As we all know, the text of a book can possess incredible powers, transporting readers across time and space. But what about the books themselves? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Emma Smith (This Is Shakespeare) about her new book, Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers, which provides a material history of books and the people who love ... Show More
Jul 2
814 Shakespeare in Translation (with Daniel Hahn) | My Last Book with Indira Ghose
What is it like to translate Shakespeare into another language? How does one attempt to capture that transcendent magic so familiar to English speakers? In this episode, Jacke talks to writer, editor, and translator Daniel Hahn (If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare i ... Show More
1h 7m
Jun 29
813 George Sand (with Fiona Sampson) | My Last Book with Kathleen Antonioli
Upon her death, French novelist George Sand (1804-1876) was widely recognized as one of the most popular and acclaimed writers in Europe. And yet, even then, the legend of the cigar-smoking, cross-dressing, promiscuous writer threatened to overshadow her literary accomplishments. ... Show More
1h 4m
Oct 2021
170: Ruth Ozeki (THE BOOK OF FORM AND EMPTINESS) & Walter Benjamin's "UNPACKING MY LIBRARY"
<p>Ruth Ozeki steps on into the Damn Library Hyperverse to shine. We talk about her latest opus, <em>The Book of Form and Emptiness</em>, and how books are magical, and accessing her teenage self, and an unexpected turn of narrative luck with snowglobes, along with many other thi ... Show More
1h 8m
May 2024
Books You Can't Read -- By Design!
Books are amazing. When you think about it, a good book can be a portal to another world. A book can a time machine, and the right story can genuinely change a person's life... so long as you can actually read it. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Matt delve into the strange stor ... Show More
44m 1s
Jul 2023
Tudor Gifts: How to Win Friends and Influence People
<p>How meaningful can a gift - especially of a book - be? In the fickle world of the Tudor court, the strategic gifting of books was a common practice, bound up in relationships of power, politics and protest. A new exhibition exploring this subject at the Bodleian Library, Oxfor ... Show More
41m 54s