I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

  After a slight delay (thanks to a crashed hard drive and a lost interview), we're back with a super-sized episode that we hope will make up for our absence.   We're pleased to welcome Tom Richmond, one of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" at  MAD Magazine . Tom's career has been a most interesting one, and we explore how he managed to take an adolescent aspiration and turn it into an award-winning care...

    After a long hiatus, we're back in the Collectors' Corner. This time, we're joined by the Maniac Collector himself, Don Hobbs, BSI ("Inspector Lestrade").   For those of you who don't know Don, you're in for a treat, for Don is a Texan through and through - and that means big stories, a big appetite for his interests and a big BIG collection of Sherlock Holmes books in translation. Of the 100...

The Baker Street Irregulars Manuscript Series has another entry, and once again we find ourselves chatting with co-editors Robert Katz, MD, BSI ("Dr. Ainstree") and Andrew Solberg, BSI ("Professor Coram"). Bob and Andy of course were our guests on  Episode 50: A Golden Passage , and we're delighted to have them with us again to share the secret as to how lightning strikes twice and these two fine...

"those weekend parties" [SOLI]  While our last episode was recorded during the BSI Weekend in New York, we thought we'd cover some of the happenings in and around the  BSI Weekend  itself.   Our opening comments center around collecting and what makes a collector, but then we quickly launch into actual audio clips with individuals we met during the weekend. Our audio files open with an interview w...

"...my little bookshop at the corner..." [EMPT]  When we have the opportunity to sit on a couple of sofas and interview some of the most erudite and interesting Baker Street Irregulars of our time, we take it. And it seems that the BSI Weekend serves as just the spot to do that. Two years ago, we had an opportunity to do just that with Michael Dirda (ref.  Episode 38: On Conan Doyle ), and we were...

"About sixty" [BOSC] We've arrived at the Canonical number of 60 episodes of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, so we thought it was time to celebrate in a manner suitable to such an important number. As you well know, there were 56 short stories and four novels about Sherlock Holmes, as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who in some circles is actually Watson's literary agent). In this discussion abo...

"the lawyers have been at it" [REIG]      As you've no doubt observed, if you've seen anything of the news of the past few days, the "Free Sherlock" case has concluded,  with the plaintiff emerging victoriously . It's been big news, getting coverage in such circles as  The New York Times ,  The Guardian ,  The Hollywood Reporter ,  The Wall Street Journal  and scores of other publications.   As a...

"We both thought the best resource" [SCAN] We can unabashedly say that we're huge fans of  Sherlockology . So it was with great pleasure that we sat down with Jules Coomber and David Mather, two of the four (in addition to Emma and Leif) who run the burgeoning online presence of a site that pays homage to the BBC's  Sherlock  and the cast and crew that are responsible for it. It's been so well don...

"We must be thankful for what we've got." [VALL]  For those in the United States, November is the month in which we celebrate Thanksgiving. We thought it a fitting time to reflect on some of the things we have to be thankful for in the world of Sherlock Holmes, and they are many. The show's multiple topics and many links reflect that. First, we have our Sherlockian society meetings. Whether you li...

"No ghosts need apply." [SUSS]  Holmes and the occult is our subject for this Halloween episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, and we're joined by editor and author  Charles Prepolec , who together with J.R. Campbell edited  Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes ,  Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes , and  Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes ,...

While our show normally allows us to inform our listeners about the Sherlockian world (and occasionally share gossipy tidbits and commentary), it is always a joy when we have the opportunity to welcome a guest to interview. This occasion was no exception, as we were fortunate enough to be joined by Brad Keefauver, BSI ("Winwood Reade") from  Sherlock Peoria . Brad fashions himself  as more of a wr...

It's a show chock full of Sherlock Holmes news! Of course, Horace Harker was a reporter for the Central Press Syndicate in "The Six Napoleons," but in our case we're acting in his stead to share some of the most significant news to our own syndicate. We share a special announcement about a future feature of the program which we'll call "The Central Press Syndicate." But in the meantime, we have mu...

It's easy to assume that Sherlock Holmes's powers were something of an anomaly - that Holmes was a superhero with something akin to super powers, and we mere mortals cannot attain the same level of expertise and professionalism. But that assumption would be wrong, as author  Maria Konnikova  has made abundantly clear. In her book  Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes , Konnikova, who hold...

The Baker Street Irregulars are widely known as a literary society dedicated to the study of Sherlock Holmes. Since 1934 the group has been gathering in New York City for  its annual dinner and weekend festivities  and has embarked on  a significant publishing effort  centered around  its own history ,  international Sherlockian societies' scholarship , and analysis of extant  manuscripts of the C...

When a figure like Sherlock Holmes has been around for over a century, there are bound to be misconceptions that creep into public thinking. We blame this not on carelessness or laziness but rather on the overwhelming popularity of the great detective. The image of Holmes clad in deerstalker and Inverness cape, clenching a Meerschaum pipe in his teeth is the universal, if cliched, image of a detec...

We thought we'd stir up the discussions a bit and try to get to the bottom of a couple of controversies that have been roiling the world of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts (we're careful to say neither "fans" nor "devotees" at this juncture). The first item of interest that grabbed our attention in early 2013 was the so-called "Free Sherlock" movement. Summed up, this is basically an issue that is bei...

Our 50th episode is a fitting one. As you know, a 50th anniversary is typically celebrated with gold. Because we appreciate our listeners so much, we would settle for nothing less than the same. But our gold comes in the form of a scintillating conversation with the two editors of the Baker Street Irregulars' eighth entry in their Manuscript Series , The Wrong Passage , which is a look at the manu...

"Compliments of the season" is how Watson described his activities regarding a visit he paid to Holmes during the Christmas season. And we know " The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle " as the sole Christmas story in the Canon of Sherlock Holmes stories. And rather than focus on the nostalgic and its place in the lineup of winter classics, we discuss how this classic fits in the pantheon of Holmes s...

When Conan Doyle embarked on his whaling adventure at the age of 20, little could he have guessed what awaited him. And little did the world know how profoundly his experiences would influence his later life, including the creation for which we know him most intimately - that of Sherlock Holmes. We're joined in this episode by the editors of Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure , Jon Lelle...

It's our Halloween show! With Victorian and Gothic influence in a number of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the Canon can be great fodder for the mysterious, occult and spooky elements of Halloween. Certainly The Hound of the Baskervilles , "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot," "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier," or "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" have elements that can make a reader's hai...

Joining the BBC's Sherlock on television this fall is another high-powered outing by the network CBS in the United States. If you haven't yet heard, the new show is Elementary and it stars Jonny Lee Miller as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes who is in New York after rehab, and Lucy Liu at Dr. Joan Watson, Holmes's "sober companion," whose responsibility it is to look after him an ensure he readjusts t...

The political season is upon us. At least in America, that is. In case you've been hiding under a rock for the last 18 months, the presidential election is closing in, with Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney. This site certainly does not stand for any type of political dogma; indeed, Sherlock Holmes is for every political persuasion. So why would we want to touch the third rail of polite conversation an...

A new modern urban re-interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. That's how the digital comic Watson and Holmes is being referred to.   The recent revival in Sherlock Holmes material across a variety of media has truly increased the buzz around our favorite topic. From the reimagining on the big screen, courtesy of the Robert Downey, Jr. / Jude Law films, to the small screen updating of the characters in...

Sometimes, when there's a topic that bears a discussion-based episode between the two of us, we like to do a little research to see what's been written previously, so we can have some reference material upon which to base some of our zany theories. Sunday, June 17 was Father's Day in the United States, which made it a perfect opportunity to tackle the topic of fathers in the Canon. Imagine our cha...

Sherlock mania as at its heights. The second series of the BBC's Sherlock is making its way to the U.S. shores currently, and fandom online and offline is continuing to grow. On behalf of the show, Burt made his way to New York City on May 2, 2012 for the sneak preview of the new season and question and answer time with some of the cast and crew of Sherlock , including Rebecca Eaton, Steven Moffat...