It's the season finale, so obviously I insisted our last guest be a Nobel Prize winner and...HERE HE IS! Kazuo Ishiguro, arguably one of our greatest writers of contemporary fiction, and a very lovely man to boot. His most famous book, The Remains of the Day, was written when Ishiguro was only 35. It won the Booker Prize and was adapted into a major film sta ... Show More
Oct 8
Stephen Grosz - ‘Real love is going to hurt’
Warning: this episode may contain MIND-BLOWING moments. Stephen Grosz is a practising psychoanalyst and a personal hero of mine. He has worked with patients for more than 45 years and his first book, The Examined Life, drew on these experiences. When it was published in 2013, it ... Show More
52m 23s
Oct 6
Jilly Cooper: On Failure, Love, and Literature
Today, we remember and celebrate the extraordinary life of Jilly Cooper, who has sadly passed away at the age of 88. A literary icon, Jilly captured hearts and imaginations with her wit, warmth, and unmistakable voice. Her novels, especially beloved titles like Riders and Rivals, ... Show More
38m 7s
Oct 5
On Navigating Your 20s... With Phoebe Waller Bridge and Lily Allen
Welcome back to this How to Fail special where we journey through the archive to uncover insight and revisit powerful conversations. Each week, I hand-pick moments that speak to our shared challenges - hopefully offering comfort, clarity, and a renewed sense of perspective for wh ... Show More
17m 15s
Mar 2023
Congratulations, You’re a Failure! Stephen Marche on Enduring the Life of a Writer
Stephen Marche is the author of six books, has been a columnist at Esquire, has taught Shakespeare at the college level and has contributed to The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other publications. By any reasonable measure, his career is an unmitigated su ... Show More
1h 11m
Jan 2021
Elizabeth Day is extraordinary!
Writer and podcast chart-topping sensation, Elizabeth Day is Katie's guest this week. On her podcast ‘How To Fail’, Elizabeth meets guests ranging from Phoebe Waller Bridge to Alistair Campbell to Lily Allen, breaking down how they’ve learned from their personal failures. The pod ... Show More
45m 40s
Oct 2023
No Woo-Woo for Sarah Vowell
✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼Paul and Stephen love their history, so who better for this Chinwag than brilliant essayist, author and historian, Sarah Vowell?Listen in as they contemplate the tricky business of retelling history that doesn’t live up to the current moral code. Which President is the b ... Show More
51m 21s
Jul 2023
#143 — The Keys to the Mind
Sam Harris speaks with Derren Brown about his work as a “psychological illusionist.” They discuss the power of hypnosis, the power of expectations, the usefulness of Stoic philosophy, and other topics. Derren Brown began his UK television career in December 2000 with a series of ... Show More
39m 19s
Nov 2019
74 | Stephen Greenblatt on Stories, History, and Cultural Poetics
An infinite number of things happen; we bring structure and meaning to the world by making art and telling stories about it. Every work of literature created by human beings comes out of an historical and cultural context, and drawing connections between art and its context can b ... Show More
1h 6m