Podcast
SLEERICKETS
Hosted by Matthew Buckley Smith · EN
Welcome to SLEERICKETS, a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
20episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ep 248: The Montreal Fiasco, ft. Ernest Hilbert, Pt. 1
1w agoTap to summarizeSLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!Ep 122: The Sore Thumb Crisis, ft. Ernie HilbertPoetry readings I have known by Ernie HilbertThe Red Tower by Thomas LigottiThis Lime-tree Bower my Prison by Samuel Taylor ColeridgeEaston PressFranklin LibraryFallingwaterThe Henry Heckelbeck Collection by Wanda CovenEyes Wide Shut (1999)Caligulan by Ernie HilbertContraPoints: CringeToynbee tilesPoetry for DummiesSavage Night at the Opera by DestroyerFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– ...
Transcribe →Ep 247: Listener Crit #11
2w agoTap to summarizeNB: Apologies to all the people to whom I owe emails! Solo with the girls and trying to meet some deadlines, so I’ve been a zombie. I promise I’ll write you soon!SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!– The Frost Farm Prize results– Why Don’t People Like Poetry? What Poetry Do People Like? by Daniel Cowper– Ep 246: The Case for Didactic Poetry Part 1 & Part 2– L’Allegro, Il Penseroso, and Lycidas by John Milton– Odysseus’ Last Return to Ithaca by Pedro Poitevin– XXIV by Philip Larkin– Dune by Frank Herbert– Dune (2021)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– MattWall– Steve Knepper – Hele<a href="https://www.yo...
Transcribe →Ep 246: A Case for Didactic Poetry, ft. Daniel Cowper, Pt. 1
3w ago01:26:58Tap to summarizeNB: Another poem (one of Jonathan’s favorites) about having an orange and not wanting to kill yourself.SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!– Why Don’t People Like Poetry? What Poetry Do People Like? by Daniel Cowper– Kingdom of the Clock by Daniel Cowper– A Review of The Soft Black Stars by Sunil Iyengar– On Not Knowing How to Start by Sunil Iyengar– What He Really Wanted by Zina Gomez-Liss– If by Rudyard Kipling– Ep 245: The Tuna Incident, ft. Nida Sophasarun– Giving the Devil His Due by Elijah Perseus Blumov– September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden– On the Inner Nature of Art by Arthur Schopenhauer– On the origin of poetry by Friedrich NietzscheFrequently 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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuji...
Transcribe →Ep 245: The Tuna Incident, ft. Nida Sophasarun
4w ago01:11:26Tap to summarizeSLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!Novice by Nida SophasarunAn Incomplete Mentorship by Rachel Jamison WebsterEllen Bryant VoigtAdvice from an Unknown Poet Ep 05. Bad AdviceEp 244: Possible Horrible Truth, Pt. 1Nida's poem Violent FemmesCorniche by Les MurraySecret show notesDead Poets Society (1989)Paterson (2016)A Quiet Passion (2016)Yasujiro OzuLast Chance U (2016)Friday Night LightsI Walked with a Zombie (1943)Reality Bites (1994)Matthew's essay Where the Money IsThe Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)Film QuarterlyFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae</a...
Transcribe →Ep 244: Possible Horrible Truth, Pt. 1
May 301:32:57Tap to summarizeNB: Sideways was actually co-written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne.SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!– Poems Beautiful and Useful, ed. Victoria Moul– To Lucasta, Going to the Wars by Richard Lovelace– Greater Metropolitan Shatador, ft. Victoria Moul– The Matrix (1999)– Jenny, the Halloween Spy by Lillie Patterson– The Statue of Responsibility (the one about Man’s Search for Meaning) – The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker– Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace– The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham– The Optimists by Brian Platzer– The Mattering Instinct by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein– The Last Messiah by Peter Zapffe– The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti– Inferno I, 32 by Jorge Luis Borges– Sideways (2004)– The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche– Big in Romania, ft. Versecraft (the one where Elijah talks with Alice about The Denial of Death)– St. Judas by James Wright– The Mountain Pass, ft. Philip Metres, Part 1 & Part 2– Tichborne’s Elegy by Chidiock Tichborne– Happy were he could finish forth his fate by Robert Devereaux– Ode on Solitude by Alexander Pope– Ars Poetica by Horace– Epode ii by Horace– The Fall of Rome by W. H. Auden– Riddley Walker by Russell HobanFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wi...
Transcribe →Ep 243: Literary Matters 18.2
Apr 2601:27:57Tap to summarizeSLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!SLEERICKETS is now on YouTube!For a frank, anonymous critique on SLEERICKETS, subscribe to the SECRET SHOW and send a poem of no more 32 lines to sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!– On Marriage by Victoria Moul– Literary Matters 18.2– Not the Greatest Time to Be a Poet, ft. Horace & Friends, Part 1 & Part 2– Handbook for the Recently Deceased Poet– A dolphin for the Dutch; or, is there any verse culture without occasional poems? by Victoria Moul– Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth– The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky– Rachel Getting Married (2008)– Glee (2009–2015)– Sinners (2025)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 Feder– David Yezzi– Victoria Moul– Katie Dozier & Tim Green– George David Clark– Tristram Fane Saunders– Philip MetresOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov<p cl...
Transcribe →Ep 242: Not the Greatest Time to Be a Poet, ft. Horace & Friends, Pt. 1
Apr 1900:55:13Tap to summarizeSLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!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] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!– I’ll be doing the Rattlecast this Monday, April 13, at 8:00 p.m. US Eastern! Check it out!– Kronos by Joshua Mehigan– Does it help to be religious? by Victoria Moul– Horace & Friends by Victoria Moul– Poems Beautiful and Useful, ed. Victoria Moul– Poetry, Poetics, Poesia by Tamarah Rockwood– The Rattlecast went well, I think!– Church Going by Philip Larkin– Ep 241: A Serious House– The Poet’s Vision by Ryan Wilson– As I Prefer Them Well Cooked Through (from the French of Valérie Rouzeau) trans. Victoria Moul– A Deer Comes to Mind by Simon Armitage– The Birth of the Sonnet (from the French of Nicolas Boileau) trans. Elijah Perseus Blumov– Ken Gordon– My chapbook’s hatred-filled Goodreads pageFrequently 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 Yezzi– Victoria Moul– Katie Dozier & Tim Green– George David Clark– <a target="_blank...
Transcribe →Ep 241: A Serious House
Apr 1101:10:28Tap to summarizeNB: Advent wreath, obviously. One probably shouldn’t set fire to an advent calendar.SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!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] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!– I’ll be doing the Rattlecast this Monday, April 13, at 8:00 p.m. US Eastern! Check it out!– Does it help to be religious? by Victoria Moul– Along the Road by Winslow Homer– Sea Legs by Andrew Wyeth– La toilette de Diane by Antonin Merci– The Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria by Mattia Preti– Rock Bottom by Joan Mitchell– Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp by Le Corbusier– Austin by Ellsworth Kelly– Churchgoing by Philip LarkinFrequently 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 Yezzi– Victoria Moul– Katie Dozier & Tim Green– George David Clark– Tristram Fane Saunders– Philip MetresOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall<p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="...
Transcribe →Ep 240: AMA #3, Pt. 1
Apr 201:20:36Tap to summarizeSLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!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] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good!– Now give Brian’s book a 5-star review!– My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now!Timothee Chalamet's statements on ballet and opera, and on not having childrenAll Fours by Miranda JulyHeart the Lover by Lily KingNight by Elie WieselSchopenhauer Cocktail Hour on VersecraftReference Back by Philip LarkinDonald JusticeAtmosphere in Eight Lines by Maryann CorbettDown in the Valley by Joshua MehiganDone on This Side by Joshua MehiganPoetry Says Ep 242. with Joshua MehiganThe Sponge by Joshua Mehigan on VersecraftSecret show notesPoetry Says Ep 219. This is scriptureBlues in Dallas, Old College Try, Going to Georgia, and This Year by The Mountain Goats (also No Children for Timothee)Thomas HardyEdwin Arlington RobinsonBlack Books: I Love Books guyBlack Sparrow PressFaberLiterary MattersHEATNew Verse ReviewImage JournalLondon Review of Books32 Poemsno more poetryEverybody wants to waste your time by Drew GoodenWildflower and Barley by HozierFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan<a...
Transcribe →INTRODUCING Advice from an Unknown Poet
Mar 2600:44:34Tap to summarizeSLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems. Make a one-time donation (not tax-deductible)For more SLEERICKETS, subscribe to SECRET SHOW!Leave the show a rating here!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] comSome of the topics mentioned in this episode:– Advice from an Unknown Poet– Berryman by W.S. Merwin– Proxies by Brian BlanchfieldFrequently 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 Yezzi– Victoria Moul– Katie Dozier & Tim Green– George David Clark– Tristram Fane Saunders– Philip MetresOther 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
Transcribe →