A noble cat rests on a copy of W.G. Sebald's On the Natural History of Destruction.

We should just let him do the podcast.

91. On the Natural History of Destruction / Dhalgren. | The Spouter-Inn W.G. Sebald’s essay collection On the Natural History of Destruction and Samuel R. Delany’s novel Dhalgren.

In March, @sakbari.bsky.social read W.G. Sebald's reflections on the devastating air strikes of World War II, and @wordgarbler.bsky.social revisited the wounded autumnal city in Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren.

(Why I Am Not a Painter, by Frank O'Hara) I am not a painter, I am a poet. Why? I think I would rather be a painter, but I am not. Well, for instance, Mike Goldberg is starting a painting. I drop in. “Sit down and have a drink” he says. I drink; we drink. I look up. “You have SARDINES in it.” “Yes, it needed something there.” “Oh.” I go and the days go by and I drop in again. The painting is going on, and I go, and the days go by. I drop in. The painting is finished. “Where’s SARDINES?” All that’s left is just letters, “It was too much,” Mike says.

[the poem continues...] But me? One day I am thinking of a color: orange. I write a line about orange. Pretty soon it is a whole page of words, not lines. Then another page. There should be so much more, not of orange, of words, of how terrible orange is and life. Days go by. It is even in prose, I am a real poet. My poem is finished and I haven’t mentioned orange yet. It’s twelve poems, I call it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery I see Mike’s painting, called SARDINES.

Happy hundredth birthday to Frank O'Hara!

"Why I Am Not a Painter" is one of those poems I read when I was young and internalized in more ways than I realized.

Humble Comics Bundle: The Collected Peanuts by Fantagraphics Get all of Peanuts in one bundle from Fantagraphics! Every purchase at the price of your choice helps people in need find their Snoopy with Canine Companions!

We’ve had Peanuts on the shortlist of books to cover for years. This is such a fantastic deal!

Nope!

Tips for those who want to ask "Can I be on your podcast":

- ask like a human (not like a PR agent or an LLM)
- give some sign that you're at least a little familiar with the podcast (LLM summaries do not count)
- be at least 1/3 as charming as @premeemohamed.com (a high bar)

Heya--

For those of you who are fans of Emily Wilson's outstanding translations, she's got a book out this September about the difficulties and obstacles and pleasures of translation.

www.amazon.com/Crossing-Win...

Agreed! And here’s a bonus episode of @thespouterinn.bsky.social on Persepolis with Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, reflecting on the 1979 revolution: megaphonic.fm/spouter/26b

Two cats snoozing behind a copy of On Elizabeth Bishop.

Obligatory cat photo.

90. Peter Hujar’s Day / On Elizabeth Bishop. | The Spouter-Inn Linda Rosenkrantz’s Peter Hujar’s Day and Colm Tóibín’s On Elizabeth Bishop.

In our latest episode, we’re thinking about portraits. @wordgarbler.bsky.social reads Linda Rosenkrantz’s book Peter Hujar’s Day, and @sakbari.bsky.social reads Colm Tóibín’s reflections On Elizabeth Bishop.

Listen on your podcast app or at megaphonic.fm/spouter/90

Two cats curled up sleepily next to two copies of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.

Suzanne's cats are willing to read about Mandeville's travels, but I think they would rather go on the journey around the room.

89. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville / Voyage Around My Room. | The Spouter-Inn We look at some old travel literature, with The Travels of Sir John Mandeville and Xavier de Maistre’s Voyage Around My Room.

In our new episode, we read some travel literature! @sakbari.bsky.social revisits The Travels of John Mandeville, and @wordgarbler.bsky.social joins Xavier de Maistre on his Voyage Around My Room.

Listen on your podcast app — and let us know your favourite odd bit of travel writing!

Mariners, Renegades and Castaways Political theorist and cultural critic, novelist and cricket enthusiast, C. L. R. James (1901 - 1989) was a brilliant polymath who has been described by Edward Said as "a centrally important 20th-cent...

Yesterday was my late grandfather CLR James's birthday! I have two things to share, to honor his memory.

The first is a recommendation! To help you understand our current political moment, you should grab his book on Moby-Dick. It's a remarkable treatise on American xenophobic authoritarianism.

oh wow!! two of the coolest people in the literature game talking DAYSPRING and Milton’s best non PL poem! Can’t wait to listen!!!

88. The Gospel According to Mark / On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity. | The Spouter-Inn The Gospel According to Mark (and some recent queer retellings of Jesus’ life story), and John Milton’s poem On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.

We wrap up the year by looking at a few texts about Jesus. @wordgarbler.bsky.social explores the Gospel According to Mark (and Geoff Ryman's Him and @meakoopa.bsky.social's Dayspring), and @sakbari.bsky.social revisits John Milton's poem On the Morning of Christ's Nativity.

megaphonic.fm/spouter/88

Let’s start a Read A Play In December Challenge!

87. Waiting for Godot / Theory of Water. | The Spouter-Inn Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s new book Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead.

New! @wordgarbler.bsky.social revisits an old favourite with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and @sakbari.bsky.social is excited about Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s new book Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead.

Listen at megaphonic.fm/spouter/87 or on your podcast app.

86b. Bonus: John Nicholas on Cry of the Ancients. | The Spouter-Inn Suzanne talks with John Nicholas, whose parents Grey Owl and Little Pigeon wrote Cry of the Ancients (1974).

Our bonus episodes are back! This time @sakbari.bsky.social spoke with John Nicholas (Munsee-Delaware Nation), whose parents Grey Owl and Little Pigeon wrote Cry of the Ancients back in 1974.

Listen at megaphonic.fm/spouter/86b or on your podcast app.

Maggie Helwig Podcast Episode · What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books · 11/17/2025 · 26m

"I'm afraid the award has really been completely overshadowed. The eviction of the encampment was such a trauma." - Maggie Helwig on winning the City of Toronto Book Award less than 24 hours before the city cleared the encampment she writes about in the book.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

Two cats lounge around a copy of Pride and Prejudice. One is cleaning himself.

Now that's what I call comfort reading.

86. Pride and Prejudice / Northanger Abbey. | The Spouter-Inn For Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, we’re rereading Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey.

With her 250th birthday just around the corner, we revisit two of Jane Austen's novels: Pride and Prejudice (at last!) and Northanger Abbey.

Yes, we also talk about Colin Firth. It's a fun episode!

Listen at the link below or on your podcast app.

85. Wuthering Heights / Home Cooking. | The Spouter-Inn Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights and Laurie Colwin’s essay collection Home Cooking.

New! @wordgarbler.bsky.social finally reads Wuthering Heights, and @sakbari.bsky.social revisits Laurie Colwin's essay collection Home Cooking. And we admit to a few canonical books that we didn't get on with.

Listen on your podcast app or at megaphonic.fm/spouter/85

💜 🐳 💜

Finally catching up on this episode, I LOVED hearing Chris and Suzanne on Gatsby and its EXTRAORDINARY STRUCTURE..

A copy of The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, with a languid dog on a couch behind it.

"Complacencies of the pupper..."

84. The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens / Finnegans Wake. | The Spouter-Inn The poetry of Wallace Stevens and James Joyce’s experimental novel Finnegans Wake.

It's a big special birthday episode over at The Spouter-Inn, and we're reading some old favourites. @sakbari.bsky.social revisits the poetry of Wallace Stevens, and @wordgarbler.bsky.social goes back to James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

Listen at megaphonic.fm/spouter/84 or on your podcast app.

Chris has been working on a little something…

54. The Rings of Saturn. | The Spouter-Inn W.G. Sebald's curious book The Rings of Saturn.

Many months after having my curiosity piqued by @thespouterinn.bsky.social 's ep on Rings of Saturn by Sebald, I finally read it and found it one of the most moving books I've ever read, despite not quite ... knowing what it's about? Well. Time to rellisten to the episode... megaphonic.fm/spouter/54

The covers of The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens and James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Next month on The Spouter-Inn!

Is it more fun if we give a hint about our upcoming episode?

I may have just gotten to the end of the book I’m bringing to the table (spoiler: “the”) and I may be very excited to try to talk about it.

(Of course I’m also excited to hear @sakbari.bsky.social talk about one of her favourite poets!)