Colm Tóibín’s 2009 novel “Brooklyn” told the story of a meek young Irishwoman, Eilis Lacey, who emigrates to New York in the 1950s and slowly begins building a new life for herself. On this week’s podcast, Tóibín talks to Sarah Lyall about the sequel, "Long Island," and how he came to write it.
May 30
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Transcription,' by Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner’s slender new novel, “Transcription,” is just 130 pages long, yet it cracks open some of our most colossal and enduring philosophical questions. The novel is told in three parts. We open with an unnamed narrator going to interview his mentor, Thomas — an acclaimed arti ... Show More
47m 21s
May 22
The Ezra Klein Show: Michael Pollan’s Journey to the Borderlands of Consciousness
Today we are delighted to share an episode from our colleagues on “The Ezra Klein Show,” originally published on March 31. Ezra interviewed author Michael Pollan, whose best-selling books include “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “In Defense of Food,” and “How to Change Your Mind.” Polla ... Show More
1h 28m
May 15
Matt Haig on ‘The Midnight Library,’ Mental Illness and Winnie-the-Pooh
Matt Haig was already several books into his career as a writer by the time he published “The Midnight Library” in 2020. One of those books, the 2015 memoir “Reasons to Stay Alive,” had even been a best seller in England, his home nation. Yet, “The Midnight Library” was a true br ... Show More
42m 7s
May 2021
#330 Nick Hornby: Getting Published, Dealing With Rejection
Nick Hornby is the author of many novels, including High Fidelity, About a Boy, Juliet, Naked and others, and now he has a new book Just Like You which I thoroughly enjoyed and is out in paperback. He is also the author of Fever Pitch, a book on his life as a devoted supporter of ... Show More
29m 29s
Dec 2023
Selby Wynn Schwartz in “les Rencontres” — CHANEL Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon
<p>Listen to author and critic Erica Wagner in conversation with Selby Wynn Schwartz, writer of “After Sappho”, her first novel published by Galley Beggar Press in 2022. Together, they talk about her insatiable appetite for literature as a child and the way it led her to becoming ... Show More
49m 39s
May 2024
Plum Sykes On the Golden Days of Vogue
<p>The Met Gala is less than a week away! Plum Sykes, the writer, editor, and noughties it-girl came on the podcast to talk with Chloe and Chioma about her new book, <em>Wives Like Us</em>, and her most hilarious Met Gala memories, beginning in the ‘90s when she first arrived on ... Show More
32m 51s