Sophomore Lit

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. 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.

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 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.

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 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.

Gregor’s mother warned him about days like this. Jason Snell discusses Franz Kafka’s inescapable novella, The Metamorphosis (1915). John McCoy with Jason Snell Referenced Works The Metamorphosis Show Notes & Links Wikipedia entry for The Metamorphosis Kafka rock opera from Home Movies 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.

Audrey Lazaro discusses Mellville’s 1853 story, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” one of the top three bits of scrivener fiction ever. John McCoy with Audrey Lazaro Referenced Works Bartleby the Scrivener Show Notes & Links An inexplicable 1969 film adaptation by the Encyclopædia Britannica 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.

No, I won’t make a Bangles joke. Erin Gambrill discusses Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Egypt Game (1967). John McCoy with Erin Gambrill Referenced Works The Egypt Game Show Notes & Links Wikipedia article on The Egypt Game 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.

Bambi’s not so cute in this gritty new reboot. Glenn Fleishman discusses Felix Salten’s 1923 parable about what goes on in the woods. Also we talk a lot about copyright. John McCoy with Glenn Fleishman Referenced Works Bambi Show Notes & Links Wikipedia on Bambi 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.

Climb ev’ry mountain—except these mountains, they’re nuts. Phil Gonzales discusses H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness,” written in 1931 and published in 1936. John McCoy with Phil Gonzales Referenced Works At the Mountains of Madness Show Notes & Links Wikipedia article on "At the Mountains of Madness" HPLHS Dark Adventure Radio Theater adaptation 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.

To begin at the beginning: David Loehr is back in the slow, black, crowblack, podcast-bobbing sea to discuss Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood (1954). John McCoy with David J. Loehr Referenced Works Under Milk Wood Show Notes & Links 1954 production with Richard Burton 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.

New Year’s is a time for optimism, but instead Christy Admiraal discusses Sylvia Plath’s 1963 roman à clef, the Bell Jar. Also, John totally gets the dates wrong for this book’s complicated publishing history. John McCoy with Christy Admiraal Show Notes & Links Wikipedia entry on the Bell Jar The book was first published in the UK 1963 under a pseudonym, then in 1967 in the UK under Plath’s name, and then in 1971 in the US. 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.