2022 was a big year for John Irving, the author of "The World According to Garp," "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and "The Cider House Rules." He turned 80, and just recently published The Last Chairlift, his first novel in seven years. It is 913 pages long and is, he says, the last long book he will ever write. Seemed like a great time to bring back our 2016 ep ... Show More
Jul 20
Katie Ledecky: The Call Of The Water
She sent shockwaves through the world of competitive swimming, when she won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, beating out the favorites by a wide margin. She was 15 years old. Katie Ledecky is now training for her fifth Olympics, and is indisputably the greatest female swimmer o ... Show More
53m 20s
Apr 2026
Cindy Sherman: Illusions of Identity
Cindy Sherman, one of the world's most renowned contemporary art photographers, started posing for her own photos in the 1970's, long before the advent of selfies. But she says her images are not self-portraits. Instead, she uses sets, costumes and makeup to create an elaborate a ... Show More
42m 14s
Feb 2023
Episode 144 - HOW TO WRITE A BESTSELLER, WITH JEFFREY ARCHER
A colourful and at times controversial public figure, Jeffrey Archer wrote his first novel in 1976, and now aged 82, has sold a mammoth 320 million books worldwide. How did he become one of the world’s bestselling authors? And what does the future hold for books and reading? Jeff ... Show More
21m 58s
Aug 2024
228: Lev Grossman (THE BRIGHT SWORD) & Philip K Dick's UBIK
<p>Lev Grossman returns to the podcast after a nine year break. That’s a long time! Since he was here last, he wrote his Arthurian magnum opus, <em>The Bright Sword</em>, and he chats about it, along with a good name for a cocktail sword, God, Merlin, and how he likes to be in co ... Show More
1h 6m
Jun 2025
From the archive: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: three days with a giant of African literature
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2023: The Kenyan novelist’s life and work has intersected with many of the biggest events of the past century. At 85, he refle ... Show More
59m 5s
Oct 2023
What Big Books Have Yet to Come Out in 2023?
<p>On this week’s episode, a look at the rest of the year in books — new fiction from Alice McDermott and this year’s Nobel laureate, Jon Fosse, a journalist’s investigation of state-sanctioned killings in the Philippines, and a trio of celebrity memoirs. </p><p>Discussed in this ... Show More
24m 41s
Dec 2023
Our Critics' Year in Reading
<p>The Times’s staff book critics — Dwight Garner, Jennifer Szalai and Alexandra Jacobs — do a lot of reading over the course of any given year, but not everything they read stays with them equally. On this week’s podcast, Gilbert Cruz chats with the critics about the books that ... Show More
37m 12s