(The SLEERICKETS logo, a skeleton smoking a cigarette)
NB: My hypothetical about being born in California in 1960 sounds like it’s specifically referring to Ted Kooser’s birth, but I meant it more generally. Also, I probably should have said 1950.
SLEERICKETS is a podcast about poetry and other intractable problems.
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Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:
– Check out Alice’s SLEERICKETS Episode map!
– Pre-order the new book of short stories by my wife, Joanna Pearson!
– Buy 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!
– Watch the Think Symposium talks and readings here! (Here’s a link to mine, which stars at 52:14)
– Elijah’s book Against Oblivion is out now!
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
9 October by Anne Carson
The Poetry Space: Does a Poem Need Something to Say? with Matthew Buckley Smith (Part 1) | Ep. 158
Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian
ALSCW conference 2026
Secret Show notes
The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard
Bitters by Chris Childers
The Score by Oliver Cotton
You Can See Everything (2026)
Legend (1985)
Matthew's conversation with Elijah about poetry podcasting
Versecraft by Elijah Perseus Blumov
Advice from an Unknown Poet by Alice Allan & Jonathan Farmer
Alice: Poetry Says
Brian: brianplatzer [at] gmail [dot] com
Cameron: Minor Tiresias
Matthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] com
Music by ETRNL
Art by Daniel Alexander Smith