Ear Read This

S2E21 What better way to celebrate the Edinburgh Fringe kicking off than with some awful poetry? William McGonagall (1825-1902) has gone down in history as the worst poet of all time. Deserved? You be the judge. This week, Ash is joined by special guest Bella to appraise the life and work of this local cult poet.  Howking, incidentally, means digging.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E20 We were somewhere around Stockbridge on the edge of the fringe when the books began to take hold. Today on Ear Read This, Ash and Adam discuss Hunter S. Thompson's riotously enjoyable Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Expect pure gonzo podcasting, alter-egos and crucified gorillas.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops. "Twisted" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

S2E19 Continuing our exploration of metamorphoses, today Ash talks about Will Self's Cock and Bull. A hermaphroditic interest makes it only right that we get two stories for the price of one. First comes Cock, the story of a bored housewife who grows a penis, then Bull, the story of a rugby player who grows a vagina on the back of his knee.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E18 A new kind of episode today as Ash discusses a single 12-line poem, 'De puero balbutiente' ('The stuttering child') by the Reverend Thomas Bastard. If you enjoy this new format and would like a particular poem or short story treated in a similar fashion, get in touch with your suggestions using the contact links below.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E17 The contents of these Foul Papers include a sign off from the Ruff Squad, some whistling, a Goodreads update, a reaction to Simon Armitage as our new Poet Laureate, a rap battle between Mr. Toad and Captain Nemo, and hot topics such as horror films, hooks for hands and Brazil.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E16 Today Adam and Ash are messing about in boats, eating excessive luncheon hampers, losing an otter and finding God, scrooging out of burrows and poop-pooping through the woods.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E15 A Foul Papers we recorded a while ago which unfortunately is blighted by a series of interruptions from the Ruff Squad - a gang of elite British writers including Carol Ann Duffy, Ian Rankin and Joe Wicks the Fitness Tit. Don't worry, we still find time to check in with the Goodreads League, watch a rap battle between Mr. Pickwick and Ebenezer Scrooge, discuss books on film and have a game of Dalai Lama or Da True Lama?  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E14 Continuing our exploration of literary metamorphoses, this week we look at David Alan Kepesh, a literature professor inexplicably transformed into a woman's breast in this 1972 novella by Philip Roth. Unlike Gregor Samsa, Kepesh is aware of the literary heritage of metamorphoses, making this transformation painfully self-conscious. Is the novel a sly dig at Roth's critics? Is the work, as Martin Amis believes, "comic in shape but only glancingly comic in execution"? Listen in to find out.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.  

S2E13 Ash and Adam discuss the colourful life of Arthur Conan Doyle, on the 160th anniversary of his birth. A life too full of adventure to be briefly described, but we had a go anyway. Tune in for stories of WWI, cocaine, Houdini, ghosts, crocodile hunting and a little bit of writing too.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops  

S2E12 The Golden Ass is the only surviving complete Latin novel from the Classical period. Also known as The Metamorphoses, it straddles more than one running theme on Ear Read This, as well as being filthy, funny and full of history. Grab your toga and get your ass over here. Time for a Roman literary feast.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops, "Temple of the Manes" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/