Sophomore Lit

I cannot rest from podcasting. Jill Hoffman returns to discuss three poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “Charge of the Light Brigade” (1854), “Lady of Shalott” (1832, 1842), and “Ulysses” (1833).

Host John McCoy with Jill Hoffman.

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What’s life without choices? How about books that are nothing but choices? Ross Cleaver discusses the choose-your-own genre with examples from both the U.S. and the U.K.: Edward Packard’s The Cave of Time (1978) and Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson’s The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (1982).

Host John McCoy with Ross Cleaver.

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Which detective is better, Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin or Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes? I mean it’s obviously Holmes but that won’t stop Jacob Haller discussing two genre defining stories, Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (1892).

Host John McCoy with Jacob Haller.

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There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our podcasts. First-time co-host Tim Read discusses William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Hamlet (c. 1600).

Host John McCoy with Tim Read.

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Zut alors! Ross Cleaver returns to discuss the totally historically accurate Asterix and Cleopatra (Astérix et Cléopâtre) by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (serialized starting in 1963).

Host John McCoy with Ross Cleaver.

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Storkin’ it up! First-time co-host Jill Hoffman discusses Meindert De Jong’s Newbury-winning book, The Wheel on the School (1954).

Host John McCoy with Jill Hoffman.

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Jelani Sims returns to talk about Mildred D. Taylor’s heartbreaking Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1977).

Host John McCoy with Jelani Sims.

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boss these podcasts are getting

Host John McCoy with Dan McCoy.

The 1970 animated musical based on Archy and Mehitabel

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Love of wisdom means never having to say you’re sorry. Professor Marina McCoy joins her husband to discuss Plato’s The Apology (c. 399-90 BCE).

Host John McCoy with Marina McCoy.

Companion post on my blog detailing Marina’s and John’s trip to Athens and to its Plato-related sites.

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First-time co-host Daniel Heddendorf joins in to discuss clocks and jellybeans in Harlan Ellison’s short story, “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” (1965).

Host John McCoy with Daniel Heddendorf.

The radio adaptation of the story directed by Yuri Rasovky and starring Robin Williams and Harlan Ellison.

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