Heavy Bored

Sophie talks love handles and low-rise jeans while Andrew simps for Jessica Biel. Both agree Britney Spears should still be under lock and key. Topics include–Literary vs Pop Fiction–ass crack exposure ratios–what makes a good horror story?–sex in novels–Zoje Stage’s career so far–disturbing scenes in books–and more*LINKS**Buy the Books*Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage: https://amzn.to/45zHrcOMore Books by Zoje Stage: https://amzn.to/3JhkYtzIt by Stephen King: https://amzn.to/45HDSl3More Books by Stephen King: https://amzn.to/47098OhJoin Patreon or Substack for FREE!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Sophie talks passionately about her true calling–waxing holes. While Andrew rants about aliens controlling the weather and denies climate change. Topics include: authority in writing–spirituality in art–identity politics in poetry–why the new critics are correct–balance in one's writing–and more.*LINKS**Buy the Books*Coin of the Realm by Carl Phillips: https://amzn.to/3HfZXPvThe Art of Daring by Carl Phillips: https://amzn.to/45BtgEdMore Books by Carl Phillips: https://amzn.to/3UzmEkzJoin Patreon or Substack for FREE!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Sophie gets bored while reading about Victorian-era drivel, while Andrew gets obsessed with the sexual nature of horror. Topics include Horror and Sex, Victorian-era niceties, Male brain vs Female brain, Dracula’s cultural legacy, monster stories and movies, structuring thriller fiction, and more. *LINKS**Buy the Books*Dracula by Bram Stoker: https://amzn.to/47zcxnsFrankenstein by Mary Shelley: https://amzn.to/471c6lEMore Books by Bram Stoker: https://amzn.to/3JkOxusJoin Patreon or Substack for FREE!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Andrew and Sophie answer listener questions while ranting about workshops, building confidence as a writer, what makes a poem great, how to assess your own work to completion, and more. This bonus episode is for Subscribers Only. To subscribe and get full access to Heavy Bored Content, become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored*LINKS* Join Patreon or Substack for FREE!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored  https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Andrew and Sophie get waterboarded by government agents as they read and discuss topics such as war crimes, why erasure is the lowest form of poetry, why Nick Flynn is underrated, creativity in contemporary poetry, line breaks, and more. *LINKS* *Buy the Books* Low by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/45iTyfuI Will Destroy You by Nick Flynn:  https://amzn.to/3JiXjc8My Feelings by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/3Jk9aXuThe Captain Asks for a Show of Hands by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/3JlJ3iNBlind Huber by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/3HAVk2jSome Ether by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/4mimFW7This is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/4mj3PydThe Ticking is the Bomb by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/416Nqo5Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/3HzU0NaThe Reenactments by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/41Bp1HqStay by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/3JgOAY4More Books by Nick Flynn: https://amzn.to/4mj3TxXJoin Patreon or Substack for FREE!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Sophie and Andrew pretend to read French while discussing Baldwin’s legacy, literary vs pop fiction, mystery structure in novels, literary style, short books, Baldwin’s larger impacts on the culture and more. *LINKS* *Buy the Books*Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin: https://amzn.to/3UzmOsbGo Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin: https://amzn.to/4mI5r4jIf Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin: https://amzn.to/4fCI9ulNotes of a Native Son by James Baldwin: https://amzn.to/4lGQ3ocJames Baldwin: A Biography by David Leeming: https://amzn.to/3V1BoJ8More Books by James Baldwin: https://amzn.to/3JAM7rqJoin Patreon or Substack for FREE!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Andrew rants about the lack of structure in contemporary poetry, while Sophie imagines herself as a Tree in a forest. Topics include the power of repetition in poetry, what makes a poem good or bad?, the lack of discipline and scholarship in the field, why no major magazine will publish a negative poetry review, and more. *LINKS* *Buy the Books*The Trees, The Trees by Heather Christle: https://amzn.to/4lygiguThe Crying Book by Heather Christle: https://amzn.to/4fC79SyMore Books by Heather Christle: https://amzn.to/3HC23sYJoin Patreon or Substack to get FULL access to Heavy Bored!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Sophie becomes a big fat whale while Andrew struggles to remember any character in the novel he just read. Topics include the power of cultural touchstones, canonizing books and authors, why Moby Dick became such a highly praised classic, Harold Bloom's thoughts on the subject, and more. *LINKS* *Buy the Books*Moby Dick by Herman Melville (Wordsworth edition): https://amzn.to/3HC2cg0Moby Dick by Herman Melville (Penguin edition): https://amzn.to/41JLCl9Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories by Herman Melville: https://amzn.to/4mjvHlMMore Books by Herman Melville: https://amzn.to/4mldZi1Harold Bloom’s Lecture on Moby Dick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFt59_E_g5sJoin Patreon or Substack to get FULL access to Heavy Bored!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

**Get a taste of what’s behind the paywall with this *UNLOCKED* episode of Heavy Bored #10 Ben Lerner’s The Hatred of Poetry**A long and winding breakdown of Lerner’s personal essay and reflection on the craft of poetry. Strap in for this one, as we go over every bit of space in this essay and tell you why it’s wrong. *LINKS**Buy the Books* The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner: https://amzn.to/45zHPYOThe Topeka School by Ben Lerner: https://amzn.to/475ztuxLeaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner: https://amzn.to/45Ct4Vg10:04 by Ben Lerner: https://amzn.to/45xJlKVMore Books by Ben Lerner: https://amzn.to/47EisYi“Lerner and His Firefly” by Mark Halliday: https://pleiadesmag.com/sneak-preview-mark-halliday-on-ben-lerners-the-hatred-of-poetry/Join Patreon or Substack to get FULL access to Heavy Bored!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*

Andrew gives Sophie Covid through Skype while they discuss lyric poetry and all of its glory. Sophie helps Andrew learn how to read big words he can’t pronounce. And both cough loudly into the microphone every few minutes as an artistic choice. Topics include what’s the point of lyric poetry? the problem with academic writing, why no one reads poems, the futility of loving poetry, and more. *LINKS* *Buy the Books*Theory of the Lyric by Jonathan Culler: https://amzn.to/41brhFcLiterary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Culler: https://amzn.to/4oDUGC3More Books by Jonathan Culler: https://amzn.to/3JkqvQ3Join Patreon or Substack to get FULL access to Heavy Bored!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBored Substack: https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Sign up for Andrew’s Newsletter for FREE! https://andrewwittstadt.substack.com/Contact us: heavyboredpodcast@gmail.comLeave a 5-Star Review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heavy-bored/id1617156706Follow Us!Twitter: @heavyboredpod https://x.com/HeavyBoredPod@AndrewWittstadt https://x.com/AndrewWittstadtInstagram:@heavybored https://www.instagram.com/heavybored/TikTok:@heavyboredpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@heavyboredpodcastYouTube:@heavybored https://www.youtube.com/@heavybored@heavyboredclips https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredclips*when available, we use affiliate links*