Sophomore Lit

The Incomparable

A podcast about your 10th grade reading list, hosted by John McCoy.

  • 58 minutes 6 seconds
    165: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    This episode has many omissions, and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate. Jacob Haller tries to make sense of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979).

    John McCoy with Jacob Haller

    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.

    25 October 2024, 6:44 pm
  • 49 minutes 23 seconds
    164: Lysistrata

    What’s more cultivated and genteel than classical theater? David Loehr discusses Aristophanes’s Lysistrata (411 B.C.E.)

    John McCoy with David J. Loehr

    Show Notes & Links

    Lysistrata Jones

    Trailer for the 2011 Broadway musical

    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.

    26 September 2024, 2:22 pm
  • 53 minutes 51 seconds
    163: The Twenty-One Balloons

    Because twenty would be too few and twenty-two would be ridiculous. Shaenon K. Garrity discusses William Pène du Bois’s The Twenty-One Balloons (1947).

    John McCoy with Shaenon K. Garrity

    Referenced Works

    The Twenty-One Balloons

    Show Notes & Links

    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.

    5 September 2024, 7:23 pm
  • 46 minutes 16 seconds
    162: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

    Rain Main meets Air Bud. Dan McCoy discusses stims and happy endings and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003).

    John McCoy with Dan McCoy

    Show Notes & Links

    Dan McCoy's Special Interests

    My brother’s newsletter mentioned in the episode.

    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.

    13 August 2024, 6:43 pm
  • 57 minutes 38 seconds
    161: A Canticle for Leibowitz

    This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a bunch of monks sitting around copying stuff. Jelani Sims returns to discuss Walter M. Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959).

    John McCoy with Jelani Sims

    Referenced Works

    A Canticle for Leibowitz

    Show Notes & Links

    A Canticle for Leibowitz

    The Internet Archive has all episodes of the 15-part NPR Playhouse adaptation which aired in 1981.

    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.

    15 July 2024, 7:43 pm
  • 44 minutes 7 seconds
    160: Why I Live at the P.O.

    Stick some stamps on the top of our heads. Deborah Stanish discusses Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.” (1941)

    John McCoy with Deborah Stanish

    Referenced Works

    Why I Live at the P.O.

    Show Notes & Links

    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.

    21 June 2024, 6:45 pm
  • 52 minutes 18 seconds
    159: The Phantom Tollbooth

    The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between. Moisés Chiullán discusses Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth (1961).

    [We’ve re-issued this episode to correct an audio problem.]

    John McCoy with Moisés Chiullán

    Referenced Works

    The Phantom Tollbooth

    Show Notes & Links

    The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)

    Trailer for Chuck Jones’s adaptation.

    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.

    30 May 2024, 8:04 pm
  • 37 minutes 31 seconds
    158: A Perfect Day for Bananafish

    Podcasters: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things?? Let’s Find Out! Jason Snell talks about marine life in J.D. Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” (1948).

    John McCoy with Jason Snell

    Referenced Works

    A Perfect Day for Bananafish

    Show Notes & Links

    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.

    22 April 2024, 7:24 pm
  • 30 minutes 29 seconds
    157: The Veldt

    Lions and tigers and bea— you know what, just lions. Jordan Morris is here to discuss Ray Bradbury’s story “the Veldt” (1950).

    John McCoy with Jordan Morris

    Show Notes & Links

    "The Veldt" radio drama

    From the 1983 NPR Playhouse series Bradbury 13.

    "The Veldt"

    Track by Combustible Edison from the album I, Swinger (1994).

    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.

    5 April 2024, 5:21 pm
  • 58 minutes 27 seconds
    156: Heart of Darkness

    The Podcast! The Podcast! John Holt discusses the ill-fated cruise that is Joseph Conrad’s novelette Heart of Darkness (1899).

    John McCoy with John Holt

    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.

    15 March 2024, 6:21 pm
  • 59 minutes 50 seconds
    155: Tom Sawyer

    Though his mind is not for rent, it still is the subject of this episode. Jacob Haller discusses Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer (1876).

    John McCoy with Jacob Haller

    Referenced Works

    Tom Sawyer

    Show Notes & Links

    Tom Sawyer (1973)

    The trailer for the musical movie version from Reader’s Digest.

    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 February 2024, 9:05 pm
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