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!
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.
Previous Episodes
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          		 September 24, 2025 September 24, 2025178 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 August 27, 2025177 The Pushcart WarBrush 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 July 18, 2025176 Walden, or Life in the WoodsIf 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)? 
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          		 June 13, 2025 June 13, 2025175 Elizabeth Bishop PoemsSomebody loves us all. Rosalynde Vas Dias discusses three poems by Elizabeth Bishop: “Sestina” (1956), “Filling Station” (1956), and “Crusoe in England” (1971). 
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          		 April 23, 2025 April 23, 2025174 The ChrysalidsPodcasts are the original voices in your head. David Dredrick discusses John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids (1955). 
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          		 March 18, 2025 March 18, 2025173 The VisitMake money fast with this one weird trick. Glenn Fleishman discusses Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit (1956). 
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          		 February 25, 2025 February 25, 2025172 The Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockAnd indeed there will be time to discuss this, the most mid-life white-guy crisis poem of all. Lisa Schmeiser discusses T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915). 
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          		 February 3, 2025 February 3, 2025171 Frank O’Connor StoriesI’ve heard it said by men of wide experience that podcasts used to be better in the old days. Kieran Healy discusses three short stories by Frank O’Connor: “First Confession,” “The Majesty of the Law,” and “Guests of the Nation.” 
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          		 January 10, 2025 January 10, 2025170 Emily Dickinson PoemsForever is composed of podcasts. Caroline Fulford discusses selected poems by Emily Dickinson (c. 1860-65). 
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          		 December 24, 2024 December 24, 2024169 The Best Christmas Pageant EverCigars are always trouble. Marina McCoy discusses Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972).