Episodes

  • Ep 163: How Racist Is Creative Writing?, ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson

    Ep 163: How Racist Is Creative Writing?, ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson
    Sep 30 2024
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Out of Order by Alexis Sears– Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson– When Defending Your Writing Becomes Defending Yourself by Matthew Salesses– Self-Portrait of the Artist as an Ungrateful Black Writer by Saeed Jones– Ethan’s excellent graphs of the last 10 winners of 10 big poetry prizes– Send your literary conference blind items to SLEERICKETS [at] GMAIL [dot] COM !– Secret Show Ep 94. Who’s Winning the Poetry Prizes?– The Most Precious Substance on Earth by Shashi Bhat– MFA vs. POC by Junot Diaz– Stephanie Macias– The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground– Wyatt Prunty– Caki Wilkinson– Jonathan Heinen– Tim Robinson– There There by Tommy Orange– Questlove– VIDA: Women in Literary Arts– SLEERICKETS Ep 5: Ars Foetica– Jerry Saltz– Curvy Wife Guy– Widespread Bias Found in Home Appraisals by Debra Kamin– Sherman Alexie’s introduction to the 2015 Best American Poetry– The Unquiet Grave– Daniel Handler– Jacqueline Woodson– Citizen by Claudia Rankine– Pretendians– Heartbreak Ghazal by Alexis Sears– MFA Draft– Do ghazals work in English? by Victoria MoulFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Ep 162: The Train There’s No Getting Off, ft. Derek Mong

    Ep 162: The Train There’s No Getting Off, ft. Derek Mong
    Sep 19 2024
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– When the Earth Flies into the Sun by Derek Mong– At Length magazine– 32 Poems No 43. Summer 2024– There by Christopher Childers– I Too Had a Childhood by Eleanor Stanford– One of two poems of mine in the new 32 Poems– The part in Tree of Life where (among other things) Jessica Chastain flies– Marjorie Perloff’s review of The Birthday Letters– The Two Ariels: The (Re)making of the Sylvia Plath Canon by Marjorie Perloff– Ariel by Sylvia Plath– Ariel: The Restored Edition– Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes– Sylvia (2003)– Pike by Ted Hughes– Sharon Olds– Anne Sexton– Deborah Landau– Metaphors by Sylvia Plath– Adrienne Rich– Helen Vendler– Daddy by Sylvia Plath– Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath– Nick and the Candlestick by Sylvia Plath– A Secret by Sylvia Plath– You’re by Sylvia Plath– William Heyen– Swoop by Hailey Leithauser– Transformations by Anne Sexton– Kevin Young– Life Studies by Robert Lowell– Memories of West Street and Lepke by Robert Lowell– 13 Reasons Why (2017)– Wintering by Sylvia Plath– A rough approximation of a store in my town– Purdah by Sylvia Plath– Sheep in Fog by Sylvia Plath– Honey’s Dead by The Jesus and Mary Chain– Shaken Baby SyndromeFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Ep 161: Handbook for the Recently Deceased Poet

    Ep 161: Handbook for the Recently Deceased Poet
    Sep 7 2024
    NB3: Check out former guest Victoria Moul’s criticism of this episode here!NB2: Speaking of Whoreywood, check out Matt Wall’s bananas unfinished memoir of making movies in Hollywood.NB1: It turns out there is in fact some record of Heraclitus the poet, outside of Callimachus’ poem, but not much.SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Material Witness: Remembering an Abiding Debt to Timothy Murphy by Maryann Corbett– Wildfire Season by Maryann Corbett– Timothy Murphy– Maryann Corbett– Alan Sullivan– Eratosphere– Aaron Poochigian– Alex Pepple– Richard Wilbur– Quincy Lehr– Lin-Manuel Miranda– Champagne Sharks– The West Wing– Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney– Breakfast at Brennan’s by Timothy Murphy– Prison Chaplain by Timothy Murphy– The Failure by Timothy Murphy– The Dead Poet by Timothy Murphy– The Drowned Immortal by Timothy Murphy– Only Poems– Paging Dr. Platzmouth– The Stars Shine Without Me by Matt Cardin– Chris Childers– The Dowser’s Ear by Wilmer Mills (the poem, I think, that Stallings read in memory of Mills at the 2012 Sewanee Writers’ Conference)– Heraclitus by William Johnson Cory– Rachel Wetzsteon– Hart Crane– Jay WrightFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Ep 160: Part of the Problem

    Ep 160: Part of the Problem
    Aug 31 2024
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Poetry Says Ep 270. Jonathan Farmer: I don’t think I love poetry– Departing Afghanistan by William H. McRaven– How-to by Anders Carlson-Wee– Dogs of War by Mark Leidner– My poem Stay-at-Home (It’s short!)– Victoria Moul’s piece on Amanda Gorman’s poem– Steve Knepper’s New Verse ReviewFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    44 mins
  • Ep 159: For F***’s Sake Finally, ft. Versecraft

    Ep 159: For F***’s Sake Finally, ft. Versecraft
    Aug 25 2024
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Poetry Says Ep 256. Antarctica– Ars Poetica by Horace– The inaugural issue of New Verse Review (ft. work by Zara, Victoria, Michael, Marly, Katie, JMW (da-da-dummmm), Ethan, Elijah, Amit, and Maryann Corbett, among many others!)– The Iliad by Homer– The Aeneid by Virgil– The Metamorphoses by Ovid– Their Lonely Betters by W. H. Auden– Horace iii.25 (the one Elijah says is atypical)– Horace i.11– Burton Raffel– Christopher Smart– David Ferry– The Greeks and the Irrational by E. R. Dodd– The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche– Ion by Plato– The Bacchae by Euripides– The Oresteia by Aeschylus– Charles Baudelaire– T. S. EliotFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 38 mins
  • Ep 158: Revision & the Individual Talent, ft. Katie Hartsock

    Ep 158: Revision & the Individual Talent, ft. Katie Hartsock
    Aug 15 2024
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Wolf Trees by Katie Hartsock– The Old and the New by Katie Hartsock– Tradition and the Individual Talent by T. S. Eliot– Kafka and His Precursors by Jorge Luis Borges– An Organ of Extreme Perfection & Another Achilles (what has two thumbs and likes…)– The Tradition by Jericho Brown– Duplex by Jericho Brown– Invention (essay on the duplex form) by Jericho Brown– Ep 118: Obvious Boobies, ft. Ashley Anna McHugh– Paradelle for Susan by Billy Collins– Proofs and Theories by Louise Gluck– Motherhood by Cecily Park– The Circe / Mud Poems by Margaret Atwood– The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood– Punishment by Seamus Heaney– Eurydice by Caroline Duffy– The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani– Agamemnon by Aeschylus– The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus– Hamlet by William Shakespeare– The Iliad by Homer– The Aeneid by Virgil– The Metamorphoses by Ovid– The Trojan Women by Euripides– The Trojan Women by Anne Carson and Rosanna Bruno– Greeking Out– Horace & Friends by Victoria Moul– Alcestis by Euripides– Richard FeynmanFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • Ep 157: The A**h***’s Gambit

    Ep 157: The A**h***’s Gambit
    Aug 2 2024
    NB: The conversation this week is between Brian and me. At one point in the intro I mistakenly call him Ryan. Also, I use the word pinned casually and perhaps confusingly in a way that is unrelated to its technical meaning in chess.My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Hans Niemann, One Year After the Cheating Scandal by Jen Wieczner– Elijah’s review of Midlife– Zara’s review of Midlife– Literary Matters– New Verse Review– The 2024 Candidates Tournament (to cut down on the length of the show notes, I’m not linking to individual games or to players who participated, including Gukesh D)– The 2022 Sinquefield Cup (ditto)– Big Red Son by David Foster Wallace– Hans Niemann– Magnus Carlsen– Shernaz Kennedy– Bobby Fischer– Anatoly Karpov– Gary Kasparov– Mikhail Tal– Jose Capablanca– Vishy Anand– AlphaZero– Stockfish– The Queen’s Gambit (2020)Frequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Ep 156: Greater Metropolitan Shaltador, ft. Victoria Moul

    Ep 156: Greater Metropolitan Shaltador, ft. Victoria Moul
    Jul 26 2024
    My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Victoria’s newsletter Horace & Friends– What is a poetry magazine for? by Victoria Moul– On being underwhelmed by Victoria Moul– On poetry for children by Victoria Moul– Self-Portait as Othello by Jason Allen-Paisant– Ion by Plato– Julia Donaldson– The Man with Night Sweats by Thom Gunn– The Burning Babe by Robert Southwall– Poems of Mr. John Milton (1645)– Shearsman– The Interpreter– Francois Fenelon– Philip Gross– To Lucasta, Going to the Wars by Richard Lovelace– The Highwayman by Alfred NoyesFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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    1 hr and 29 mins