In A House for Mr Biswas, his 1961 comic masterpiece, V.S. Naipaul pays tribute to his father and the vanishing world of his Trinidadian youth. Pankaj Mishra joins Adam Shatz in their first of four episodes to discuss the novel, a pathbreaking work of postcolonial literature and a particularly powerful influence on Pankaj himself. They explore Naipaul’s frau ... Show More
Jul 13
London Revisited: The Road to Civil War
When James VI of Scotland arrived in London in 1603 to become the first ‘King of Great Britain’, expectations were high. They were soon disappointed, not least for the Catholics who tried to blow him and half of Westminster up in 1605. But the plot failed, and with James’s reign ... Show More
26m 53s
Jul 5
Narrative Poems: ‘The Ruined Cottage’ and ‘Michael’ by William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the first people to hear ‘The Ruined Cottage’, read aloud to him on a visit to the Wordsworths in 1797, and he later described it as ‘one of the most beautiful poems in the language’. Like ‘Michael’ (1800), it depicts the disintegration of ordin ... Show More
16m 56s
Jun 28
Nature in Crisis: ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Through folktales, memoir and hard science, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass argues for the intertwining of Indigenous knowledge systems and empirical science, to support ‘mutual flourishing’ between humans and the environment. Braiding Sweetgrass was an enormous success ... Show More
15m 19s
Feb 2022
Pankaj Mishra with Nihal Arthanayake
<p>This week on the Penguin Podcast, Nihal Arthanayake is joined by renowned essayist and novelist, Pankaj Mishra, to discuss his new novel, Run and Hide. Together they discuss the meaning of art and the novel, the Tibetan landscape and the Himalayas, nostalgia, and wood-panelled ... Show More
30 m
Feb 2022
Pankaj Mishra, research into Indian history
Pankaj Mishra's Run and Hide tells a story of modern Indian times, as the hidden pasts of wealthy, Gatsby-style tech entrepreneurs must be reckoned with.And to help put this modern India in context, Dr Pragya Dhital will consider the resonances of the tumultuous period of "The Em ... Show More
44m 48s
Sep 2019
Homi Bhabha's "The Location of Culture" (Part 1/2)
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theoryandphilosophy In this episode, I explore Homi Bhabha's "The Location of Culture," a seminal text in the field of post-colonial studies. In this enigmatic text, Bhabha sketches his conception of hybridity that stands opposed to contemporary f ... Show More
45m 9s
Jan 2022
378 Liu Xinwu and the "Scar Literature" of China (with Jeremy Tiang) | Bharati Sneak Preview (with Mira Sundara Rajan)
In this episode, Jacke talks to Jeremy Tiang about his new translation of The Wedding Party, a Chinese classic contemporary novel written in the early 1980s by Liu Xinwu, one of the originators of what has been termed "scar literature." PLUS we feature a sneak preview of our conv ... Show More
49m 26s
Dec 2022
472 The Art of Not Knowing
In this special episode, Jacke pays tribute to a friend, including a consideration of endings and beginnings, mystery and grace, and two powerful works: John Berger's The Shape of a Pocket and James Joyce's masterpiece "The Dead."
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone ... Show More
1h 6m