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.
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 an article by Shane McCrae 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 Ep 90: Neo-Georgian Hellscape 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 on 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, Elijah Blumov & Alice 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 what it means to be 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: A crossover episode 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.
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 annual Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference.
- Ep 253: A Little-Known, Much-Hated Poet: Matthew & Cameron on the poetry and politics of Stephen Scaer.