As a new fan and highly enthusiastic reader of Cormac, this is everything I could want in a show. Excellent guests, brilliant insights, great host. A podcast of which a scholarly genius like CM could be proud. Ride on, pardners!

Great podcast! He has wonderful guests on each ep and Scott is no slouch himself. This has deepened my appreciation and fondness for McCarthy a lot. A true gem.

Dr. Yarbrough’s work and guests are really great. I always learn something and gather new insights with each episode. No kidding: this is my favorite podcast, and I’m always excited when a new episode is released. A++ —MPM, Alabama

This is crack for McCarthy fans.

Scott Yarbrough, the God

I love this podcast. And that is all.

An excellent and varied exploration of the great man’s work. It’s a huge undertaking and it’s handled very well here. Hopefully there is a more holistic and engaged exploration of The Passenger forthcoming—it took me several reads to understand it as McCarthy’s profound final statement. Thank you.

The podcast is well produced and has a good host but could be better. For starters, listeners had better have read all of McCarthy's works before listening to individual episodes, because even if a particular episode focuses on one work, the host and his guests frequently reveal spoilers about other works. So, for example, an episode about All the Pretty Horses, the first novel in McCarthy's Border Trilogy, will contain spoilers about the other two books in the trilogy, The Crossing and Cities of the Plain. This is frustrating for someone who comes to the podcast after having read one or two of McCarthy's works. Moreover, depending on the guest(s), discussions sometimes become narrowly academic and pedantic, thus missing the forest for the trees. (In my opinion the best guest has been Steven Frye, who has written several books on McCarthy and is able to discuss McCarthy's work in interesting and insightful ways without using jargon and going off on tangents that appeal only to specialists.) The podcast would better serve listeners if the host and his guests would limit discussions in episodes about individual McCarthy works to those works. It would also be nice to have episodes in which the host and/or his guests respond to listeners' questions about McCarthy and his works.

The host is excellent, low-key, knowledgeable and friendly. The guests are Cormacian scholars, professors and writers. All tops in the field. I wish the episodes were longer, but this podcast is probably a work of love and admiration, so we are lucky it exists.

Impressive lineup of guests and great discussion on Cormac’s books.

I have recently discovered this podcast and really love it. The host is excellent— he is gracious, knowledgeable, thoughtful, humble, and a great interviewer. I have found all of the topics and guests really wonderful. I am learning so much from this podcast about a writer whose corpus I have come to respect and enjoy so much. Thank you, Prof. Yarbrough— keep up the great work!

This is one of my favorite podcasts, particularly for the depth of its engagement. My one small caveat is that most of the guests appear encased in the period in which they first read McCarthy (largely early 1990s). It renders them either incapable or intractable on seeing merit in McCarthy’s later work, including the Counselor and the final two novels. There is almost an air of indignation that McCarthy didn’t continue to write works that spoke only to how these scholars understood McCarthy 30+ years ago.

Five stars- I teach (Spanish) literature and just started reading McCarthy with The Passenger and Stella Maris. I went back to the beginning and have been reading all his novels, and this podcast is the perfect accompaniment. It is accessible, but also great for deep dives into the depths of McCarthy, getting a sense of the scholarly landscape present and past. Some great takeaways—Books are made out of books. Kudos to the host, the guests and the CMcC society!!

Only the best scholars of McCarthy. Superbly led discussions. This is the one!

This is a fantastic show if you love the work of Cormac McCarthy. A serious exploration of his work with wonderful guests.

First off, wanted to say thanks, Scott. The content is consistently great and I’ve enjoyed listening for years. Although I’m a little shocked at your (and other McCarthy folk’s) lukewarm feelings on the Passenger from the most recent episode. To me it has so much ideological, thematic, emotional depth and some stunning sections of prose - it far surpassed my expectations. When you said off the bat that it was a lesser work, I couldn’t believe it. To me, this book is really only comparable to “Suttree” and “Blood Meridian” in terms of the shear force of idea being presented. Maybe I’ll understand your criticisms a bit better once you and guests dive in a bit more.

It is dancing. It says it will never die. In all seriousness, I really enjoy this pod and the insightful commentary on one of my favorite writers. Can’t wait to hear the analysis of the new books. Started reading McCarthy in 2008, so this will be my first time experiencing the excitement of a new release from him.

These convos, thanks to Scott’s hosting, work at multiple depths on multiple fronts, so they’re well worth listening to whether you’re an old hand with McCarthy or just starting to find your way into his works, a scholar, a critic, or a fan.

Such a well put together podcast with the best scholars and experts on McCarthy and his work. You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve wanted something like this for McCarthy’s works forever, but I never thought someone would make. Scott Yarborough does a fantastic job bringing scholarly insight to McCarthy’s works while still making it accessible to the average reader. I can’t wait to see where this podcast goes.

READING McCARTHY is a long overdue series of podcasts devoted to the genius of Cormac McCarthy, who has been lucky in having Dr. Scott Yarbrough to host them. Each podcast is lively, well-informed, wide-ranging, and free of intimidating academic jargon. For listeners who are new to McCarthy, and for those who know his work well, this is booktalk at its most enjoyable.

Dr. Yarbrough’s podcast is more than a celebration of McCarthy’s work. His guests’ points of view open up McCarthy’s work in fascinating ways.

This podcast offers interesting glimpses into the landscape of Cormac McCarthy. Great guests, incisive questions, and takes just the right amount of time in discussing rich topics. I highly recommend this show for anyone who has read a handful of McCarthy’s books.

Really enjoying the podcast. Aside from the entertaining and thought-provoking content it has also given me new names to follow up on for further reading.

First two episodes are great. So excited to hear more. Been looking for a knowledgeable podcast series about McCarthy!

I’ve been waiting for a McCarthy focused podcast for years now. So glad it’s finally arrived. The inaugural episode is a great intro. Looking forward to more in depth analysis of the literature.