logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2021
34m 10s

Richard Powers with Nihal Arthanayake

PENGUIN BOOKS UK
About this episode

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers joins Nihal Arthanayake to discuss his thirteenth novel, ‘Bewilderment’.


Using objects like Bach’s Goldberg Variation 18, an unsmoked hickory nut, and a petrified piece of redwood, Powers transport us to his home in the Great Smoky Mountains, musing on the importance of sense as an entranceway to curiosity, writing as a resistance of habituation, and the centrifugal feeling that connects the work of the artist and the scientist; that of bewilderment. 


‘Bewilderment’ is available to order on audiobook now: https://apple.co/3cFCDYf



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Sep 30
How do you adapt East of Eden for screen?
How do you begin breaking down a 600-page American epic to bring it to the screen? How did Florence Pugh capture the essence of the central character Cathy? How did John Steinbeck’s secret writing journals help the screenwriters? And what should you read next if you loved reading ... Show More
19m 50s
Jul 15
How can I help someone fall in love with reading? with Nadia Shireen and Jonathan Douglas
Can you read a cookbook cover-to-cover like a thriller? Does your reading level predict a longer life? Why is a punk chef’s memoir the ultimate weapon for reluctant readers? And how do we inspire children to read if we don’t have the time to read to them? In this special episode ... Show More
46m 51s
Jul 1
Which books help us reconnect with nature? with Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Why do baby puffins prefer to be alone? Why don’t Cuckoo birds raise their own children? Has the decline of birds taken away the music of our landscapes? And what is the simplest way back if we feel disconnected from nature? In this episode of Ask Penguin, Rhianna is joined by vi ... Show More
57m 22s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
Richard Powers: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Stanford Professor | How I Write
Richard is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, one of the most praised novels of the decade. His writing absolutely explodes with life. But perhaps Richard’s most impressive skill is his character development. And we’re not talking about the stodgy character arc y ... Show More
1h 26m
Jul 2019
Raymond Antrobus
Michael Rosen meets acclaimed poet Raymond Antrobus. Winner of the 2018 Ted Hughes award for new work in poetry, his collection The Perserverence brings together autobiographical poems on race, deafness and family. He joins Michael Rosen to discuss language, sign language and dea ... Show More
27m 43s
Dec 2024
On the Shoulders of Giants
This week, novelist and playwright Caryl Phillips remembers his friendship with the magnificent James Baldwin; and Robert Potts on the ingenious return of George Smiley.The works of James Baldwin'Karla's Choice', a John le Carré novel, by Nick HarkawayProduced by Charlotte Pardy ... Show More
48m 44s