Reading McCarthy
READING MCCARTHY is a podcast devoted to the consideration and discussion of the works of one of our greatest American writers, Cormac McCarthy. Each episode will call upon different well-known Cormackian readers and scholars to help us explore different works and various essential aspects of McCarthy’s writing. (Note these episodes try to offer accessible literary criticism and may contain spoilers from different McCarthy works.)
Reading McCarthy
Episode 61: Part Two--Can the Panel redeem THE COUNSELOR?
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After a long break in which your intrepid host has contended with everything from eye surgery to accreditation, the second part of the panel discussion on The Counselor is finally here.
Returning for the second part of his first appearance on the podcast is Dr. Russell Hillier, whose consideration of the screenplay first sparked my interest in examining the text again. He is Professor of English at Providence College, Rhode Island. He is the author of two books, Milton’s Messiah (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Morality in Cormac McCarthy’s Fiction: Souls at Hazard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and he is coeditor of Combined Lights: Comparative Essays on the Writings of John Donne and George Herbert (University of Delaware Press, 2021). Additionally, he has published articles on many authors in many journals.
Returning as well is the excellent Dr. Dianne Luce. She is the author of Reading The World. Cormac McCarthy’s Tennessee Period, University of South Carolina Press, 2009, and Embracing Vocation: Cormac McCarthy's Writing Life, 1959-1974, U South Carolina Press 2023. She is currently working on a second volume of Cormac McCarthy's Writing Life, covering 1974-1985.
Bryan A. Giemza is Professor of Humanities and Literature at the Texas Tech University Honors College. His work bridges literature, climate communication, and public-facing humanities. He has published widely on McCarthy’s engagement with science, theology, and the American West. His forthcoming edited volume, Sowing the West Texas Wind, examines the causes and consequences of misinformation through regional case studies. His work has been supported by major humanities funders including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Fulbright Program. His book Science and Literature in Cormac McCarthy’s Expanding Worlds was published by Bloomsbury in 2023.
As always, listeners are warned: there be spoilers here. Film trailer excerpts from The Counselor, directed by Ridley Scott, distributed by 20th Century Fox, 2013.
Thanks as always to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.
The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society. Download and follow this podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re agreeable it’ll help us if you provide favorable reviews on these platforms. To contact the host, please reach out to readingmccarthy@gmail.com.
Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...
