SLEERICKETS

By Matthew Buckley SmithArts Books

SLEERICKETS episodes

October 05 Ep 266: The Night Before
NB: Yes, yes, yes, of course I meant to mention Putin. Putin also, yes.
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Pre-order the new book of short stories by my wife, Joanna Pearson!
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– Tar River Poetry is open for submissions!
– Literary Matters is also open for submissions!
– Elijah’s review of my chapbook
– Sunil Iyengar
– Ned Balbo
– Jonathan Fine
– Claudia Gary
– The DC Arts Center Poetry Series
– The Score by Oliver Cotton
– The Musical Offering by J. S. Bach
– The Unconscious by Sigmund Freud
– Hamlet
– Short, Sweet by Hailey Leithauser
– How to Moth by Hailey Leithauser
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 19 min
September 28 Ep 265: Cosmic Horror Book Club, ft. The Flummoxed, Pt. 1
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– Tar River Poetry is open for submissions!
– Literary Matters is also open for submissions!
– The Flummoxed by Ethan McGuire
– Apocalypse Dance by Ethan McGuire
– H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life by Michel Houllebecq
– La Gradiva (2026)
– The Thing (1982)
– Stephen King
– Thomas Ligotti
– Edgar Allan Poe
– At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
– Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell
– In Amundsen’s Tent by John Martin Leahy
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 26 min
September 20 Ep 264: Potatoes, Small and Smaller
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Come see me at the D.C. Arts Center Poetry Series on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. EST. w/ Ned Balbo & Jonathan Fine
– I’m going to see The Score Saturday the 26th, in case you want to see it too!
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– Hilary Menos’s review of The Soft Black Stars in The Orange County Review of Books
– Tar River Poetry is open for submissions!
– Literary Matters is also open for submissions!
– The Byron Bay Option: On (Not) Giving Up Poetry by Alice Allan
– New Verse Review’s Summer Sampler #2
– Boris Dralyuk’s note on Zina’s poem
– So This Is Love by Zina Gomez-Liss
– Thomas Jardine’s review of So This is Love
– Zina’s response to Jardine’s review
– The Fall of Rome by W. H. Auden
– Horace i.37
– Sundowner by Hilary Menos
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 18 min
September 15 Ep 263: 100 kg, ft. Niall Campbell, pt. 1
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Come see me at the D.C. Arts Center Poetry Series on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. EST. w/ Ned Balbo & Jonathan Fine
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– Hilary Menos’s review of The Soft Black Stars in The Orange County Review of Books
– Stephen Dunn broadside from Lettre Sauvage
– The Island in the Sound by Niall Campbell
– Poetry London
– The Odyssey (2026)
– The Return (2024)
– Emily Wilson’s review of The Odyssey in the LRB
– Emily Wilson’s review of The Odyssey in The Atlantic
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 7 min
September 06 Ep 262: Listener Crit #14, ft. Helena Feder
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Come see me at the D.C. Arts Center Poetry Series on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. EST. w/ Ned Balbo & Jonathan Fine
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– The Necklace of Harmonia, Sonnets of Thebes by Elijah Perseus Blumov, out now from Lettre Sauvage
– Tar River Poetry
– Helena Feder
– Cat Woman in Dog Country by Helena Feder
– Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats
– Bright Star by John Keats
– This Living Hand by John Keats
– If the Poet by Stephen Dunn
– Helena’s interview with Stephen Dunn
– Carl Dennis
– Mizmor
– Bull City Press
– Ross White
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr
August 30 Ep 261: Second-Wave New Formalism, ft. Quincy Lehr, Pt. 1
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– The Necklace of Harmonia, Sonnets of Thebes by Elijah Perseus Blumov, out now from Lettre Sauvage
– Lyndon Johnson by Jonathan Farmer
– Near Hits & Lost Classics by Quincy Lehr
– The Raintown Review
– Carmine Street Metrics
– The West Chester Poetry Conference
– Poetry by the Sea
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 6 min
August 22 Ep 260: Peace & Love, ft. Robert Charboneau, Pt. 1
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– The Necklace of Harmonia, Sonnets of Thebes by Elijah Perseus Blumov, out now from Lettre Sauvage
– Another man’s treasure by Steve Knepper
– Riddle by Joshua Mehigan
– Monologue & On the Necessity of Religious Belief by Minor Tiresias (Cameron)
– Poetics with Robert Charboneau
– If You Love That Lady by Maya C. Popa
– Maya Popa Is a Hopeless Romantic by Robert Charboneau
– Yvor Winters
– Ep. 52: Singsongy Chimey Doggerel, ft. Joshua Mehigan
– Ep 120: Picking up the Phone, ft. Dr. Taylor Byas
– Ep. 156: Greater Metropolitan Shaltador, ft. Victoria Moul
– Ep. 235: Romanticon Now ft. Paul Franz & Elijah Blumov, Part 1 & Part 2
– Ep. 242: Not the Greatest Time to Be a Poet, ft. Horace & Friends (Victoria Moul), Part 1 & Part 2
– On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer by John Keats
– The Romantics by Maya Popa
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 10 min
August 14 Ep 259: We’re Not Avocados, ft. Alexis & Joanna
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– The Necklace of Harmonia, Sonnets of Thebes by Elijah Perseus Blumov, out now from Lettre Sauvage
– The Drama (2026)
– ContraPoints on Twilight
– Liking What You See: A Documentary by Ted Chiang
– Hell Is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang
– Exhalation (story) by Ted Chiang
– The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling by Ted Chiang
– The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
– Bad Neighbors by Edward P. Jones
– Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor
– Deadwood (2004–2006)
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 13 min
August 09 Ep 258: Listener Crit #13
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
– Alex McKeown
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
1 hr 26 min
August 02 Ep 257: Situation Normal All Fucked Up, ft. Katie Dozier
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)
For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!
Leave the show a rating here!
SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!
For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!
– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!
– Residency Review by Katie Dozier
– The Poetry Space
– Rattle
Frequently mentioned names:
– Joshua Mehigan
– Shane McCrae
– A. E. Stallings
– Ryan Wilson
– Morri Creech
– Austin Allen
–Jonathan Farmer
– Zara Raab
– Amit Majmudar
– Ethan McGuire
– Coleman Glenn
– Chris Childers
– Alexis Sears
– JP Gritton
– Alex Pepple
– Ernie Hilbert
– Joanna Pearson
– MattWall
– Steve Knepper
– Helena Feder
– David Yezzi
– Victoria Moul
– Katie Dozier & Tim Green
– George David Clark
– Tristram Fane Saunders
– Philip Metres
– Helena Feder
– Nida Sophasarun
Other Ratbag Poetry Pods:
Poetry Says by Alice Allan
I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: In Future Posts
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith
59 min