Best Ron Cline Podcasts (2026)

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Episode 61: Part One of Seeking Guidance for THE COUNSELOR 1:07:47

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20d ago1:07:47

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Full disclosure time here on the READING MCCARTHY podcast. When Ridley Scott’s film The Counselor arrived in theaters with its very own shiny McCarthy screenplay, I was underwhelmed. We’d been waiting for over half a decade for The Passenger and had no idea we’d be almost another ten years waiting for that project (and of course we had no concept o…

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Episode 60: Riding Shotgun on THE PASSENGER with Lydia Cooper and Brent Cline 1:57:09

3M ago1:57:09

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For the podcast's 60th episode we are finally able to develop a lengthy and thorough discussion of The Passenger, McCarthy's penultimate novel from 2022. I'm joined by two returning guests of the podcast: Dr. Lydia Cooper is a professor of American literature and director of the core curriculum at Seattle University. Her specializations include Nat…

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Introduction To Seneca - (David Greder) 42:34

3M ago42:34

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Send us a text Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange

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Episode 59: The Big Screen Beckons--McCarthy's Screenplays with Stacey Peebles 1:29:07

4M ago1:29:07

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Episode 60 of READING McCARTHY sees the return of one of my favorite guests, Dr. Stacey Peebles. In addition to her many other roles described below, she is the preeminent expert on McCarthy’s work in screenplays. Please join us for a consideration of his various screenplays, both produced (The Counselor) and unproduced (Cities of the Plain, No Cou…

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Episode 58: Staying off the Tracks of THE SUNSET LIMITED with Dianne Luce 1:18:31

7M ago1:18:31

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The 58th episode brings back the excellent Dr. Dianne Luce to discuss with us McCarthy’s 2006 play The Sunset Limited (or is it a novel in dramatic form?). Produced first by the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago in May of 2006, it later went on to open in New York. Dianne Luce saw it in Chicago during that opening run and we’ve both seen the Tommy Lee…

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Introduction To Stoicism - (David Greder) 44:10

7M ago44:10

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Send us a text In this episode, Professor David Greder gives a little introduction to Stoicism. an area that I have been very interested in. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange

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Introducing Professor David Greder 44:50

8M ago44:50

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Send us a text Please join me in welcoming our guest teacher, Professor David Greder from Waldorf University, to The Classroom. Professor Greder teaches philosophy and religion, and today, your humble host (and student!) had the honor of sitting down with him. More conversation to come. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @…

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Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle - Book III - (Final Episode) 1:12:13

10M ago1:12:13

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Send us a text Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Tribute To Professor Ron Cline – 03.12.1944 – 12.18.2024 13:23

11M ago13:23

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Send us a text Memento Mori......Stay With Me!! Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Episode 57: The Wittliff with Lead Archivist Katie Salzmann 44:32

11M ago44:32

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This past December your not-so-intrepid host was able to make a pilgrimage to San Marcos, Texas, to visit the Wittliff Collection in the Alkek Library at Texas State University and plumb its treasure trove of McCarthy archives. My guest in this episode is Katie Salzmann, who has been Lead Archivist at The Wittliff Collections at Texas State since 2…

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Episode 56: The Brothers Elmore Flip a Coin with No Country for Old Men 57:09

1y ago57:09

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This episode has a history that winds like a West Texas border road. My guests are the Brothers Elmore, and we originally recorded it in April but one of the tracks went bad. So finally at the end of our collective academic semesters, we once again discussed No Country for Old Men, speculating about its origins, its commentary on neo-liberalism, th…

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Episode 55: Writer Ron Rash on McCarthy's Work and Influence 43:08

1y ago43:08

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Episode 55 is a discussion with award winning novelist, short story writer, poet, and big-time McCarthy fan, Ron Rash. Ron attended Gardner Webb University in Boiling Rock NC and then earned his master’s in English at Clemson University. He is a writing and English faculty member at Western Carolina in Cullowhee, NC, where he serves as the John and…

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Episode 54: Following McCarthy's Tracks with Austin Smith 1:03:22

1y ago1:03:22

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This episode of READING MCCARTHY welcomes to the podcast for the first time Austin Smith. Austin studied history and literature at the University of Georgia. He has worked as a photographer and a professional adventure photographer, following the art into aviation, mountaineering, and motorcycle racing. He now leads a human resources consulting bus…

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Episode 53: Rambling Down THE ROAD with Bryan Vescio 1:13:06

1+ y ago1:13:06

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This 53rd episode of READING MCCARTHY takes a long ramble down THE ROAD, McCarthy’s 2006 Pulitzer Prize winning novel of a father and son enduring life in a harrowing, ashen landscape after some undisclosed apocalypse. For this discussion I’m glad to welcome back guest Dr. Bryan Vescio. Professor and Chair of English at High Point University in Nor…

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Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle - Book II 44:37

1+ y ago44:37

44:37

Send us a text Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle - Book I 40:56

1+ y ago40:56

40:56

Send us a text Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Episode 52: McCarthy and Hemingway 1:38:53

1+ y ago1:38:53

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Episode 52 is a round table considering the impact of Ernest Hemingway’s writing on the works of Cormac McCarthy. Joining us for this discussion are Dr. Olivia Carr Edenfield, Professor of English at Georgia Southern University. She is a founding member of the Society for the Study of the American Short Story and Director of the American Literature…

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Episode 51: Teaching McCarthy Round Table 1:28:30

1+ y ago1:28:30

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Although the fact often goes unacknowledged, it is a truth that sometimes an author’s residence within and endurance in the canon is a result of how that author is perceived and taught in the academy. Most literary scholars are also professors and teachers. For this episode of Reading McCarthy I round up some of the usual suspects for a panel discu…

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Episode 50: Barreling through No Country for Old Men with Rick Wallach 1:10:48

2y ago1:10:48

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The guest for our 50th episode is the OG himself, the redoubtable RICK WALLACH, who joins us for a rousing discussion of No Country for Old Men. Somehow both Batman and Godzilla are referenced as we consider both the novel and the Coen Bros. film. Rick Wallach has recently retired from teaching English at the University of Miami. He is a founder of…

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Introduction To The Bible - (Guest Teacher Kory Eastvold) 1:27:31

2y ago1:27:31

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Send us a text Guest Teacher Kory Eastvold, Bible conversation. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Classical Tour (London) 41:12

2y ago41:12

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Send us a text In this episode, Professor Ron takes us on a classical tour of London. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Classical Tour (Paris) 53:23

2y ago53:23

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Send us a text In this episode, Professor Ron takes us on a classical tour of Paris. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Episode 49: a Filibuster Panel on the BORDER TRILOGY 1:17:31

2y ago1:17:31

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In this episode we head across the border one more time for a consideration of the Border Trilogy as a whole. How does knowing how the story begins and ends change how we read any of the different parts? My guests on this filibuster over the border include Dr. Nell Sullivan, a Kentuckian who earned her BA in English from Vanderbilt University and e…

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Episode 48: Tearing Down the Walls of THE STONEMASON with Nick Monk 1:03:51

2y ago1:03:51

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The guest for this episode is Dr. Nick Monk, who joins me for a consideration of perhaps McCarthy’s most idiosyncratic work. The 90s were an exciting time for McCarthy fans. In 92 he published the award winning All the Pretty Horses, followed two years later by the next installment in the Border Trilogy, The Crossing. Before he would go on to close…

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Classical Tour (Rome) 39:54

2y ago39:54

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Send us a text In this episode, Professor Ron takes us on a classical tour of Rome. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Episode 47: McCarthy and Disability with Brent Cline 1:10:36

2y ago1:10:36

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Episode 47 of READING MCCARTHY considers the author’s references to and uses of disability in its many forms. My guest DR BRENT CLINE. He has published articles and chapters involving disability on Walker Percy, James Agee, and Daniel Keyes. His review of The Passenger/Stella Maris was published with The University Bookman. He teaches a seminar on …

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Episode 46: Crossing the CITIES OF THE PLAIN with Bryan Vescio 1:06:45

2+ y ago1:06:45

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In this episode we ride to the end of the road in the last episode of the Border Trilogy, CITIES ON THE PLAIN. My guest for this foray is Dr. Bryan Vescio, Professor and Chair of English at High Point University in North Carolina. A guest on former episodes on faith and Suttree, Dr. Vescio is the author of the 2014 book Reconstruction in Literary S…

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Classical Tour (Athens) 38:29

2+ y ago38:29

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Send us a text In this episode, Professor Ron takes us on a classical tour of Athens Greece. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Episode 45: Tribute to McCarthy Part 3 1:33:48

2+ y ago1:33:48

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This is our final of 3 tribute episodes in the wake of Cormac McCarthy's passing this past June. Guests on this final tribute episode include: Dr. Steven Frye, professor and chair of English at California State University in Bakersfield. Steve has just stepped down as President of the Cormac McCarthy Society. He is the author of Understanding Corma…

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Episode 44: Tribute to Cormac, part the second. 1:02:00

2+ y ago1:02:00

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In the wake of Cormac McCarthy's passing on June 13, 2023, a number of excellent tributes and discussion pieces were published. In this second of three tribute episode, we've asked for permission for the authors to read some of those tributes to McCarthy here on the podcast and we have also solicited a couple of others. The guests this episode incl…

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Laches - (Socrates Asks, What is Courage?) 50:17

2+ y ago50:17

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Send us a text In this Plato's dialogue, Socrates engages in a discussion with two prominent Athenians, Laches and Nicias, about the nature and definition of the virtue of courage. The dialogue centers around the question of what courage truly is and whether it can be taught. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: ericknga7…

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Episode 43: Tribute to McCarthy, Part the First 1:38:37

2+ y ago1:38:37

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On June 13, 2023, we lost a literary giant. Cormac McCarthy, the greatest writer of our time (in this podcast's completely unbiased opinion) passed away in Santa Fe, New Mexico, his home these past couple of decades. E-mails and queries started pouring in, mostly asking, "are you going to do a special tribute podcast? And the answer to that, is yes…

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Episode 42: Fly them, Cormac. 16 Responses to "What is your favorite McCarthy novel, and why?" 1:18:46

2+ y ago1:18:46

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Like the rest of the world I learned this past Tuesday, June 13th, that Cormac McCarthy had passed away at the age of 89. This episode had already been recorded, but I thought it would still serve as an initial and quick response to the need to offer a tribute: it's a compilation of the responses to the question What's your favorite McCarthy novel,…

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Episode 41: Over the Border Again with the Bros. Elmore: Part 2 on THE CROSSING 39:26

2+ y ago39:26

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Episode 41 is our second excursion over the border as the Brothers Elmore and I finish our conversation about THE CROSSING. Returning as the guests are twin scholars Jonathan and Rick Elmore. That's right, twins. Jonathan Elmore is Associate Professor of English at Savannah State University and the Managing Editor of Watchung Review.. He is the edi…

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Civil Disobedience - (Henry David Thoreau) 31:33

2+ y ago31:33

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Send us a text In this influential work, Thoreau explores the concept of civil disobedience as a means of protesting unjust laws. He argues that individuals have a moral responsibility to resist and disobey unjust laws to bring about social change. The essay, first published in 1849, had a significant impact on future movements advocating for civil…

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Episode 40: A rough ride into THE CROSSING with Jonathan and Rick Elmore PART I 1:05:24

2+ y ago1:05:24

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Episode 40 is a long ride through rough country as we dig into The CROSSING, McCarthy's masterful middle volume in the Border Trilogy. My guests today are twin scholars Jonathan and Rick Elmore. That's right, twins. Jonathan Elmore is Associate Professor of English at Savannah State University and the Managing Editor of Watchung Review.. He is the …

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Episode 39: Riding into the Evening Reddit in the West with Joe Parslow 1:14:12

2+ y ago1:14:12

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Cormac still types his novels on an Olivetti typewriter and your host can't figure out Facebook. So for Episode 39 we bring in some expert help in the form of a lively discussion with Redditor supreme Joe Parslow. He has moderated the Cormac McCarthy subreddit for over a decade and has seen it grow from its first post in April 2012 to its current p…

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Lysis – (Socrates Asks, What is Friendship?) 47:45

3y ago47:45

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Send us a text In this Plato dialogue - Socrates engages Lysis and Menexenus trying to explore the question of what friendship truly is. Support the show Thank you for listening. You can contact us @: [email protected] Erick Nganyange and Ron Cline

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Episode 38: Covering the UK Book Beat: George Berridge of the Times Literary Supplement 1:12:34

3y ago1:12:34

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Today's guest is George Berridge. George began academic life as a journalist but like Hank Williams saw the light and also began digging deeply into American Literature. He's now the American Literature editor of the Times Literary Supplement. He lives and works in London. His exceptional review of THE PASSENGER and STELLA MARIS was published in Oc…

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Charmides - (Socrates Asks, What is moderation?) 44:54

3y ago44:54

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Send us a text Socrates explores the meaning of temperance/self-control/moderation. Charmides is a dialogue of Plato, in which Socrates engages a young boy named Charmides in a conversation about the meaning of sophrosyne, a Greek word usually translated into English as temperance, moderation, self-control, or restraint. Support the show Thank you …

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Episode 37: Another Roundup of All the Pretty Horses, with Steven Frye and Stacey Peebles 1:37:35

3y ago1:37:35

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Frequent guests Steven Frye and Stacey Peebles join me for another roundup of All the Pretty Horses, the National Book Award winning novel which finally forced the literary world to sit up and take notice of McCarthy. We climb on and hold tight for this ride through this incredible novel. Stacey Peebles is Chair of the English program, Director of …

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Protagoras - (Socrates Asks, Can Virtue Be Taught?) 50:14

3y ago50:14

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Send us a text In the dialogue of Protagoras, Socrates and Protagoras are exploring the idea/question of virtue(highest morality) that can be taught. Protagoras the Sophist who has been running around Athens teaching virtue meet Socrates. Socrates is asking Protagoras if virtue can really be taught. Erick Nganyange and Professor Ron are looking at …

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Episode 36: McCarthy's Knoxville with Wes Morgan 57:07

3y ago57:07

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Like Cormac McCarthy, Wes Morgan was born in the North—Albany, New York rather than Rhode Island—but came south at the age of 4. Wes grew up in Atlanta and earned BS degrees in Physics and Applied Psychology at Georgia Tech. In 1962 Wes moved to Knoxville and began working on his doctorate in psychology. He went on to work as a staff psychologist a…

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Crito - (Do you have the duty to obey all the laws?) 40:52

3y ago40:52

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Send us a text In this dialogue/conversation, Crito tries unsuccessfully to persuade Socrates to escape from prison after he was sentenced to die, but Socrates insists on obeying the law, a wrong can never be justified, a citizen must uphold the law. One must not even do wrong when one is wronged. " One must "not just live, but live well." Support …

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Episode 35: Crossing the border on ALL THE PRETTY HORSES with Allen Josephs 1:00:43

3y ago1:00:43

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Episode 35 takes a first ride across the border with the novel that would elevate McCarthy's profile and career. All the Pretty Horses won McCarthy the National Book Award following its publication in 1992 and was McCarthy's first best-selling novel. Our guest for this episode is Dr. Allen Josephs. A Hemingway scholar as well as a Cormackian, Allen…

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Episode 34: Listening in on STELLA MARIS 27:03

3y ago27:03

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Some six weeks or so after the publication of McCarthy's first novel in 16 years, The Passenger, we have its slim companion volume, the little sister, if you will, Stella Maris. In this brief review, I again forego the normal conversation format to offer a quick first-take review of the newest McCarthy novel, one that many presume will be the last …

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The Apology - (Socrates Defends His Life) 1:00:03

3y ago1:00:03

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Send us a text Socrates was charged, tried, and convicted of crimes of impiety (introducing a different God than the God ancient Greece believed and worshiped) and corrupting the youth. Before Socrates' trial and execution in 399 BC too much was going on in Athens that most historians believe led to Athenians handing Socrates the death penalty. In …

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Episode 33: McCarthy and the Animal Kingdom, with Wallis Sanborn 1:14:00

3y ago1:14:00

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This episode is a thorough discussion of McCarthy's use of the animal kingdom in his works. My guest in this episode is Wallis Sanborn, Chair of the Department of English, Mass Communication, and Drama, and Graduate Program Head of the Master of Arts-Master of Fine Arts in Literature, Creative Writing, and Social Justice Program at Our Lady of the …

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Episode 32: Riding Along with THE PASSENGER 31:25

3y ago31:25

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After a sixteen year wait, we finally have a new novel by Cormac McCarthy grasped in our greedy little podcasting clutches. In this episode of the podcast, we break with form a bit. There's no guest discussion this episode; instead we offer a quick review of THE PASSENGER. Is it completely correct to call it McCarthy's "new novel" since we know he'…

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Episode 31: McCarthy and Irish Writers with Richard Russell 1:13:22

3y ago1:13:22

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This episode delves again into McCarthy's roots as we consider his intersections with Irish literature. The guest in this episode is Tennessean by birth and now fully Texified, Richard R. Russell is Professor of English and director of graduate programs at Baylor University. He earned an M Phil at the University of Glasgow and his MA and PhD from t…