Episodios

  • Ep 216: Tall Orders

    Ep 216: Tall Orders
    Oct 11 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 new book The Optimists!– Dracula by Bram Stoker– Fragments from the Introduction to the Method of… by Paul Valery– Nathaniel Rudavsky-Brody– Edward Albee– Macbeth by William Shakespeare– David Gosselin– Hamlet and his problems by T. S. Eliot– The Late Night by Aaron Poochigian (in the Summer 2025 issue of 32 Poems)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– 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 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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    1 h y 8 m
  • Ep 215: The Old Criterion

    Ep 215: The Old Criterion
    Oct 4 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:MeanjinWho Killed Meanjin? by Nick FeikOverlandCorditeThe Idea of a Literary Review by T. S. EliotLast Words by T. S. EliotLiterary MattersHEATClem ChristensenSpillwayThe Poetry Foundation's various podcastsChapo Trap HouseDavid CrossHail Satan? (2019)The Antichrist: A Four-Part Lecture Series by Peter ThielEp 208: Password to the Ghost WorldOn Heteropessimism by Asa SeresinFrequently 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 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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    1 h y 7 m
  • Ep 214: Serious Bad Catholic, ft. Steve Knepper, Pt. 1

    Ep 214: Serious Bad Catholic, ft. Steve Knepper, Pt. 1
    Sep 28 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:– New Verse Review– An Introduction to Byung-Chul Han by Steve Knepper, Ethan Stoneman, and Robert Wyllie– Red Dragonflies by Steve Knepper– The Agony of Eros by Byung-Chul Han– The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han– Melancholia (2011)– Nosferatu (2024)– Nosferatu (1922)– Rod Dreher– Alain Badiou– Flannery O’Connor– Georges Bataille– Cornel West– Slavoj Zizek– Two Years After Cormac McCarthy’s Death… by Richard Grant– Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart– Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog– Brazilian waxing (NSFW, I mean, come on)– Struggle Session– Thomas Ligotti– Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag– Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville– Martin Heidegger– Timothy Leary– The Devil at Woodstock by David Gosselin– The Flying Dutchman– The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche– Maya Venters– The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis– Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm– The Sad Dads of the National by Amanda PetrusichFrequently 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 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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    1 h y 21 m
  • Ep 213: Listener Crit #5

    Ep 213: Listener Crit #5
    Sep 21 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:– Morri Creech won the Rattle Poetry Prize!– Is it unethical for lit mags to conceal what portion of work is solicited? by Becky Tuch– Tar River Poetry– Literary Matters– Tar River Poetry Reading Sunday, September 19, 2025– Chelsea Rathburn– Emily Dickinson– Alex McKeown– Ashley Anna McHugh– A Heroic Death by Charles Baudelaire– The first matador got the horn by Ernest Hemingway– Leda and the Swan by W. B. Yeats– Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W. B. Yeats– Dizzy by David Yezzi– The Good News by David Yezzi– The Chain by David Yezzi– These Are the Poems, Folks by David Yezzi– On the Marionette Theatre by Heinrich von Kleist– Saeed Jones– Woman Waits, Seething, Blooming by Dave EggersFrequently 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 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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    1 h y 38 m
  • Ep 212: Girls! Girls! Girls! ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson

    Ep 212: Girls! Girls! Girls! ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson
    Sep 14 2025
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. NB: Also the title of a good Liz Phair song. And Chloe Pirrie is Scottish.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:– Out of Order by Alexis Sears– Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson– The Hyla Brook Reading Series at the Frost Farm– Too Much (2025)– Girls (2012–2017)– Megan Stalter– Will Sharpe– Lena Dunham– Luis Felber– Michael Zegen– John Magaro– Aubrey Plaza– Sally Hawkins– Chloe Pirrie– Adele Exarchopoulos– Emily Ratajkowski– Jack Antonoff– Rhea Perlman– Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, ft. T.I., Pharrell– Got to Give It Up by Marvin Gaye– Keith Moon– Sonoya Mizuno– Eudora Welty– Edi Patterson as Judy Gemstone– The White Lotus (2021–)– A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift– Historia Calamitatum by Peter Abelard– Her Ex Writes a Novel by Shashi Bhat– Byung-Chul Han– J. K. Rowling– Michael B. Jordan– S. E. HintonFrequently 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 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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    1 h y 4 m
  • Ep 211: Literary Matters 18.1

    Ep 211: Literary Matters 18.1
    Sep 6 2025
    SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. NB: In case it needs saying, no, I don’t think people should just seize hold of one another’s genitals without asking.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:– Literary Matters 18.1– Submit to LM (but ignore the submissions guidelines)– Tar River Poetry– Submit to Tar River Poetry– New Verse Review– Submit Halloween-themed poems to New Verse Review – Come hear me read at the Frost Farm this Thursday, September 11, at 6:30!– My recent appearance on Matt Wall’s Bukowski Pod– Zina Gomez-Liss– Helena Feder– Matt Steinhafel– Emily Grace– The ALSCW– The Poetry Space– To the Reader by Charles Baudelaire, trans. Tristram Fane Saunders– The Little Review– Concerning The Wreck by T. O. Brandon– Women’s Work by Maya Venters– Alien vs. Predator by Michael Robbins– Chubby Checker by M. I. Devine– The Bad Apple Sings by Hailey Leithauser– Senryu at Zion National Park by Pedro Poitevin– Eratosphere– The Wreck of the Deutschland by Gerard Manley Hopkins– Concerning Kipling by George Bradley– Nightjar by James Midgley– Yangtze Gorge by Nida Sophasarun– A thing I wrote on another poem of Nida’s for 32 Poems– 90 North by Randall Jarrell– Narcissus by R. Nemo Hill– The Shield of Achilles by W. H. Auden– Assurances by Sunil Iyengar– Spoor by Forester McClatchey– The End of the Age of Singing by Niall CampbellFrequently 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 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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    1 h y 15 m
  • Ep 210: Middle-Aged Witches, Pt. 1, ft. Versecraft & The Flummoxed

    Ep 210: Middle-Aged Witches, Pt. 1, ft. Versecraft & The Flummoxed
    Aug 29 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:Ari Aster Beau is Afraid (2023)Midsommar (2019)Eddington (2025)Interaction of Color by Josef AlbersThe Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011)Flannery O’ConnorThe Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund FreudOn Dreams by Sigmund FreudThe Psychopathology of Everyday Life by Sigmund FreudThe Denial of Death by Ernest BeckerMother! (2017)Lord of Illusions (1995)Carl Jung Ethan's essay about Beau is Afraid on The Flummoxed Ethan’s podcast episode about Beau is AfraidLego Batman (2017)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– Chris Childers– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna Pearson– Matt WallOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah 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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    1 h y 13 m
  • Ep 209: Hybrid Vigor, ft. Derek Mong, Pt. 1

    Ep 209: Hybrid Vigor, ft. Derek Mong, Pt. 1
    Aug 24 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:– When the Earth Flies into the Sun by Derek Mong– At Length– Annie O. Fisher– The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker– Traveling Sprinkler by Nicholson Baker– The Belle of Amherst by William Luce– A Quiet Passion ()– Being John Malcovich (1999)– Laura Lippman– Lewis Turco– Carl Dennis– Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota by James Wright– Vox by Nicholson Baker– House of Holes by Nicholson Baker– Funny, but Serious Too by Michael Dirda– Poems: North & South; A Cold Spring by Elizabeth Bishop– Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop– Specimen Days by Walt Whitman– Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham– Dead Souls by Sam Riviere– Ep 32: Poets Without Poems, ft. Sam Riviere– Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol– Practice by Rosalind Brown– A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) (Is it a coincidence that her yellow coat and red hat match Amanda Gorman’s inauguration ensemble?)– Lupita Nyong’o, great weirdo actor– The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)– Ep 126: Sassy Kids, ft. Alexis Sears, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2– A Teacher (2013)– The American Poet at the Movies by Laurence Goldstein– Paterson (2016)– Ep 27: Baker’s Poetry, ft. Alice Allan– Rhyme and Unreason by David Orr– Jason Koo– Meter in English by David Baker– Paul Kiparsky– Sara Teasdale– Lullaby by W. H. Auden– Ashes of Life by Edna St. Vincent Millay– If you stick a stock of liquor by Norman Levy– Susan Delaney Spear– The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe– Sonnet 31 by Philip Sidney– Marilyn Hacker– Horace i.25– The League of Moveable TypeFrequently 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 WallOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah 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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    1 h y 1 m