Reading McCarthy
READING MCCARTHY is a podcast devoted to the consideration and discussion of the works of one of our greatest American writers, Cormac McCarthy. Each episode will call upon different well-known Cormackian readers and scholars to help us explore different works and various essential aspects of McCarthy’s writing. (Note these episodes try to offer accessible literary criticism and may contain spoilers from different McCarthy works.)
Episodes
53 episodes
Episode 53: Rambling Down THE ROAD with Bryan Vescio
This 54th 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 g...
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Season 4
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Episode 53
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1:12:20
Episode 52: McCarthy and Hemingway
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 52
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1:38:07
Episode 51: Teaching McCarthy Round Table
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 profe...
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Season 3
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Episode 51
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1:27:44
Episode 50: Barreling through No Country for Old Men with Rick Wallach
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 th...
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Season 3
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Episode 50
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1:10:02
Episode 49: a Filibuster Panel on the BORDER TRILOGY
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 49
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1:16:45
Episode 48: Tearing Down the Walls of THE STONEMASON with Nick Monk
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 Ho...
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Season 3
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Episode 48
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1:03:05
Episode 47: McCarthy and Disability with Brent Cline
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 Dani...
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Season 3
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Episode 47
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1:09:50
Episode 46: Crossing the CITIES OF THE PLAIN with Bryan Vescio
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 46
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1:05:58
Episode 45: Tribute to McCarthy Part 3
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 B...
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Season 3
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Episode 45
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1:33:02
Episode 44: Tribute to Cormac, part the second.
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 trib...
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Season 3
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Episode 44
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1:01:14
Episode 43: Tribute to McCarthy, Part the First
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 que...
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Season 3
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Episode 43
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1:37:51
Episode 42: Fly them, Cormac. 16 Responses to "What is your favorite McCarthy novel, and why?"
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 n...
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Season 3
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Episode 42
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1:17:59
Episode 41: Over the Border Again with the Bros. Elmore: Part 2 on THE CROSSING
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 Elmo...
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Season 3
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Episode 41
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38:40
Episode 40: A rough ride into THE CROSSING with Jonathan and Rick Elmore PART I
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. J...
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Season 3
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Episode 40
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1:04:38
Episode 39: Riding into the Evening Reddit in the West with Joe Parslow
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 t...
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Season 3
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Episode 39
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1:13:26
Episode 38: Covering the UK Book Beat: George Berridge of the Times Literary Supplement
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 ...
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Season 3
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Episode 38
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1:11:48
Episode 37: Another Roundup of All the Pretty Horses, with Steven Frye and Stacey Peebles
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 37
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1:36:49
Episode 36: McCarthy's Knoxville with Wes Morgan
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 36
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56:21
Episode 35: Crossing the border on ALL THE PRETTY HORSES with Allen Josephs
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 firs...
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Season 2
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Episode 35
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59:57
Episode 34: Listening in on STELLA MARIS
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 n...
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Season 2
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Episode 34
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26:17
Episode 33: McCarthy and the Animal Kingdom, with Wallis Sanborn
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 ...
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Season 2
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Episode 33
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1:13:14
Episode 32: Riding Along with THE PASSENGER
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 ...
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Season 2
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Episode 32
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30:39
Episode 31: McCarthy and Irish Writers with Richard Russell
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 gr...
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Season 2
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Episode 31
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1:12:36
Episode 30: Blood Meridian Round Table Part 2
The second part of our wonderful panel discussion of Cormac McCarthy’s masterful and shattering novel Blood Meridian. Our returning guests include: Steve Frye, who is professor and chair of English at California State...
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Season 2
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Episode 30
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44:12
Episode 29: BLOOD MERIDIAN panel, Part I
Three returning guests join us for this first part of our interesting and engaging discussion of Cormac McCarthy’s magnum opus Blood Meridian. Steve Frye is professor and chair of English at California State University, Bakersfield and Pr...
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Season 2
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Episode 29
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54:56