Island Idylls

Episodes

1. 37

   37 - This Mortal Coil - Island Idylls Is Back!

   "I'm of an age where I can say pretty much anything and not get arrested for it." Barry Menikoff. After five years away, Island Idylls returns with "This Mortal Coil," and for the first time Aaron Menikoff and Barry Menikoff are recording in the same room. Barry is 87. He grew up in Brownsville,...

   Nov 2, 2026

   1 hr 29 min
2. 36

   36 - The Gothic Lit of Flannery O’Connor

   A great conversation with Aaron and Barry Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Sep 17, 2021

   59 min
3. 35

   35 - Hemingway, Regret, and Death

   Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Aug 18, 2021

   1 hr 4 min
4. 34

   34 - “Look it Up!” - A Dive Into the Dictionary

   Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Jul 28, 2021

   55 min
5. 33

   33 - The Great Fitzgerald

   Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Jun 16, 2021

   52 min
6. 32

   32 - God & Meaning

   Nine Stories Catcher in the Rye Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   May 18, 2021

   56 min
7. 31

   31 - J. D. Salinger & Bananafish

   Nine Stories Catcher in the Rye Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Apr 28, 2021

   54 min
8. 30

   30 - Who is Irwin Shaw?

   Rich Man, Poor Man The Young Lions Short Stories: Five Decades IRWIN SHAW, EXTOLLED FOR SHORT STORIES, DIES by Herbert Mitgang, New York Times Obituary Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Apr 7, 2021

   1 hr
9. 29

   29 - What is Art?

   Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

   Feb 17, 2021

   1 hr 6 min
10. 28

    28 - Pale Horse, Pale Rider - Katherine Anne Porter

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jan 27, 2021

    1 hr 12 min
11. 27

    27 - Capote’s A Christmas Memory

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jan 6, 2021

    59 min
12. 26

    26 - Stevenson and the Short Story

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Dec 16, 2020

    51 min
13. 25

    25 - Introduction to the Short Story

    Episode 25 tackles the subject of the short story. What is it (yes, of course, it’s short)? But there’s more to it than that. In this episode Barry defines terms and gives us a crash course in some of the most important, twentieth-century, writers. In Episode 26 we’ll take a deep dive into…

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    Dec 2, 2020

    37 min
14. 24

    24 - Anna Karenina

    As Barry and Aaron think about season three, drop them a note at [email protected] and let them know what you think of Island Idylls. Meanwhile, listen and enjoy! 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Sep 16, 2020

    1 hr 6 min
15. 23

    23 - Leo Tolstoy: Art as Mission?

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Sep 3, 2020

    42 min
16. 22

    22 - Ellison, Baldwin, and Black Lives Matter

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Aug 12, 2020

    47 min
17. 21

    21 - Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jul 15, 2020

    50 min
18. 20

    20 - The Art of Writing II

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jul 1, 2020

    45 min
19. 19

    19 - Camus and the Meaning of Life

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jun 15, 2020

    43 min
20. 18

    18 - Character Matters

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected].

    May 11, 2020

    47 min
21. 17

    17 - Tender is the Night

    Do you have questions for us? Email us at [email protected].

    Apr 22, 2020

    46 min
22. 16

    16 - Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age

    Please, listen in and email us your comments: [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Apr 8, 2020

    42 min
23. 15

    15 - Anatomy of a Story

    Please, listen in and email us your comments: [email protected]

    Mar 25, 2020

    44 min
24. 14

    14 - Lawrence, Sons and Lovers

    Questions, comments, or ideas? Email [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Mar 11, 2020

    47 min
25. 13

    13 - D. H. Lawrence & Pornography

    Listen and enjoy. If you have any feedback or questions, email us at [email protected] 🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Feb 26, 2020

    48 min
26. 12

    12 - Great Black Writers

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jan 22, 2020

    48 min
27. 11

    11 - The Art of Writing

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Jan 8, 2020

    39 min
28. 10

    10 - Marriage in The Portrait

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Dec 11, 2019

    42 min
29. 9

    09 - Henry James, “The Master”

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Nov 28, 2019

    39 min
30. 8

    08 - The Art of Reading

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Nov 6, 2019

    40 min
31. 7

    07 - Thoreau’s Walden

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Oct 23, 2019

    35 min
32. 6

    06 - Stone Mother, Part Three

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Oct 9, 2019

    59 min
33. 5

    05 - Stone Mother, Part Two

    🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast production by FullCast

    Sep 25, 2019

    53 min
34. 4

    04 - Stone Mother, Part One

    Everybody has a story, but most people don’t write them down. Barry did! In his memoir, Stone Mother, Barry shares what he remembers about his early years. A family that escaped persecution in Poland. Growing up poor. Being alone. Being Jewish. Escaping New York. In this episode, Aaron asks his...

    Sep 11, 2019

    49 min
35. 3

    03 - Breaking Down the “System”

    Barry and Aaron dive into the deep end of the pool as they discuss Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, “System,” found in his famous Child’s Garden of Verses. What do most people think about religion? Is it a “system” that blesses the good and punishes the bad--as the poem suggests? Barry argues...

    Aug 30, 2019

    34 min
36. 2

    02 - Introducing Barry Menikoff

    As a newly minted PhD at the young age of 26, less than 25 years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Barry said goodbye to Madison, and found himself teaching Hawaiians just a few miles off Waikiki Beach. There are worse places to work! Today, Barry is known as a renowned Robert Louis Stevenson...

    Aug 15, 2019

    53 min
37. 1

    01 - Introducing Island Idylls

    You’ve found Island Idylls! In this inaugural episode, Barry and Aaron get to the bottom of the title. What island are they talking about (hint: Aloha) and what exactly is an “idyll”? They explain the origin of the podcast. Long story short, it begins with a father who spent his life as an…

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    Jul 31, 2019

    25 min