Sophomore Lit
Hosted by John McCoy
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!
186 “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman
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).
Previous Episodes
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February 13, 2026185 The Third Policeman
I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like. Shaenon K. Garrity returns to discuss Flan O’Brien’s enigmatic The Third Policeman (written 1940, published 1967).
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January 8, 2026
184 I am the Cheese
Hope you’re not lactose intolerant! Matt Skuta returns to discuss John Cormier’s I am the Cheese (1977).
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December 24, 2025
183 Christmas Special: “A Christmas Turkey”
What, the one as big as me? Marina McCoy makes her holiday return to discuss Mário de Andrade’s sweet-and-salty “A Christmas Turkey” (1956).
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December 9, 2025
182 The Watch House
Who watches the Watch House? Not us, the book is better. Ross Cleaver returns to discuss Robert Westall’s The Watch House (1977).
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November 26, 2025
181 Thanksgiving Special: Protest Songs
The answer, my friend…is not a lyric in the any of the songs the McCoy Brothers discuss. For this annual drunk Thanksgiving Special, Rob, Dan, and John talk about Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, One Tin Soldier, and Alice’s Restaurant.
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November 10, 2025
180 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Podcasts could happen to anyone. David Loehr discusses exits and entrances in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (first performed 1966, published 1967).
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October 8, 2025
179 The Last Unicorn
Don’t it allways seem to go, you don’t know what unicorns you got til they’re gone. Kathy Campbell discusses Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 The Last Unicorn.
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September 24, 2025
178 R.U.R.
BEEP boop what is… love? Well, we don’t figure this out, but John Siracusa does return to Sophomore Lit to discuss Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (1920), the origin of the word “robot.”
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August 27, 2025
177 The Pushcart War
Brush up on the Large Object Theory of History. Shaenon K. Garrity returns to discuss Jean Merrill’s The Pushcart War (1964).
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July 18, 2025
176 Walden, or Life in the Woods
If you’re suffering from Quiet Desparation, why not listen to the not-so-quiet voices of Dan Daughhetee and me discussing Henrey David Thoreau’s Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854)?