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

Feb 4, 2022 • 53min
124: Under Milk Wood
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
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Jan 1, 2022 • 43min
123: The Bell Jar
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.
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Dec 24, 2021 • 22min
122: Christmas Special: Gift of the Magi
But I sold my Zune to buy you this podcast! Marina and John discuss hair, watches, and O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.”
John McCoy with Marina McCoy
Show Notes & Links
Wikipedia entry for O. Henry
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Nov 25, 2021 • 40min
121: Thanksgiving Special: Burma-Shave
It’s turkey time / once again / Dan and Rob / dive right in / we discuss / Buma-Shave!
John McCoy with Dan McCoy and Rob McCoy
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Nov 16, 2021 • 46min
120: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)
Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a podcast, for example, where Bill O’Donnell discusses Jerome K. Jerome’s very silly Three Men in a Boat (1889).
John McCoy with Bill O'Donnell
Referenced Works
Three Men in a Boat
Show Notes & Links
Wikipedia article for Three Men in a Boat
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Oct 11, 2021 • 1h 12min
119: Peter Pan
Grab on to your happy thought and join Shannon Campe in discussing James Barrie’s complicated children’s novel Peter Pan (1911), originally called Peter and Wendy.
John McCoy with Shannon Campe
Referenced Works
Peter Pan
Show Notes & Links
Wikipedia article on Peter and Wendy
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Sep 9, 2021 • 55min
118: Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River…wider than a mile. Okay, now that we have that out of our way, join Lisa Schmeiser as we discuss Edgar Lee Master’s poetic collection *Spoon River Anthology *(1915).
John McCoy with Lisa Schmeiser
Referenced Works
Spoon River Anthology
Show Notes & Links
Spoon River Anthology (Wikipedia)
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Aug 19, 2021 • 1h 1min
117: The Dispossessed
Anarchy in the U. K. (LeGuin)! David Woken talks a lot of politics and a little story as we discuss The Dispossessed (1974).
John McCoy with David Woken
Referenced Works
The Dispossessed
Show Notes & Links
The Dispossessed (Wikipedia)
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Jul 26, 2021 • 55min
116: Kerouac and Ginsberg
Gena Radcliffe and John don’t blab any drab gab—they chatter hep patter about Jack Kerouac’s “October in the Railroad Earth” (1957) and Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” (1954-55).
John McCoy with Gena Radcliffe
Referenced Works
Howl
October in the Railroad Earth
Show Notes & Links
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Jul 3, 2021 • 52min
115: Flowers for Algernon
I no I wil be smart won day. Until thin I will diskus Daniel Keyes’s epistolary novel Flowers for Algernon (1966) with Jason Snell.
John McCoy with Jason Snell
Referenced Works
Flowers for Algernon
Show Notes & Links
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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