SLEERICKETS

Matthew Buckley Smith
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Welcome to SLEERICKETS, a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.

  1. AWP 2026

    10 HR AGO

    AWP 2026

    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 here For 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: – 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’m reading this Saturday, March 14, at 6:00 p.m. at the Mettlesome Theater in Durham, NC – Brian’s appearance on The Gist – The Mysterious Case of Gothic Verse Narratives by Brian Brodeur – Pre-order Sixteen Games of Hide and Seek by Stephen Bass and Steve Teare! – Sofia Kavlin Castaneda of Unsent Letterbox – Rosanna Oh – Sonnet 130 – One Art by Elizabeth Bishop – Poetry by Joseph Harrison – Moira Egan – Joe Osterhaus – Robert Schreur – Sunil Iyengar – The Same City by Terrance Hayes – Maps by James Baker Hall – Michael Theune – Kim Noriega – Kim Addonizio – Poetry Says Ep 294. The American Ecstatic – Dan Kois – The Martin Chronicles – Lauren Wethers – Reclaiming Jane – Jordan Kisner – Thresholds – The Critic and Her Publics – Michele Moses 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 Metres Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    57 min
  2. If it doesn’t taste good, you can’t serve it

    3 MAR

    If it doesn’t taste good, you can’t serve it

    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 here For 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: – Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! – My chapbook The Soft Black Stars is out now! – Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)Queen of Chess (2026) Poetry Says Ep 296. Gena Rowlands Poetics Adam Curtis Night by Ellie Wiesel Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia Marie Kondo After Apple-Picking and Mending Wall by Robert Frost Malcolm Gladwell Tim Ferriss Julie Steiner Egg and Dart by Matthew Buckley Smith Deceptacon by Le Tigre The touch move rule The Queen’s Gambit (2020) Judit’s TED talk My Best Game Ever: Vishy Anand vs. Judit Polgar Judit Polgar tricks Magnus Carlsen in a game of blitz in the park Nigel Short vs. Judit Polgar Two Catholic sonnets by Julie Steiner On Noticing How Many Pro-Life Men Are Smokers by Julie Steiner Julie’s Sapphics thread on EratosphereSecret Show notes The Sparrow by Mary Roia Russell Dana Gioia Weldon Kees I Saw the TV Glow (2024) Supernatural Horror and Literature by H.P. Lovecraft Secret show notes Meanjin lives! Tropical Skiing by John Forbes Limiting Poetry’s Feedback Loop by Steven SearcyEp 231: Insidious Tendencies, ft. Steven Searcy A Caveat-Filled Case for Atheism The Via Negativa of R.S. Thomas on Versecraft Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files Issue #265 The Siberian unicorn A Holy Dread by R. A. Villanueva Bill Hicks: Pro Life 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 12m
  3. Listener Crit #9

    3 MAR

    Listener Crit #9

    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 here For 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: – Order Brian’s book The Optimists! It’s so good! – Let me know if you’d like a review copy of my forthcoming chapbook The Soft Black Stars: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com – Vanderpump Rules Season 12 The Great Pottery Throwdown Selling Sunset Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) Queen of Chess (2026) how i be revising by Brandon Taylor Sashay away Coming down in Ohio by Dave Smith Ep 234: Midlife Show-and-Tell, ft. Katie Dozier Contrapoints Tangent: Liminal Spaces Step wells Secret show notes Meanjin lives! Tropical Skiing by John Forbes Limiting Poetry’s Feedback Loop by Steven SearcyEp 231: Insidious Tendencies, ft. Steven Searcy A Caveat-Filled Case for Atheism The Via Negativa of R.S. Thomas on Versecraft Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files Issue #265 The Siberian unicorn A Holy Dread by R. A. Villanueva Bill Hicks: Pro Life 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 21m
  4. Romanticon Now, ft. Paul Franz & Elijah Perseus Blumov, Pt. 1

    21 FEB

    Romanticon Now, ft. Paul Franz & Elijah Perseus Blumov, Pt. 1

    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 here For 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! – Let me know if you’d like a review copy of my forthcoming chapbook The Soft Black Stars: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com – Bad Lieutenant (1992) – Will Diana – Romanticon – Literary Imagination – Serpent Club – Rathlin Island by Paul Franz 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 34m
  5. Midlife Show-and-Tell, ft. Katie Dozier

    15 FEB

    Midlife Show-and-Tell, ft. Katie Dozier

    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 here For 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! – Let me know if you’d like a review copy of my forthcoming chapbook The Soft Black Stars: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com – All That Glitter by Katie Dozier – The Poetry Space – Rattle – The Rattlecast – Good Bones by Maggie Smith – The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Colins – Limiting Poetry’s Feedback Loop by Steven Searcy – Ep 231: Insidious Tendencies, ft. Steven Searcy 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 12m
  6. In Fair Verona

    6 FEB

    In Fair Verona

    NB: Oops, I forgot about 2.5, which is the extremely brief wedding scene, which includes both R & J but which is also only barely a scene and which thus is very easy to forget. 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 here For 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! – Let me know if you’d like a review copy of my forthcoming chapbook The Soft Black Stars: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com – Romeo and Juliet – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Macbeth – Hamlet – Twelfth Night – & Juliet – Romeo and Juliet (1996) – Romeo and Juliet (1968) – Ep 224: Broadway Omnibus – Grendel by John Gardner – Micah Mattix – Noises Off by Michael Frayn – Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett – Endgame by Samuel Beckett – Fargo (1996) – Barton Fink (1991) 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 36m
  7. Mr Bones, ft. Shane McCrae

    31 JAN

    Mr Bones, ft. Shane McCrae

    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 here For 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! – Let me know if you’d like a review copy of my forthcoming chapbook The Soft Black Stars: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com – Only Sing by John Berryman, ed. Shane McCrae – New and Collected Hell by Shane McCrae – Dream Song 26 by John Berryman – Dream Song 14 by John Berryman – Dream Song 29 by John Berryman – Dream Song: For Louis MacNeice by John Berryman – A Most Marvelous Piece of Luck by Greg Williamson – Cynara by Ernest Dowson – Shadow of the Colossus – Fallout – Fallout (TV series) – Robert Frost’s original inaugural poem, Dedication – Democracy and Poetry by Robert Penn Warren – Fall of the Star High School Running Back by The Mountain Goats 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 16m
  8. Insidious Tendencies, ft. Steven Searcy

    25 JAN

    Insidious Tendencies, ft. Steven Searcy

    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 here For 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! – Let me know if you’d like a review copy of my forthcoming chapbook The Soft Black Stars: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com – A Crown for the Kings by Zina Gomez-Liss – The things you’ve said and done: Jeremy Wikeley’s review of Midlife – Limiting Poetry’s Feedback Loop by Steven Searcy – Below the Brightness by Steven Searcy – On Fear by Alice Allan – The Christian Poetry Comeback by Paul J. Pastor – Can Poetry Matter? by Dana Gioia – Poetry as Enchantment by Dana Gioia – When I consider how my light is spent by John Milton – On first looking into Chapman’s Homer by John Keats – Decorum by Stephen Dunn – Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll – The Little Review 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 – Tristram Fane Saunders Other Ratbag Poetry Pods: Poetry Says by Alice Allan I Hate Matt Wall by Matt Wall Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov Ratbag Poetics By David Jalal Motamed Alice: In Future Posts Brian: @BPlatzer Cameron: Minor Tiresias Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com Music by ETRNL Art by Daniel Alexander Smith

    1h 8m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Welcome to SLEERICKETS, a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Buckley Smith
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    263
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2021 Matthew Buckley Smith
  • Show Website
    SLEERICKETS

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