Episode 20: McCarthy and Irish Catholicism in the South with Bryan Giemza

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Episode 20 brings back guest Bryan Giemza in a discussion which begins as a consideration of McCarthy and Irish Catholicism in the American South and ends with a quick dip into one of McCarthy’s less revered works, The Counselor.  Dr. Bryan Giemza is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Literature in the Honors College at Texas Tech University.  In addition to his teaching and research he serves as public scholar for the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World. He is author or editor of six academic books on American literary and cultural history, ten book chapters, and more than thirty published articles and reviews. His books include the literary history Irish Catholic Writers and the Invention of the American South, and Images of Depression-Era Louisiana: The FSA Photographs of Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott (2017).  He is currently working on a book on STEM and McCarthy's world.

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  Included are (as Intro): “The World to Come”; “Running with Wolves (25.25) and “Toadvine” (49.12), and as the Outro: “Blues for Blevins.”  

The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.

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New! A book adaptation of many of the episodes focusing on McCarthy's Southern novels is forthcoming in October 2026.  Click the link for details on Reading Cormac McCarthy: Scholars Discuss the Southern Novels.

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...

As always, the views of the host and his guests do not constitute the views of the Cormac McCarthy society, or their employers or institutions, or their pets or favorite sporting teams.