2021

• Ep 2: Poem cures COVID! Matthew on weird ideas about what poetry can do and where it comes from.

• Ep 7: My love is like a red red grawlix: Matthew on maledictions.

• Ep 9: Thou Shalt Not Jazz June: Matthew on poems with morals. 

• Ep 11: Twitter v. Poetry: Matthew on the inspirational non-sequiter volta and science facts in poems.

• Ep 13: Against Hope: Matthew on poems that refuse consolation.

• Ep 15: How Not to Write About Poetry: Matthew on how people describe incoherance in poetry.

• Ep 17: A Poem-Shaped Void: Matthew on placebo poems. 

• Ep 26: Death’s Second Selfie: Matthew on Michael Robbins and the role of sound in poetry. 

• Ep 28: Unobjectionable Title Here: Matthew on great poems, favourite poems, and reviews.

• Ep 33: Pudding Day: Matthew on the health of the poetry world. 

2022

• Ep 43: Two Gloves I Have: Matthew on potential vs. poetry and some recent poetry world news.

• Ep 57: Selling Out! Matthew announces the Secret Show and takes on Ada Limon.

• BONUS: A History of Everything, Including Y’all: Matthew on Beowolf and writing about violence.

• Ep 66: Emotional Slapstick: Matthew on the failings of poetry editors.

• Ep 68: Something Stinkier: Matthew on different responses to difficulty.

2023

• Ep 89: Blood & Big Dicks: Matthew on an unpopular article about Eliot and the death of poetry by Matthew Walther.

• Ep 100: Poetry Is Not a Thing: Matthew on the question “why poetry?” 

• Ep 108: Getting It Wrong: Matthew on writing about other identities and inhabiting other voices. 

• Ep 111: The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Manifesto: Matthew on translation troubles.

• BONUS: The Bros of Yesteryear: Matthew on the poem “Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?”

• Ep 123: Come Back, Bill: Matthew on the poetry of Bill Coyle.

• Ep 125: The Reheater of Memories: Matthew on poetry reviews, erasure, and Ben Lerner. 

2024

• Ep 134: Omnibusted: Matthew on cringing at William Logan.

• Ep 135: The Most Embarrassing Episode: Matthew on a poem that might be about him and the publication of his book, Midlife.

• Ep 142: Burn After Weaving: Matthew on conversations about reading and empathy.

• Ep 144: 32 Poems, No. 42, Winter 2024: Matthew on this issue of 32 Poems.

• Ep 151: The Sand Trap: Matthew on a poem by Morri Creech.

• Ep 152: Back in Your Head: Matthew on allusivness in poetry.

• Ep 160: Part of the Problem: Matthew on a bad poem published in The Atlantic and the question of merit in publication.

2025

• Ep 181: Against Sticks-&-Stones-ism: Matthew on Curtis Yarvin and how we respond to criticism. 

• Ep 186: A QWERTYUIOP of the Mind: Matthew on translation, voice, and the question of authenticity.

2026

• Ep 264: Potatoes, Small and Smaller: Matthew on recent titting and tatting in the formal poetry world.

• Ep 268: That Other World: Matthew on Groom by Austin Segrest.

2021

• BONUS: Permission to Boo, ft. Alice Allan: Matthew & Alice on dealing with the scene.

• Ep 30: Letters to a Middle-Aged Poet, ft. Alice Allan: Matthew & Alice on a Shane McCrae article about John Ashbery.

• Ep 31: Poetry+, ft. Jonathan Farmer: Matthew & Jonathan on the way we talk about poetry. 

2022

• Ep 41: All Styles Welcome, ft. Austin Allen: Matthew & Austin on formal vs. free verse.

• Ep 45: My Amanda Gorman Thing, ft. Alexis Sears: Matthew & Alexis on the slam scene.

• Ep 46: Everything I Have to Say Is F***ing B******t, ft. Alice Allan: Matthew & Alice on bad poets and bad poems.

• Ep 47: Debasement Party, ft. Cameron Clark: Matthew & Cameron on Carol Ann Duffy vs. Geoffrey Hill.

• Ep 48: Crying Emoji, Fire Emoji, ft. Amit Majmudar: Matthew & Amit on play in poetry.

• Ep 51: On Being Asked to Write a Yoga Poem, ft. Alice Allan: Matthew & Alice on comforting poems for trying times.

• Ep 52: Singsongy Chimey Doggerel, ft. Joshua Mehigan: Matthew & Josh get nerdy about metre and many other things.

• Ep 54: NaGriftDocoMo, ft. Alice Allan: Matthew & Alice on an Ange Mlinko article about Adrienne Rich. 

• BONUS: Brian Hates Poetry Month: Matthew & Brian vs. Poetry Month.

• Ep 59: The Martinez Debarkle, ft. Cameron Clark: Matthew & Cameron on Toby Martinez de las Rivas.

• Ep 60: Too Many Manifestos: Matthew & Alice on poetry manifestos.

• Ep 62: The Pervy Irishman Blues: Matthew & Alice on five poems Matthew likes and three Alice likes.

• Ep 69: One F***ing Poem: Matthew & Cameron on a poem by Alvin Feinman.

• Ep 71: How to Get Banned from Poetry Free-for-All: Matthew & Cameron on poems Cameron likes.

• Ep 72: Let’s Get Difficult, Pt. 1: Matthew, Cameron & Alice on difficulty in poetry.

• Ep 73: Let’s Get Difficult, Pt. 2: Matthew, Cameron & Alice continue discussing difficulty in poetry.

• Ep 75: A Good But Stupid Place: Matthew & Cameron on a Garth Greenwell article about relevance, and identity in poetry.

• Ep 78: I’m Charlemagne, ft. Amit Majmudar: Matthew & Amit on Amit’s verse essay on repetition, and arrogance.

• Ep 79: French Fries & Urine Pt. 1, ft. Matt Wall: Matthew, Cameron & Matt on Matt’s claims about poetry. 

• Ep 87: Death of a Goldfish, ft. Jonathan Farmer: Matthew & Jonathan on The Best American Poetry 2022, criticism, and the value of political poetry.

2023

• Ep 90: Neo-Georgian Hellscape: Matthew & Cameron on today’s New Formalists.

• Ep 91: We’re Dying, Mate: Matthew & Alice on Horace.

• Ep 94: Ice-Nine Time, ft. Austin Allen: Matthew & Austin on reports of poetry’s death.  

• Ep 96: We Love You Get Up Pt. 1, ft. Brian Brodeur: Matthew & Brian on episode 90 and today’s New Formalism.

• Ep 104: Tough-Guy Night at the Poetry Bar: Matthew & Cameron on prosody, English vs. American scholarship, and line breaks.        

• Ep 106: A Winters Tale, Pt. 1, ft. Elijah Blumov: Matthew & Elijah on Ivor Winters, defining poetry, and how poets should be.

• Ep 109: Dog Wedding, ft. Alexis Sears: Matthew & Alexis on form, writing poems to flirt, obsessives, and frauds. 

• Ep 110: Both Sides Eventually, ft. Alexis Sears: Matthew & Alexis on Marylin Nelson’s essay “Owning the Masters”.

• Ep 128: First Thought Sexiest Thought: Matthew & Alice on Maggie Millner’s Couplets.

• Ep 133: We Shadows, Pt. 1: Matthew & Cameron on Emily Dickinson.

2024

• Ep 138: Midlife, ft. Michael Buckly-Smith (sp?): Alice interviews Matthew about his book Midlife.

• Ep 141: Placebo Workshop: Matthew on remembering good poems, followed by Matthew, Brian & Alice on problems with workshops.

• Ep 145: Listen, Eavesdroppers, ft. Jonathan Farmer: Matthew & Jonathan on Lucille Clifton.

• Ep 154: Cleveland Roundtable: Matthew, Elijah Blumov, Ryan Wilson, George David Clark & Brian Brodeur on editing and publishing (recorded in person). 

• Ep 159: For F***’s Sake Finally, ft. Versecraft: Matthew, Alice, Cameron & Elijah on Horace’s Ars Poetica.

• Ep 161: Handbook for the Recently Deceased Poet: Matthew & Cameron on responses to the death of poet Timothy Murphy.

• Ep 162: The Train There’s No Getting Off, ft. Derek Mong: Matthew & Derek on Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, and Marjorie Perloff’s hatred of the latter.

• Ep 167: Poetry Magazine, October 2024, Pt. 1: Matthew, Brian & Cameron on poems in this issue of Poetry. 

• Ep 175: What Voice Is, ft. Jonathan Farmer, Pt. 1: Matthew & Jonathan on the question of poetic voice.

2025

• Ep 179: Hill’s Last Lecture, ft. Versecraft, Pt. 1: Matthew, Cameron, Elijah Blumov & Alice on Geoffrey Hill’s last lecture as Oxford Profressor of Poetry.

• Ep 170: New Advances in Quitting Poetry, ft. Versecraft: Matthew, Cameron & Elijah Blumov on Laura Riding’s farewell to poetry.

• Ep 187: This Was Poetry, ft. Versecraft, Pt. 1: Matthew, Alice & Elijah Blumov on Elijah’s essay “The Iron Lyre”.

• Ep 190: One-Peacoat Poetics: Matthew & Cameron on editing poetry for Literary Matters.

• Ep 206: Feels Good While It’s Happening, ft. Matt Wall: Matthew & Matt on Matt’s new podcast, bad Beat poets, and being part of a scene.

• Ep 211: Literary Matters 18.1: Matthew & Cameron on this issue of Literary Matters.

• Ep 222: Poetry Voice Classic, ft. Jonathan Farmer: Matthew, Jonathan & Alice on two articles about Louise Gluck, and blurb copy.

• Ep 223: Dowsing Rods & Decoder Rings: Matthew & Cameron on a poem by Elisa Gonzalez, insecure verbosity, and The Odyssey.

2026

• Ep 231: Insidious Tendencies, ft. Steven Searcy: Matthew & Steve on Steve’s article about poems that reference other poems.

• Ep 232: Mr Bones, ft. Shane McCrae: Matthew & Shane on Shane’s editing of John Berryman’s uncollected Dream Songs.

• INTRODUCING Advice from an Unknown Poet: Crossover featuring an episode of a new podcast by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer.

• Ep 243: Literary Matters 18.2: Matthew & Cameron on this issue of Literary Matters.

• Ep 246: A Case for Didactic Poetry, ft. Daniel Cowper, Pt. 1: Matthew & Daniel on whether poetry should be didactic.

• Ep 267: Exceptions Have Been Made: Matthew & Alice on a John Forbes symposium and Matthew’s essay on Macbeth.

• Ep 268: LM 19.1: Matthew & Cameron on Literary Matters 19.1

The strangeness and silliness of a life in poetry.

• Ep 1: That Poetry Voice: Matthew on why poets sound like that.

• Ep 3: Poetry is the worst: Matthew on the toll poetry takes on your health.

• Ep 14: M*****f****r of the Arts: Matthew on why you should never pay to get an MFA.

• Ep 20: Shop like a Poet: Matthew on the reader’s experience and fashionable contemporary poets.   

• Ep 24: Musée des NSFW Arts: Matthew on poetry readings and museum placards. 

• Ep 50: Tiered Rejection Purgatory: Matthew on kinds of rejection and lies we tell ourselves.

• Ep 85: Dying Is Easy: Matthew, Brian & Cameron on the meaning of risk in art.

• Ep 112: LIVE NUDE POEM$, ft. Matt Wall: Matthew & Matt on what getting published actually means.

• Ep 148: Tell Me You’re Not Starting a Reading Series, ft. Ernie Hilbert: Matthew & Ernie on running a reading series.

• Ep 245: The Tuna Incident, ft. Nida Sophasarun: Matthew, Alice & Nida on a Rachel Jamison Webster essay about a literary mentorship gone wrong.

• Ep 248: The Montreal Fiasco, ft. Ernest Hilbert, Pt. 1: Ernest shares more horror stories from his time running poetry readings.

• Ep 252: Advice from an Unknown Poet Wrap Party, Pt. 1: Matthew, Alice & Jonathan Farmer on artistic community, who we write for, and how bad the poet’s actually life is.

Money, nepotism, scandals, intrigue, and bias. 

• Ep 5: Ars Foetica: Matthew on Foetry and the poetry book competition industrial complex.

• BONUS: Homer-Style, ft. Alice Allan: Matthew & Alice on representation in publishing.

• Ep 86: Rankine v. Hoagland Revisited: Matthew on a controversy about poetry and race.

• Ep 92: The Good Word, ft. Philip Metres: Matthew & Philip on political poetry.

• Ep 116: We All Have Dick Blood on Our Hands: Matthew on attitudes to publishing in The New Criteron.

• Ep 119: Hard Cases, ft. Emmalea Russo, Pt. 1: Matthew & Emmalea on her article “Purity-Policing Is Poison to Poetry”.

• Ep 136: Darker: Matthew on a story about the Deep Imagists and the question of boycotting The New Criteron.  

• Ep 140: Demography Bee: Matthew & Cameron on representation in publishing.

• Ep 163: How Racist Is Creative Writing?, ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson: Matthew, Joanna & Alexis on racism in creative writing and recent statistics on who wins poetry prizes.

• Ep 164: The Quiet Part: Matthew on responses to episode 163 and consensus-breaking. 

• Ep 169: Thunder & Rain: Matthew on Palestinian poetry. 

• Ep 195: The White Guy Publishing Vortex, ft. Ethan McGuire, Pt. 1: Matthew & Ethan on mostly-white-and-male poetry presses.

• Ep 196: It’s Always Today, ft. Philip Metres, Pt. 1: Matthew & Philip on Palestinian poetry, poetry awards, and politics.

• Ep 208: Password to the Ghost World, Pt. 1: Matthew & Cameron on Bronze Age Mindset by Bronze Age Pervert. 

• Ep 215: The Old Criterion: Matthew & Alice on the death of Meanjin and T.S. Eliot’s editorial approach.

• Ep 220: Big in Romania, ft. Versecraft: Alice & Elijah Blumov on success, ambition, and the creation of a poetry world persona. 

• Ep 221: ALSCW 2025: Matthew on his experience at the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers’s annual conference.

• Ep 228: Bad Poet Fight: Matthew on the Joseph Massey scandal.

• Ep 238: AWP 2026: Matthew on his experience at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs annual conference.

• Ep 253: A Little-Known, Much-Hated Poet: Matthew & Cameron on the poetry and politics of Stephen Scaer.

• Ep 8: Prodigal Dad, ft. Traci O’Dea

• Ep 10: Debunking Kafka, ft. Austin Allen

• Ep 16: Rhino Horn, Diamonds & Meth, ft. Shashi Bhat

• Ep 21: A Dirty Thing for Boys, ft. Steve Teare

• Ep 23: Rhymes Without Beats, ft. James Nguyen

• Ep 32: Poets Without Poems, ft. Sam Riviere 

• Ep 36: Hell Yeah, ft. JP Gritton

• Ep 38: Your Time Has Come, ft. Jeff Colosino

• Ep 40: Here's What I Wish You Would Read, ft. Mary Jo Salter

• Ep 42: A Range of Concerning Behaviors, ft. Kathleen Jones

• Ep 53: Beauty & Revenge, ft. Mark McGuinness

• Ep 58: Never-Never Land, ft. David Yezzi

• Ep 61: The One with Brad Listi

• Ep 63: Sex World vs. Money World, ft. Andrew Palmer

• Ep 80: The Marathon, ft. Skyzoo

• Ep 84: Ask Richard Pryor, ft. John Dilworth

• Ep 101: Lucky Ruins, ft. Stephen Marche

• Ep 103: Most Excellent Schmancy, ft. Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué

• Ep 113: Jiminy Rickets, ft. Shane McCrae, Pt. 1

• UNLOCKED: Shane McCrae Interview, Pt. 2

• UNLOCKED: Shane McCrae Interview, Pt. 3

• Ep 118: Obvious Boobies, ft. Ashley Anna McHugh, Pt. 1

• Ep 120: Picking Up the Phone, ft. Dr. Taylor Byas

• Ep 122: The Sore Thumb Crisis, ft. Ernie Hilbert, Pt. 1

• Ep 129: We Must Not Say So, ft. Andrew Wittstadt, Pt. 1

• Ep 150: Against Literary Citizenship, ft. Only Poems

• Ep 155: Furious Marginalia, ft. Christopher Childers, Pt. 1

• Ep 156: Greater Metropolitan Shaltador, ft. Victoria Moul

• Ep 158: Revision & the Individual Talent, ft. Katie Hartsock

• Ep 173: Swart Verse, ft. A. E. Stallings, Pt. 1

• Ep 183: The Icy Élysée, ft. Alan Shapiro, Pt.1

• Ep 185: Don’t Drown, ft. Naomi Kanakia, Pt. 1

• Ep 191: Closing Time at the Horse & Groom, ft. Tristram Fane Saunders, Pt. 1

• Ep 199: Only Bad Poems, ft. moonandmouth

• Ep 201: I Am My Shelf of Books, ft. Brad Leithauser, Pt. 1

• Ep 203: Gateway Drugs, ft. Mark Leidner, Pt. 1

• Ep 227: A Particularly Scottish Conversation, ft. Niall Campbell

• Ep 234: Midlife Show-and-Tell, ft. Katie Dozier

• Ep 235: Romanticon Now, ft. Paul Franz & Elijah Perseus Blumov, Pt. 1

• Ep 251: Maybe This Time, ft. Alan Shapiro

• Ep 254: What You Don’t Know You Know, ft. Timothy Green, Pt. 1

• Ep 260: Peace & Love, ft. Robert Charboneau, Pt. 1

• Ep 261: Second-Wave New Formalism, ft. Quincy Lehr, Pt. 1

Your hosts discuss poems submitted by listeners. More episodes on the Secret Show.

• Ep 194: Listener Crit #1

• Secret Show Ep 144: Listener Crit #2

• Ep 202: Listener Crit #3

• Ep 213: Listener Crit #5

• Ep 219: Listener Crit #7

• Ep 225: Listener Crit #8

• Ep 236: Listener Crit #9

• Ep 239: Listener Crit #10

• Ep 247: Listener Crit #11

• Ep 250: Listener Crit #12

• Ep 258: Listener Crit #13

• Ep 262: Listener Crit #14, ft. Helena Feder