Novelist Alex Michaelides (The Silent Patient, The Fury) joins Andy and John to discuss Ford Madox Ford's classic novel The Good Soldier (1915), a tale of passion in which, owing to a narrator of almost comic unreliability, nothing can be taken for granted. It is a book that seems to change on every reading, both a kaleidoscopic psychological drama and 'the ... Show More
Sep 1
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan (1971), the second Earthsea novel, is the subject of this episode. Joining Una and Andy is writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce, current Children’s Laureate. We look at how Le Guin shifts her story from the adventures of Ged in A Wizard of Earthsea t ... Show More
1h 11m
Mar 2025
Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain, Storytelling, and the Human Condition (Part Two)
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here.
Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain a ... Show More
37m 8s
Sep 18
Ian McEwan on Speculative Fiction, Lost Poems and What We Can Know
Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His novels include Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach, and he is the recipient of many awards including the Booker Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and t ... Show More
42 m
Jan 2025
Book Club: Let’s Talk About Alan Hollinghurst’s ‘Our Evenings’
The novel “Our Evenings,” by Alan Hollinghurst, follows a gay English Burmese actor from childhood into old age as he confronts confusing relationships, his emerging sexuality, racism and England’s changing political climate in the late 20th and early 21st century. It’s the story ... Show More
47m 52s
Dec 2024
Episode 508 || Yes, Virginia
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie’s dad, Chris Butterworth, reads the New York Sun reporter Francis P. Church’s timeless response to eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s question: “Is there a Santa Claus?” Read the letter from 1897 and learn about its history here.
From the ... Show More
9m 2s
Sep 16
A New Chapter Begins | "Strangers" (401) with special guest Blake Stadnik
We made it to Season 4! On today’s episode of That Was Us, we’re talking all about Season 4, Episode 1: Strangers. This episode weaves together the stories of three new characters: Cassidy, a soldier returning home from Afghanistan; Malik, a teenage father finding his way; and Ja ... Show More
1h 24m
Sep 10
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet: Part One
When the gems in a priceless royal treasure are stolen from a wealthy banker’s study, Sherlock must navigate through the halls of wealth and privilege where family loyalty means nothing, reputation is everything, and no one is who they seem. Within this web of deceit, a truth awa ... Show More
36m 16s
Jan 2021
Ep. 713, The Overcoat, by Nikolai Gogol
A copyist, a tailor, and an official each demonstrate the cracks in Tsarist Russian society. Nikolai Gogol, today on The Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening. Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this withou ... Show More
1h 29m