Smarty Pants
Hosted by Stephanie Bastek · The American Scholar
4.6from 144 ratings
- 354
- Episodes
- 59
- Transcribed
- 144
- Ratings
- Bi-weekly
- Cadence
- 2016
- First episode
About Smarty Pants
Tune in every other week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. A podcast from The American Scholar magazine. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
- Publisher
- The American Scholar
- Category
- society & culture
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 9 Jun 2016
- Latest episode
- 16 Oct 2026
Latest episodes
59 of 354 episodes have a transcript.
16 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
For Peat’s Sake
2 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
Dawn of the Brain-Dead
18 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Extreme Path
Inside a recent episode
For Peat’s Sake
Published 16 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And so for places that can be so disregarded today and kind of modern society, it's just really interesting to think about how they actually have been shaping our worldview this whole time, kind of ticking under the radar. Think about our language. Don't get bogged down. Don't get mired. Don't get stuck. These are all evidence that bogs have been shaping our language, our culture, the way we think, whether we like it or not. So bogs are any kind of wetland, and I refer to boglands kind of writ large. I use this term a little bit broadly to refer to any kind of peatland ecosystem. And these are wetlands that have just accumulated these thick layers of spongy peat, which is just dead plant debris that accumulates in the ground over time. […]
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See plansWho has been a guest on Smarty Pants
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
- Merritt Turetsky
- Carl Elliott
- Andrew Rankin
- Susan Stryker
- Christopher Kondrich
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 4.5 / 5
- 124 ratings
- Spotify
- 5.0 / 5
- 20 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 79
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 0
- Engagement
- 66
Contact Smarty Pants
- Guest appearances
- Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
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Questions about Smarty Pants
Who hosts Smarty Pants?
Stephanie Bastek host the show. Published by The American Scholar.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes bi-weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Smarty Pants take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
Where can I read transcripts?
59 of 354 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.
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