The Pens and Poison Podcast

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!

This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.

On today’s episode, I'm joined by Jeremy Wayne Tate, Founder of the CLT Exam—America's fastest growing standardized test that aims to recenter classical learning.

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!

This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.

On today’s episode, we talk to Sasha Zeiger, a Philadelphia-based novelist and marketing strategist with a background in philosophy. We discuss everything gothic and existential, with a deep dive into Camus, de Beauvoir, and the writing that makes us human.

Sasha is the self-published author of The Tower of Theo and is currently writing her second novel, a gothic historical murder mystery set in 1888 Philadelphia. Her work explores existentialism, moral ambiguity, and truth as subjectivity. Passionate about promoting public philosophical discourse, Sasha aims to make complex ideas accessible through fiction, essays, and conversations that invite readers to question who they are and why.

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!
This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.
On today’s episode, we talk to Ricardo Lugo, the founder of Bibliotecando, a platform that explores literature and cultural criticism. We discuss the evolution of Lugo's platform, his favorite authors, the challenges of translation, and the intersection of literature with political realities. Our conversation explores the flaws of utopian ideals, the role of competition in human nature, and the importance of slowing down in a fast-paced world.

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!

This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.

On today’s episode, I talked to Peter Biles, the author of the short story collection Last November. His writing has been featured in Plough, The Gospel Coalition, Dappled Things, and several others. He writes a Substack called Battle the Bard.

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!

This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.

On today’s episode, I talked to the Librarian of Celaeno, who writes the Substack The Library of Celaeno. Join us for an insightful conversation on education, publishing, and the state of reading as a whole.

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!

This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.

On today’s episode, I spoke to Baz, the founder of The Split Ticket Substack (not to be confused with the Split Ticket WAR Numbers site), a politics Substack read by more than 17,000 subscribers craving analysis that refuses to toe either party line. A former FAANG software engineer and self-confessed polling obsessive, Baz blends Bayesian stats, campaign history, and a healthy disdain for tribal punditry to reveal the structural forces really moving voters. Split Ticket publishes twice weekly “outside-the-echo-chamber” essays that puncture media narratives, challenge readers’ priors, and spark devil’s-advocate discussions across the spectrum.

Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!

This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings.

On today’s episode, I talked to poetry mogul and Substack afficionado Joseph Massey, the author of America Is the Poem (The Exile Press, 2025), Decades: Selected Poems (The Exile Press, 2024), and many other books.

Joseph’s poems have been translated into French, Dutch, Bengali, Finnish, Czech, and Portuguese.

He lives in Upstate New York.

Joseph writes Dispatches From the Basement on Substack.

Welcome to the Pens and Poison Podcast! This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join writer Liza Libes as she explores the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings. 

On today’s episode, Liza talks to BJ Harrison, host of The Classic Tales Podcast and audiobook connoisseur. In 2007, when his Classic Tales Podcast hit the scene, listeners were enthusiastic and voracious. The show peaked as the #3 podcast in iTunes. Pretty soon, Audible came calling to talk about a new program called ACX. Now, over 800 audiobooks later, he continues to impress critics and listeners alike. Audiofile says he narrates with “gusto” and “enthusiasm”. TIME opts for “soothing”.

One thing is clear – BJ tempers his formidable narrator toolbox for the task at hand. It’s always thrilling to discover where he’ll take us next.

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Special thank you to composer Nathaniel Lindstrom for providing the track “Quartz Moth” for today’s sound effects. 

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You can learn more about me and my work with poetry here— 

Website: https://lizalibes.com/ 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/pensandpoison 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/otherpoeticponderings 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pensandpoison/ 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pensandpoison/ 

Substack: https://pensandpoison.substack.com/ 

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Check out our first podcast episode here:

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wU9CdpSCGw&t=50s 

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Hungry for some poetry analysis? 

Wallace Stevens "The World as Meditation": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-EmEIe9c5k

T.S. Eliot "The Waste Land": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTPlOR6nsOc&t=535s 

Sir Philip Sidney "Astrophil & Stella":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5Ygms2uKc 

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Welcome to the Pens and Poison Podcast! This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join writer Liza Libes as she explores the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings. On today’s episode, Liza talks to author and professor Alex Moffett, who teaches English literature at Providence College. Professor Moffett specializes in British and Irish Modernism and Utopian and Dystopian Fiction. He is currently working on a project about representations of telepathy in literature that covers classic texts like Jane Eyre and Dracula.And don’t forget to pick up your copies of Dracula and Jane Eyre here:*Dracula: https://amzn.to/4e6hncdJane Eyre: https://amzn.to/3XzGsFs__________________________________________________________________________Special thank you to composer Nathaniel Lindstrom for providing the track “Quartz Moth” for today’s sound effects. __________________________________________________________________________You can learn more about me and my work with poetry here— Website: https://lizalibes.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/pensandpoison Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otherpoeticponderings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pensandpoison/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pensandpoison/ Substack: https://pensandpoison.substack.com/ __________________________________________________________________________Check out our first podcast episode here:Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wU9CdpSCGw&t=50s __________________________________________________________________________Hungry for some poetry analysis? Wallace Stevens "The World as Meditation": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-EmEIe9c5kT.S. Eliot "The Waste Land": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTPlOR6nsOc&t=535s Sir Philip Sidney "Astrophil & Stella": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5Ygms2uKc __________________________________________________________________________* All items purchased through my Amazon affiliate links are subject to commission.

Welcome to the Pens and Poison Podcast! This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join writer Liza Libes as she explores the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings. 

On today’s episode, Liza talks to author and professor Eric Weiskott, who teaches English literature at Boston College. Eric is the author of the poetry chapbook Chanties: An American Dream and the scholarly monograph Meter and Modernity in English Verse, 1350-1650. His writing on literature, politics, and higher education appears in The Atlantic, Vox, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Today, Eric teaches us about the English alliterative tradition as we discuss and analyze two Medieval works: Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. 

You can learn more about his work on his website here: https://ericweiskott.com/. 

And don’t forget to pick up your copies of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight here:*

Beowulf: https://amzn.to/3znIgJf

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: https://amzn.to/4cLwMxN

__________________________________________________________________________

Special thank you to composer Nathaniel Lindstrom for providing the track “Quartz Moth” for today’s sound effects. 

__________________________________________________________________________

You can learn more about me and my work with poetry here— 

Website: https://lizalibes.com/ 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/pensandpoison 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/otherpoeticponderings 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pensandpoison/ 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pensandpoison/ 

Substack: https://pensandpoison.substack.com/ 

__________________________________________________________________________

Check out our first podcast episode here:

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wU9CdpSCGw&t=50s 

__________________________________________________________________________

Hungry for some poetry analysis? 

Wallace Stevens "The World as Meditation": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-EmEIe9c5k

T.S. Eliot "The Waste Land": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTPlOR6nsOc&t=535s 

Sir Philip Sidney "Astrophil & Stella":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5Ygms2uKc 

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* All items purchased through my Amazon affiliate links are subject to commission.