A timely revisit of our 2022 Christmas special which celebrates Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, a classic of children’s literature and the childhood favourite of our producer, Nicky Birch. We are joined by the writer Una McCormack and Tanya Kirk, the Lead Curator of Printed Heritage Collections (1601-1900) at the British Library, who are both lifetime Stre ... Show More
Jan 13
Jake Thackray: The Unsung Writer by Paul Thompson
Biographer and singer-songwriter Paul Thompson joins us for a new episode of Backlisted devoted to the life and work of Jake Thackray, the so-called 'Yorkshire chansonnier' who died in 2002. Thackray was a man of many talents, as demonstrated by Jake Thackray: The Unsung Writer, ... Show More
1h 4m
Dec 25
Asterix and the Roman Agent by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
Merry Christmas! Join Andy and Una, plus authors Louie Stowell and Robert Shearman, for a post-solstice celebration of Asterix and the Roman Agent (1972) by René Goscinny (words) and Albert Uderzo (pictures), first published in France in 1970 as La Zizanie, and freely translated ... Show More
1h 12m
Nov 25
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The book is one of the founding texts of science fiction, a fact that has both assured its reputa ... Show More
1h 22m
Sep 2025
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 2025
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
Apr 2025
Episode 318 - The Bennington Triangle: Vanished in Appalachia (Part 1)
In this two-part series, we enter the haunted heart of Southern Vermont—a place where the line between reality and the supernatural disappears as quickly as the people who dare to step off the trail. Welcome to The Bennington Triangle, where ancient curses, vanishing hikers, and ... Show More
1h 1m
May 2022
Chapter 17: The Past and Present Kings of Nothing
There is a place beyond that which can be touch, where those who walk with long shadows stride. Their heels always to the nothing of that place, taking from it, but giving in equal measure their sacrifice to whatever built that palace of inky darkness. That is the domain that Edw ... Show More
18m 52s
May 2022
Chapter 19: The Queen of all that Dies
The relationship between old friends can be contentious and that is no more true, than it was with Edith Blackleech and Adam. It seems, while Adam was away the Bog Witch Blackleech has been at play, pulling her strings and making moves within The Fort. But then again, how is she ... Show More
22m 57s
Dec 2024
Episode 508 || Yes, Virginia
<p>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 <a href='htt ... Show More
9m 2s