

Sophomore Lit
John McCoy
John McCoy and a guest host read books you might have been assigned in high school, or college, or other stuff you might have read when you were a kid. The theming is loose!
Episodes
Mentioned books

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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Oct 6, 2022 • 53min
133: The Picture of Dorian Gray
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 of Dorian Gray (1831).
John McCoy with Tamar Avishai
Referenced Works
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Show Notes & Links
The Lonely Palette
Art history for the masses
Ivan Albright's painting of Dorian Gray
The Art Institute of Chicago’s entry
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Sep 25, 2022 • 51min
132: The Canterbury Tales
Those smale foweles maken melodye got nothin’ on us: Kathy Campbell and John discuss Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (c. 1400).
John McCoy with Kathy Campbell
Referenced Works
The Canterbury Tales
Show Notes & Links
Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website
With commentary, Middle English, and Modern English translations.
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Aug 28, 2022 • 51min
131: Beowulf
The original Farewell to Arms. Nathan Alderman discusses Beowulf (c. 1000).
John McCoy with Nathan Alderman
Referenced Works
Beowulf
Show Notes & Links
Beowulf in Old English
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Jul 29, 2022 • 1h 12min
130: Epic of Gilgamesh
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 Gilgamesh.
John McCoy with Gregory Fried
Referenced Works
Epic of Gilgamesh
Show Notes & Links
Wikipedia article on the Epic of Gilgamesh
Line-by-line literal translation of Gilgamesh, ed. Morris Jastrow
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