 2023 • 59min
142: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
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 Jean Brodie (1961).
John McCoy with Glenn Fleishman
Referenced Works
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Show Notes & Links
Pants in the Boot
Glenn’s podcast on being divided by a common language.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
Trailer for the film adaptation starring Maggie Smith.
Rod McKuen: Jean
McKuen’s inexplicable theme song for the above.
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Apr 3, 2023 • 38min
141: Carrie's War
Ross Cleaver discusses Carrie’s War (what is it good for?), Nina Bawdwin’s 1973 children’s book about evacuations, skulls, and grumpy Welshmen.
John McCoy with Ross Cleaver
Show Notes & Links
BBC School Radio: Carrie's War
The BBC school radio site with teaching guides and a complete recording of the book.
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Mar 20, 2023 • 41min
140: The Snows of Kilimanjaro
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 the Hemingway Home in Key West!
John McCoy
Referenced Works
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Show Notes & Links
Hemingway Home
The former home of Ernest and the current home of many six-toed cats.
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Mar 2, 2023 • 53min
139: Beloved
Jelani Sims returns to discuss the literal and metaphorical ghosts of Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Beloved (1987).
John McCoy with Jelani Sims
Referenced Works
Beloved
Show Notes & Links
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Jan 20, 2023 • 1h 2min
138: Great Expectations
I have good feelings about this one! Zach Powers returns to discuss desparate criminals and mysterious benefactors in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations (1861).
John McCoy with Zach Powers
Referenced Works
Great Expectations
Show Notes & Links
Great Expectations (1998) Trailer
Relive the 90s and enjoy the trip-hop stylings of Mono.
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Dec 24, 2022 • 31min
137: A Christmas Carol
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 Carol (1843).
John McCoy with Marina McCoy
Referenced Works
A Christmas Carol
Show Notes & Links
1984 adaptation of A Christmas Carol
With George C. Scott.
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Dec 7, 2022 • 57min
136: Stuart Little
This is one weird mouse book. Phil Gonzales and John discuss E. B. White’s Stuart Little(1945).
John McCoy with Phil Gonzales
Referenced Works
Stuart Little
Show Notes & Links
Stuart Little (1968)
The Johnny Carson-narrated film from McGraw-Hill Films
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Nov 24, 2022 • 18min
135: Thanksgiving Special: The Wreck of the Hesperus
It’s Thanksgiving, so of course Rob, John, and Dan drink and discuss “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1842).
John McCoy with Rob McCoy and Dan McCoy
Referenced Works
The Wreck of the Hesperus
Show Notes & Links
The Wreck of the Hesperus
Link to full poem.
SCHOONER HESPERUS WAS NEVER WRECKED
The New York Times gets pedantic.
What is the Spanish Main?
Spoiler: none of us got it right.
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Nov 13, 2022 • 49min
134: Macbeth
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 with Shannon Campe
Referenced Works
Macbeth
Show Notes & Links
Text of play
From the Folger Shakespeare Library
1979 Trevor Nunn production
Featuring baby Ian McKellen and baby Judi Dench!
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