John McCoy
@tracemcjoy.bsky.social
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📥 59
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Host of Sophomore Lit podcast, museum professional, husband, father, dog owner.
Another resolution for 2026 is to publish my podcast episodes on a 2-week schedule. To that end, I am once again asking you for topic suggestions or for guest host volunteers! I am still looking for a native Japanese reader for an episode about BashĹŤ's haiku.
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/
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Sophomore Lit
John McCoy and a guest host read books you might have been assigned in high school, or college, or other stuff you might have read when you were a kid. The theming is loose!
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/
about 14 hours ago
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One of my resolutions this year is to up my blogging game. I Am going to try to post on Pathetic Fallacy twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays. So if you're not subscribed, or if you know someone who might like to read what goes on in my strange head, now's the time!
johnmccoy.org/2025/12/30/a...
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Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Feliz Navidad
Traveling with a large, active dog means forgoing air travel, and instead committing to road tripping, however long it might take. This year, as with the previous two Christmases, my wife, our dog,…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/12/30/although-its-been-said-many-times-many-ways-feliz-navidad/
about 14 hours ago
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Marina and I discuss this charmingly sly Christmas story by Mário de Andrade
#turkeys
#brazil
#happyholidays
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Christmas Special: "A Christmas Turkey" (Sophomore Lit 183)
What, the one as big as me? Marina McCoy makes her holiday return to discuss Mário de Andrade’s sweet-and-salty “A Christmas Turkey” (1956).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/183/
6 days ago
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I saw three ships come sailing in, On Christmas Day in the morning. They all sailed into Bethlehem, On Christmas Day in the morning. And this was very strange because, Bethlehem is a landlocked city high in the mountains (On Christmas Day in the morning).
10 days ago
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What better way to celebrate the season than by over-analyzing the most forgettable Rankin-Bass special!
johnmccoy.org/2016/12/20/a...
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A Rankin-Bass Retrospective 3: The Cricket on the Hearth
Previously: Long, long ago, in the pre-Web age of Usenet (i.e. the early 90s), I began a series of silly newsposts about Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, with the intention of making my way through …
https://johnmccoy.org/2016/12/20/a-rankin-bass-retrospective-3-the-cricket-on-the-hearth/
13 days ago
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someone needs to tell grandpa here that no one wants to hear his Tales of the Glories of Christmases Long, Long Ago
17 days ago
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reposted by
John McCoy
General Witchfinders - The British Horror Podcast (and Zine)
21 days ago
Check out one of your General Witchfinders hosts discuss a spooky book he read at school over on Sophomore Lit
add a skeleton here at some point
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Ross Cleaver of
@generalwitch.bsky.social
returns to Sophomore Lit to discuss another book of his UK youth, The Watch House by Robert Westall.
#sophomorelit
#watchhouses
#g-g-g-ghosts
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Watch House (Sophomore Lit 182)
Who watches the Watch House? Not us, the book is better. Ross Cleaver returns to discuss Robert Westall’s The Watch House (1977).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/182/
21 days ago
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Time for another Thanksgiving episode of
#sophomorelit
featuring my bros
@rmccoy.bsky.social
and
@dankmccoy.bsky.social
! This time we grouse about protest songs of yore.
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Thanksgiving Special: Protest Songs (Sophomore Lit 181)
The answer, my friend…is not a lyric in the any of the songs the McCoy Brothers discuss. For this annual drunk Thanksgiving Special, Rob, Dan, and John talk about Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, One...
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/181/
about 1 month ago
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A heartbreaking story of shame and glory. Also, subscribe to my blog (please).
johnmccoy.org/2025/11/20/r...
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Roque & roll
In the summer of 1981 my family took a cross-country trip from our tiny college town of Eureka, Illinois to spend the summer Claremont, California, where we would live in a loaner house that was pa…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/11/20/roque-roll/
about 1 month ago
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In this episode,
@djl.bsky.social
and I discuss Stoppard, existentialism, and the joys of black box theater
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Sophomore Lit 180)
Podcasts could happen to anyone. David Loehr discusses exits and entrances in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (first performed 1966, published 1967).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/180/
about 2 months ago
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More obsessive typography talk on my blog:
johnmccoy.org/2025/11/11/a...
But if that’s not your jam, check out my other posts about comics, literature, politics, dogs, autism, and nutty anecdotes! Subscribe and get all this free by Email.
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American Gothic, et al.
Content warning: this post contains nothing but digressions. Typography is a mess. Or at least, its argot is a mess. In an earlier post I discussed the various meanings of the word font. An even mo…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/11/11/american-gothic-et-al/
about 2 months ago
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An ancient Greek fable with absolutely no relevance to the present day:
johnmccoy.org/2025/11/06/t...
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The Radical Left City Mouse & the Very Good Country Mouse
A City Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch the Country Mouse took his elite East Coast cousin to the local Cracker Barrel for Country Fried Steak with a side of Onion …
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/11/06/the-radical-left-city-mouse-the-very-good-country-mouse/
about 2 months ago
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In which I add yet another drop in the ocean of online autism discourse! {If that's not your thing, check out other posts on my bog. Some are even funny!)
johnmccoy.org/2025/10/30/y...
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Yeah, it’s called a disability
I got my autism diagnosis at a weird time: about a month and a half before the Global Pandemic. One day I was learning why I isolate myself, the next day the whole world was isolating right along w…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/10/30/yeah-its-called-a-disability/
2 months ago
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Pick up some more unicorns on the way home, we’re down to our last.
@kathycampbell.com
discusses butterflies and bulls.
#sophomorelit
#unicorns
#entropy
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Last Unicorn (Sophomore Lit 179)
Don’t it allways seem to go, you don’t know what unicorns you got til they’re gone. Kathy Campbell discusses Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 The Last Unicorn.
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/179/
3 months ago
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I was honored to have the opportunity of curating an exhibition of the photographs of Martin Karplus, currently on view at the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, until December 7. This link is to a lecture I gave last night as an introduction to the exhibition:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JRI...
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Introduction to "Martin Karplus: Moments & Monuments" by Curator John McCoy (Oct 1, 2025)
YouTube video by mcmullen museum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JRIA2JKw-k
3 months ago
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Get to know me through a series of anecdotes, an alarming number of which involving serious injury:
johnmccoy.org/2025/09/28/j...
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Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale
When, as a kid, I learned the word raconteur, I thought that the role wasn’t simply a matter of one being good with stories; I thought it was a career one could have, and even be paid for. I&…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/09/28/just-sit-right-back-and-youll-hear-a-tale/
3 months ago
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@siracusa.social
returns to Sophomore Lit to answer once and for all, are the robots from R.U.R, the play that originated the word "robots," robots...or not?
#r.u.r
#sophomorelit
#endoftheworldasweknowit
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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R.U.R. (Sophomore Lit 178)
BEEP boop what is… love? Well, we don’t figure this out, but John Siracusa does return to Sophomore Lit to discuss Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (1920), the origin of the word “robot.”
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/178/
3 months ago
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Wow, there sure is a lot of autism discourse on the net these days. So anyway, here's more of mine:
#autism
#doggos
#patheticfallacy
johnmccoy.org/2025/09/23/o...
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Out of touch
Getting a psychiatric diagnosis affects everyone differently. For many, it’s a catharsis, a key to self-discovery and self-acceptance. For others, it can be a troubling albatross, a confirmat…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/09/23/out-of-touch/
3 months ago
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reposted by
John McCoy
Glenn Fleishman
4 months ago
In prepation for the upcoming Frankstein movie, you can listen to
@tracemcjoy.bsky.social
& I discuss Leslie Klinger’s remarkable New Annotated Frankenstein, which lets you read *THREE* revisions of the book at once!
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Frankenstein (Sophomore Lit 62)
Glenn Fleishman returns to the show to discuss today’s modern Prometheuses. It’s the long-awaited episode on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818-31).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/62/
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My brother
@dankmccoy.bsky.social
pointed out that there was an audio problem with the most recent episode of Sophomore Lit. I fixed it! So if that was keeping you from listening, now you have no excuse.
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Pushcart War (Sophomore Lit 177)
Brush up on the Large Object Theory of History. Shaenon K. Garrity returns to discuss Jean Merrill’s The Pushcart War (1964).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/177/
4 months ago
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reposted by
John McCoy
Shaenon K. Garrity
4 months ago
I never get tired of talking about how every book I read as a kid turned me into a radical leftist.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Pushcarts of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but a bunch of trucks.
@shaenon.bsky.social
discusses Jean Merrill's The Pushcart War (1964)
#pushcarts
#sophomorelit
#generalannalives
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Pushcart War (Sophomore Lit 177)
Brush up on the Large Object Theory of History. Shaenon K. Garrity returns to discuss Jean Merrill’s The Pushcart War (1964).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/177/
4 months ago
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New on Pathetic Fallacy: I jump aboard the Cracker Barrel bandwagon. Is the world ready for yet another hot take?
#logos
#crackers
#badideas
johnmccoy.org/2025/08/25/l...
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Less Fun than a Barrel of Crackers
Header image: S.O. Grimes general store, Westminster, Md., c. 1900. Image via Library of Congress. Another day, another shot fired in the culture wars: this time, the internet is loosing its collec…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/08/25/less-fun-than-a-barrel-of-crackers/
4 months ago
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Happy to announce the first-ever piece of Sophomore Lit merch! A great present for a listener, or for a non-listener you want to confuse!
cottonbureau.com/p/EZQ23R/shi...
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Sophomore Lit by The Incomparable
For fans of the Sophomore Lit podcast on The Incomparable, it's a Mockingbird wearing Holden Caulfield's hat studiously reading a book. She's got a four-page essay due on Tuesday.
https://cottonbureau.com/p/EZQ23R/shirt/sophomore-lit#/29362793/tee-men-premium-heavyweight-bay-100percent-cotton-s
5 months ago
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If you enjoy comic essays in which the 57-year-old author roasts his six-year-old former self, I got you covered:
johnmccoy.org/2025/08/04/t...
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The Early Writings of John McCoy (2nd edition)
A Facsimile Edition; with commentary by the author The author in 1974. I published the first edition of this commentary in 1997, having just learned how to code HTML from a disreputable Usenet post…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/08/04/the-early-writings-of-john-mccoy-2nd-edition/
5 months ago
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If you're not already reading my blog/newsletter Pathetic Fallacy, what better post to start with than this exploration of Boston's best graves? (As voted on by me.)
johnmccoy.org/2025/07/27/m...
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Meet me at the cemetery gates
Boston is a great place for cemeteries. If you visit our fair city as a tourist and walk the Freedom Trail, which is the red-brick line that connects downtown Boston’s and Charlestown’s…
https://johnmccoy.org/2025/07/27/meet-me-at-the-cemetery-gates/?preview_id=535&preview_nonce=b96456da1a&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=621
5 months ago
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Make no mistake, we will call you back to the lake. Or pond, whatever.
@dancredentials.bsky.social
discusses Walden.
#thoreau
#sophomorelit
#quietdesperation
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Walden, or Life in the Woods (Sophomore Lit 176)
If you’re suffering from Quiet Desparation, why not listen to the not-so-quiet voices of Dan Daughhetee and me discussing Henrey David Thoreau’s Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854)?
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/176/
6 months ago
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I invite all listeners to Sophomore Lit—and anyone else, really—to check out the new iteration of my blog, Pathetic Fallacy. In addition to literature, I discuss design, pop culture, ASD, and lots more! You can subscribe to the blog as a newsletter and get new posts via email.
johnmccoy.org
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Pathetic Fallacy
Another Blog You're Not Reading.
https://johnmccoy.org
6 months ago
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reposted by
John McCoy
Jason Snell
8 months ago
Just posted, only for The Incomparable members - I talk with
@tracemcjoy.bsky.social
about Stephen King's first novel "Carrie,” which I had never read. Turns out... Sue Snell is in it?
www.theincomparable.com/members/firs...
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First Class - The Incomparable
Exclusive bonus content, only for Incomparable members.
https://www.theincomparable.com/members/firstclass/
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Fun fact: this book never actually says what a chrysalid is.
#JohnWyndham
#SophomoreLit
#TheWorldEndsAgain
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Chrysalids (Sophomore Lit 174)
Podcasts are the original voices in your head. David Dredrick discusses John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids (1955).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/174/
8 months ago
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reposted by
John McCoy
Glenn Fleishman
10 months ago
I talked about the surprisingly relevant 1950s play The Visit by Friedrich DĂĽrrenmatt with
@tracemcjoy.bsky.social
on Sophomore Lit.
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
Call it “the ones who decided Omelas was an okay place to live if it paid well enough.”
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The Visit (Sophomore Lit 173)
Make money fast with this one weird trick. Glenn Fleishman discusses Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit (1956).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/173/
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If life is getting you down right now, maybe spend about a half an hour discussing someone else's problems.
@lschmeiser.bsky.social
discusses T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
#sophomorelit
#disturbingtheuniverse
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (Sophomore Lit 172)
And indeed there will be time to discuss this, the most mid-life white-guy crisis poem of all. Lisa Schmeiser discusses T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/172/
10 months ago
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In the latest episode of Sophomore Lit I discuss Frank O'Connor, first confessions, and heather-based whisky with guest host Kieran Healy (
@kjhealy.co
)
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Frank O'Connor Stories (Sophomore Lit 171)
I’ve heard it said by men of wide experience that podcasts used to be better in the old days. Kieran Healy discusses three short stories by Frank O’Connor: “First Confession,” “The Majesty of the Law,...
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/171/
11 months ago
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I'll tell you how the sun rose... is not discussed in this episode.
#sophomorelit
#dickinson
#emopoetsunite
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Emily Dickinson Poems (Sophomore Lit 170)
Forever is composed of podcasts. Caroline Fulford discusses selected poems by Emily Dickinson (c. 1860-65).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/170/
12 months ago
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Not a movie tie-in!
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Sophomore Lit 169)
Cigars are always trouble. Marina McCoy discusses Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/169/
about 1 year ago
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Phil Gonzales (
@pcgonzo.bsky.social
) visits
#sophomorelit
to discuss this very strange play that is also an American classic?
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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The Time of Your Life (Sophomore Lit 168)
Sometimes you want to go where everybody is a thread in the fabric of the human condition. Also they know your name. Phil Gonzales discusses William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life (1939).
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/168/
about 1 year ago
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This year’s traditional family episode, featuring Dan (
@dankmccoy.bsky.social
?and Rob, this time discussing comfort reading
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit...
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Thanksgiving Special: Comfort Reads (Sophomore Lit 167)
Hey, things are tough. The McCoy Bros, Rob, John, and Dan, discuss the books that get them through.
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/167/
about 1 year ago
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Since I seem to be getting a bunch of followers from the Flop House starter pack, here is a thread promoting my podcast, Sophomore Lit. I'd love some new listeners, so anyone who wants to, please retweet! Or whatever it's called now.
www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/
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Sophomore Lit
A podcast about your 10th grade reading list, hosted by John McCoy.
https://www.theincomparable.com/sophomorelit/
about 1 year ago
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