WSC student Nick Ulrich recently recorded the first episode of his new podcast “Just Read It!” It’s a podcast featuring WSC English professors Dr. Becky Zavada and Dr. Stephanie Marcellus.

The description of the podcast on Anchor, a free podcast-making website, notes that “Just Read It!” gives listeners good reasons to read amazing books with a detailed analysis from some of Wayne’s best English professors, according to the site.

The first episode, released Feb. 19, is about the benefits of reading “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley.

Although I’ve never read Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” I know of the story and its many variations. I also know that in terms of ethics, critical thinking and overall, a good source of reading material, you can’t get any better than “Frankenstein.” Marcellus is an associate professor in the Language and Literary Arts Department, as well as head of the WSC Writing Club. Zavada is assistant professor in the same department. I’ve previously had a Poetry Writing Workshop class with Ulrich, and he’s the first person that I would think of to do a literary podcast. He’s quite smart and astute, words just come to him.

Ulrich is also a musician so it’s not surprising to me that words flow from him like a river. He is also the opinion column writer for the Wayne Stater, so he knows how to get people riled up and interested in a topic.

In a previous issue of the Wayne Stater, Ulrich wrote about a robot sex brothel in the CAT (Center of Applied Technology) building and everyone got up-in-arms about it and took the article seriously. The Stater audience didn’t realize that the article was satire, it was meant to be a taken lightly.

Many of Ulrich’s opinion articles have been taken more serious than Ulrich intended. From the sex robots, to the pet parade ending in a monster truck meltdown, Ulrich has had quite an interesting relationship with the college newspaper.

Ulrich is a very down-to-earth and honest guy, he will tell you how it is. I would recommend listening to this podcast because of his recommendations.

If a student recommends that a book, perhaps you should read it. If an English professor recommends that you read a book, you should probably read it. If a student as astute as Ulrich and two English professors recommend a book, you should most definitely read that book.

“Frankenstein” is a good book for the first episode of Ulrich’s podcast because it presents ethical dilemmas and critical thinking opportunities. I would recommend readers listen to this podcast because it provides you with great new book suggestions.