21: Watership Down
Bunnies. ‘Nuff said. Malcolm Nygard joins to discuss Richard Adams’s epic tale of lagogmorphs, Watership Down.
Episodes
Sophomore Lit
A podcast about your 10th grade reading list, hosted by John McCoy.
Episodes
20: Animal Farm
Elliott Kalan joins in for a quiet weekend in the country with George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Four legs: good! Four eyes: nerd!
19: Romeo and Juliet
Two co-hosts, alike in dignity, Sharlene Wellington and Stuart Wellington join in for a star-crossed discussion of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Can we possibly say anything new about the most famous play ever? Probably not, but we sure giggle a lot.
18: Stranger in a Strange Land
You asked for it. Oh, why did you ask for it? Jason Snell returns to discuss Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, in a double-sized podcast that will take as long to listen to as the book does to read.
17: Pride and Prejudice
Let’s not jump to conclusions. This time Sammi C joins in to discuss Jane Austen’s inescapable classic, Pride and Prejudice. Put on your empire dresses, grab your dance cards, and let’s do this!
16: The Scarlet Letter
This time historian Daniel Daughetee of The Lesser Bonapartes joins in to discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s inescapable novel The Scarlet Letter. What? You somehow made it through high school without reading it? You should have to wear a symbol of your shame for all to see! Also, last week I neglected to mention that Malcolm Nygard, composer of the new theme song, has his own podcast: Apoc Radio.
15: The Chocolate War
Do you dare disturb the universe? If not, do you dare to read the über-depressing novel The Chocolate War by Robert Corimer? Join Shannon Campe as we discuss the surprising number of autoerotic scenes in this seminal work of teen literature. Also! A new theme song! A surprise guest reader! And dodgy audio that lets you know I recorded this in my basement.
14: A Raisin in the Sun
Ocomogosiay! This time John atones for the shame of not having read Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun back at his lily-white high school. Fortunately, first-time podcaster Dominique Garnette joins in to discuss life in the South Side.
13: Short Stories I: The Lady, or the Tiger?, The Monkey's Paw, The Most Dangerous Game
Careful which door you choose. Or what you wish for. Or which island you wind up stranded on in the middle of the night with a couple of crazy foreigners. John Siracusa returns to discuss a trio of twisty stories, “The Lady, or the Tiger?,” “The Monkey’s Paw,” and “The Most Dangerous Game.” With readings so short, you have no excuse to come to class unprepared!
12: Poetry: Frost and Sandburg
Don your berets! This time Erik Stadnik joins in to look at some of the poems we read in high school, by flinty New Englander Robert Frost and exuberant Midwesterner Carl Sandburg. Get in touch with your sensitive side (for once)!
11: Cat's Cradle
Don’t be a stuppa. Forget your granfalloon and let this podcast be your wampter. Jason Snell joins in to discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. Busy, busy, busy!
10: The Old Man and the Sea
What must a man endure? Must a man endure a podcast about Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea? Sure, why not. Erika Ensign joins in to discuss marlins, sharks, and the Great DiMaggio.
9: The Skin of Our Teeth
Dinosaurs and mammoths and the end of the world, oh my! This time Phil Gonzales joins in to discuss the time we made it through by The Skin of Our Teeth. Is Thornton Wilder’s play still relevant? Is it understandable? Why aren’t you watching it right now?
8: Wuthering Heights
I’m so co-o-o-old, let me in-a your window so we can talk about Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. This time I’m joined by Shannon Campe to discuss those crazy kids Heath and Cathy.
7: Of Mice and Men
Wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie, O, what a podcast for thy iPhone! David Kalan joins in for a discussion of John Steinbeck’s meditation on bindlestiffs and sausages, Of Mice and Men.
6: A Separate Peace
A lot of the books we read in high school were downers, but only one book was literally about falling down, out of a tree. Al Lewis attended the real school where A Separate Peace took place and lived to tell about it, which (spoiler alert) is more than we can say for all the novel’s characters.
5: To Kill a Mockingbird
Don’t go poking around the old Radley house. But if you do, bring along bona fide southern belle Beth Lewis Auron as we discuss Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
4: Fahrenheit 451
As Nelly might say, It’s getting hot in here, so put away all your books. Liza Daly joins me in discussing a world without books (which for our younger listeners are dead trees with printing on them), Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
3: The Great Gatsby
Do you believe in the Green Light? Guest host Carla Curtsinger does. Join us as we discuss yellow cars, neglected babies, and giant eyes on billboards. It’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
2: The Catcher in the Rye
Phonies watch out. This discussion of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye is extra long. Who’d have guessed that John Siracusa would have so much to say? Check into a seedy hotel and have a listen, won’t you?
1: Lord of the Flies
In our first episode we explore how similar-sounding a host’s and guest’s voices can be as John is joined by his brother, Dan, of the Flop House Podcast. We talk about everyone’s favorite story of Man vs. Nature vs. Man’s Dark Heart vs. Pig, Lord of the Flies by William Golding.