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, subscribe to SECRET SHOW, join the group chat, and send me a poem for Listener Crit!Leave 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!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 25 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Pre-order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!– In Future Posts– Minor Tiresias– & Juliet by Max Martin and David West Read– Chicago by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Bob Fosse– Six by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss– Beetlejuice the Musical by Eddie Perfect– Little Bear Ridge Road by Samuel D. Hunter– Steppenwolf Theatre Company– Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward AlbeeFrequently 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– Chris Childers– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna Pearson– Matt Wall– Steve Knepper – Helena Feder– David YezziOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah Perseus BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: In Future PostsBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: Minor TiresiasMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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Ep 223: Dowsing Rods & Decoder Rings
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, subscribe to SECRET SHOW, join the group chat, and send me a poem for Listener Crit!Leave 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!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 25 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Pre-order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!– Ep 222: Poetry Voice Classic, ft. Jonathan Farmer & Ep 172: Five Blade Mode, ft. Jonathan Farmer– Graves by Hayden Carruth– How to Read the Odyssey by Ryan Wilson– The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fitzgerald– The Aeneid, trans. Robert Fitzgerald– Seth Bernardete– Failed Essay on Privilege by Elisa Gonzalez– Next Day by Randall Jarrell– A Sunset of the City by Gwendolyn Brooks– Secret Show Ep 168: A Real ChillFrequently 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– Chris Childers– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna Pearson– Matt Wall– Steve Knepper – Helena Feder– David YezziOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah Perseus BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: In Future PostsBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: Minor TiresiasMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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Ep 222: Poetry Voice Classic, ft. Jonathan Farmer
NB: The first time I refer to Gonzalez, I say the wrong last name, because I am dumb. Sorry, Eliza! Sorry, also, for everything else. 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, subscribe to SECRET SHOW, join the group chat, and send me a poem for Listener Crit!Leave 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!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 25 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Pre-order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Louise GluckEliza GonzalezLouise Gluck's Nobel lectureLionel ShriverEp 207: Wild Ernestness on Ernest HemingwayAgainst Remembrance: On Louise Gluck by Eliza GonzalezEducation of the Poet by Louise GluckPoetry Says Ep. 294 The American Ecstatic Ep 166: Three Bird Mafia on the Order of the Third BirdThe Uneasy Friendship of Poets by Matthew Buckley SmithRobert Macfarlane's blurb for Jorie GrahamSecret show notesSong in the Grass by Kate Faganpraise song by Nate MarshallPraise Song for the Day by Elizabeth AlexanderChristian WimanThe Defense of Poesy by Sir Philip SidneyRipostes by Michael Robbins The Optimist by Joshua Mehigan I want the ketchup fightsEp 14: M*****f****r of the Arts on what an MFA in poetry gets youHEATEp 48: Crying Emoji, Fire Emoji, ft. Amit MajmudarThe New American Poetry 1945-1960 edited by Donald AllenNew Ohio Review's cover artworkThe Cows on Killing Day by Les MurrayQuadrantFrequently 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– Chris Childers– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna Pearson– Matt Wall– Steve Knepper – Helena Feder– David YezziOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah Perseus BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: In Future PostsBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: Minor TiresiasMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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Ep 221: ALSCW 2025
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, subscribe to SECRET SHOW, join the group chat, and send me a poem for Listener Crit!Leave 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!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 25 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Pre-order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!– The new issue of the Birmingham Poetry Review (the review of Midlife is in there, it’s just annoyingly not listed online)– Euphoric Recall at In Future Posts by Alice Allan– The ALSCW conference– Rachel Hadas– Dick Davis– Li Po Meets Oulipo by Michael Leong– How to Think like a Poet by Ryan Wilson– Literary Matters– Poetry Says: Dorothy Porter’s Aeneas Part 1 & Part 2– The AWP– The MLA– Wolf Hall (PBS)– Roger Reeves– Zina Gomez-Liss– David Mikics– Ruby LaRocca (the college student, not the slasher actress)– Macbeth (2015)– Tim Carroll– Clip from the 2012 production of Twelfth Night at the Globe, courtesy of Amanda– Henry V (1944)– Henry V (1989)– Twelfth Night (1996)– Gerhard Richter’s 2007 stained glass window for Cologne CathedralFrequently 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– Chris Childers– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna Pearson– Matt Wall– Steve Knepper – Helena Feder– David YezziOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah Perseus BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: In Future PostsBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: Minor TiresiasMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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Ep 220: Big in Romania, ft. Versecraft
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, subscribe to SECRET SHOW, join the group chat, and send me a poem for Listener Crit!Leave 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!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 25 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Pre-order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Matthew's poem Ankou published in The New StylusPoetry Says ep 158 (start at 44:17)The ALSCW conferenceRachel HadasRod McKuenDeath of a Whale by John BlightLiterature in North QueenslandMore Light! by A. E. StallingsGolden Repair by Louise CarterThe Poet Tasters by Ben EtheringtonThe Denial of Death by Ernest BeckerThe Denial of Death and Escape from Evil on Philosophise This!A Real Chill (on AI and Gwendolyn Brooks)Golden calfArnold SchoenbergWild (2014)Secret show notesAlice's list of Australian journals and editorsTrello Sub ClubLitNoticePoets & WritersClifford Garstang's rankingChill SubsQueensland Writers CentreDick DavisA Plague of Poets by C. D. WrightThe Other Side of Daylight by David BrooksI Know a Man by Robert CreeleyFrequently 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– Chris Childers– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna Pearson– Matt Wall– Steve Knepper – Helena FederOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah Perseus BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: In Future PostsBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: Minor TiresiasMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
Ireland