Episodes

  • Ep 168: What Are Houses For?, ft. James Haverty Smith

    Ep 168: What Are Houses For?, ft. James Haverty Smith
    Nov 6 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:– James Haverty Smith– Toward an Architecture by Le Corbusier– Kanye West Bought an Architectural Treasure—Then Gave It a Violent Remix by Ian Parker– Ep 167: Poetry Magazine, October 2024– My appearance on Drunk as Poet on Payday– Jason Gray– Tadao Ando– Frank Gehry– Zaha Hadid– Santiago Calatrava– Colin Rowe– Tesla Cybertruck (and the phony DeLorean logo on the one we saw)– Boston Dynamics Dogs– Paradise Lost by John Milton– Manuel Cadrecha– Cloister of Santa Maria della Pace (the perfect courtyard)– Jorge Silvetti (the professor who assigned the analysis of the Villa La Rotonda)– Villa La Rotonda (the most famous building in the world)– Donato Bramante– Andrea Palladio– Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud– Notre-Dame du Haut (Le Corbusier’s chapel in Ronchamp)– Bauhaus– Collage City by Fred Koetter and Colin Rowe– Philip Johnson– Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (Frank Gehry’s building inspired by the shipyards)– Heydar Aliyev Centre (Zaha Hadid’s building dedicated to a tyrant but beloved by skateboarders)– Santa Maria de la Tourette– Villa Savoye– The Paideia School (my weird high school)– A Worn Path by Eudora Welty– Margaret Pepperdene (my mentor Jane)– The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer– John’s Mountie Boots by Marilyn Levine– Chuck Close– Louis Kahn (not Thomas Kuhn)– Thomas Kuhn (the paradigm shift guy)– John Barth (not Roland Barthes)– The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes– Donald Barthelme– The Rites & Wrongs of Janice Wills by Joanna Pearson (my wife’s YA novel)– The Daily: How Air-Conditioning Conquered the World– One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez– Dear Derrida by David Kirby – Mozart’s Requiem– The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton– Westworld (1973) by Michael Crichton– Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton– Timeline by Michael Crichton– CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George SaundersFrequently 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
  • Ep 167: Poetry Magazine, October 2024, Pt. 1

    Ep 167: Poetry Magazine, October 2024, Pt. 1
    Oct 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:– Poetry Magazine, October 2024 (all of the poems discussed appear herein)– Allegory by Morri Creech– The 400-Pound CEO by George Saunders– My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante– The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham– Trust by Hernan Diaz– Madame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertFrequently 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 166: Three Bird Mafia, ft. Jonathan Farmer

    Ep 166: Three Bird Mafia, ft. Jonathan Farmer
    Oct 23 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:– Cameron’s opening reading for the Critical Path Symposium (w/ Elijah, too!) October 24 at 11:00 a.m. US EasternWelcome Session (Thu 10/24) https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/99723229304?pwd=8PxJRe3eaLx9SV3BzZOTyFUbhw99qN.1Symposium Sessions (Thu/Fri/Sat) https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/93979607180?pwd=MfaFbLZWNLZJAxcOY3cm6eTsJESVqL.1Readings (Thu/Fri/Sat) https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/92469126577?pwd=ZMYw1sFP889LzAgkkzlRrSD1hA1gqz.1– That Peculiar Affirmative by Jonathan Farmer– The Battle for Attention by Nathan Heller– Jonathan’s review of Promises of Gold by Jose Olivarez– The Lottery in Babylon by Jorge Luis Borges– American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes– Robert Wilson– The Way of the Gun (2000)– Football Club Bruno’s Magpies– Ned Kelly– Oulipo– Italo Calvino– Portlandia– Alan Shapiro– The episode of Poetry Says in which Alice and I did indeed end up talking about Gwen Harwood’s Krote poems, among other things– The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead– Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning– Wendy Cope’s Strugnell poems– Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis by Wendy Cope– Barry (2018)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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    51 mins
  • Ep 165: The Mountain Pass, ft. Philip Metres, Pt. 1

    Ep 165: The Mountain Pass, ft. Philip Metres, Pt. 1
    Oct 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:– Fugitive/Refuge by Philip Metres– The ALSCW Conference, where I’ll be reading with Mary Jo Salter and Christopher Childers– The Will to Believe by William James– 90 North by Randall Jarrell– Done on This Side by Joshua Mehigan– My poem Creed for Atheists– Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens– The Cleveland reading– White Noise by Emma Cline– My sight, which was my power, now blurs by Arseny Tarkovsky, trans. Philip Metres– Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction by Wallace Stevens– A High-Toned Old Christian Woman by Wallace Stevens– The Auroras of Autumn by Wallace Stevens– Jesus and the woman taken in adultery– Padraig O Tuama– St. John ChrysostromFrequently 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 16 mins
  • Ep 164: The Quiet Part

    Ep 164: The Quiet Part
    Oct 7 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:– The ALSCW Conference– The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot– The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri– My ill-advised poem Overheard at a Reading, from the new issue of 32 Poems– Translation by Roy Fuller– A Colleague Confesses by Carl Dennis– Poetry Says Ep 283. Tool time– Ep 163. How Racist Is Creative Writing?, ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson– Victoria’s essay referencing SLRKTS– Ep 161. Handbook for the Recently Deceased Poet– Ep 111. Obvious Boobies, ft. Ashley Anna McHugh, Pt. 1– Secret Show Ep 110. Water Power!– The Simpson Season 6, Ep 18: A Star Is Burns– The Shining (1980)– 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– VIDA: Women in Literary Arts– SLEERICKETS Ep 5: Ars FoeticaFrequently 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 16 mins
  • 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