Sophomore Lit

Sophomore Lit

By John McCoyArtsBooks
Download on the App Store

Sophomore Lit episodes

  • 135: Thanksgiving Special: The Wreck of the Hesperus

    It’s Thanksgiving, so of course Rob, John, and Dan drink and discuss “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1842).

    Host John McCoy with Rob McCoy and Dan McCoy.

    Referenced Works
    The Wreck of the Hesperus
    Show Notes & Links
    The Wreck of the Hesperus

    Link to full poem.

    SCHOONER HESPERUS WAS NEVER WRECKED

    The New York Times gets pedantic.

    What is the Spanish Main?

    Spoiler: none of us got it right.

    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.

    19 min
  • 134: Macbeth

    Probably best not to listen to this episode while you’re in a theatre. Shannon Campe and John discuss Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1605-ish).

    Host John McCoy with Shannon Campe.

    Referenced Works
    Macbeth
    Show Notes & Links
    Text of play

    From the Folger Shakespeare Library

    1979 Trevor Nunn production

    Featuring baby Ian McKellen and baby Judi Dench!

    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.

    49 min
  • 133: The Picture of Dorian Gray

    The podcasts that the world calls immoral are podcasts that show the world its own shame. Tamar Avishai and John discuss Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1831).

    Host John McCoy with Tamar Avishai.

    Referenced Works
    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    Show Notes & Links
    The Lonely Palette

    Art history for the masses

    Ivan Albright's painting of Dorian Gray

    The Art Institute of Chicago’s entry

    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.

    54 min
  • 132: The Canterbury Tales

    Those smale foweles maken melodye got nothin’ on us: Kathy Campbell and John discuss Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (c. 1400).

    Host John McCoy with Kathy Campbell.

    Referenced Works
    The Canterbury Tales
    Show Notes & Links
    Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website

    With commentary, Middle English, and Modern English translations.

    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.

    52 min
  • 131: Beowulf

    The original Farewell to Arms. Nathan Alderman discusses Beowulf (c. 1000).

    Host John McCoy with Nathan Alderman.

    Referenced Works
    Beowulf
    Show Notes & Links
    Beowulf in Old English

    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.

    51 min
  • 130: Epic of Gilgamesh

    Gilgamesh, a king, at Uruk. It’s not just a Star Trek meme. Gregory Fried talks ritual sex, heavenly bulls, and sneaky snakes in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

    Host John McCoy with Gregory Fried.

    Referenced Works
    Epic of Gilgamesh
    Show Notes & Links
    Wikipedia article on the Epic of Gilgamesh
    Line-by-line literal translation of Gilgamesh, ed. Morris Jastrow

    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.

    1 hr 13 min
  • 129: The Metamorphosis

    Gregor’s mother warned him about days like this. Jason Snell discusses Franz Kafka’s inescapable novella, The Metamorphosis (1915).

    Host John McCoy with Jason Snell.

    Referenced Works
    The Metamorphosis
    Show Notes & Links
    Wikipedia entry for The Metamorphosis
    Kafka rock opera from Home Movies

    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.

    40 min
  • 128: Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street

    Audrey Lazaro discusses Mellville’s 1853 story, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” one of the top three bits of scrivener fiction ever.

    Host John McCoy with Audrey Lazaro.

    Referenced Works
    Bartleby the Scrivener
    Show Notes & Links
    An inexplicable 1969 film adaptation by the Encyclopædia Britannica

    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.

    1 hr 1 min
  • 127: The Egypt Game

    No, I won’t make a Bangles joke. Erin Gambrill discusses Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Egypt Game (1967).

    Host John McCoy with Erin Gambrill.

    Referenced Works
    The Egypt Game
    Show Notes & Links
    Wikipedia article on The Egypt Game

    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.

    56 min
  • 126: Bambi, a Life in the Woods

    Bambi’s not so cute in this gritty new reboot. Glenn Fleishman discusses Felix Salten’s 1923 parable about what goes on in the woods. Also we talk a lot about copyright.

    Host John McCoy with Glenn Fleishman.

    Referenced Works
    Bambi
    Show Notes & Links
    Wikipedia on Bambi

    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.

    1 hr 9 min

About Sophomore Lit

From the publisher's feed

John McCoy and a guest host read books you might have been assigned in high school, or college, or other stuff you might have read when you were a kid. The theming is loose!

More shows like Sophomore Lit

Stuff You Missed in History Class by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Missed in History Class

23,731 Listeners

The Flop House by MaximumFun, Dan McCoy, Stuart Wellington, Elliott Kalan

The Flop House

4,433 Listeners

Jordan, Jesse, GO! by MaximumFun.org

Jordan, Jesse, GO!

3,365 Listeners

Mac Power Users by Relay

Mac Power Users

1,288 Listeners

Accidental Tech Podcast by Marco Arment, Casey Liss, John Siracusa

Accidental Tech Podcast

2,144 Listeners

Upgrade by Relay

Upgrade

1,219 Listeners

Blank Check with Griffin & David by Blank Check Productions

Blank Check with Griffin & David

6,193 Listeners

AppStories by Federico Viticci, John Voorhees

AppStories

512 Listeners

You're Wrong About by Sarah Marshall

You're Wrong About

21,918 Listeners

Interesting Times by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times

7,120 Listeners

The Big Picture by The Ringer

The Big Picture

5,702 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,702 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,882 Listeners

Unexplainable by Vox

Unexplainable

2,314 Listeners

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society by History Hit

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

1,392 Listeners