When assessing the literature of an era, we tend to think of the works that have made it into the canon - but in so doing, we're in danger of overlooking the many different kinds of books and texts that people were actually reading. In this episode, Jacke talks to Sarah Allison (The Rise of Celebrity Authorship: Nineteenth-Century Print Culture and Antislave ... Show More
Feb 2
772 Thucydides and The History of the Peloponnesian War (with Polly Low and Robin Waterfield) | My Last Book with James West
The Ancient Greek historian and general Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE) called his history of a war between Athens and Sparta "a possession for all time." More than 2,400 years later, his work is still essential reading for anyone interested in the morality of war and the nature of p ... Show More
1h 4m
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 ... Show More
33m 8s
Jun 2024
Christopher Marlowe (with Will Tosh)
<p>Today's special guest is Will Tosh, Head of Research at Shakespeare's Globe, London, and the author of a new book, “Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare.” Having answered the obvious question in the prologue, the book becomes a sort of emotional biograp ... Show More
1h 16m
Nov 2013
Albert Camus - The Outsider
One hundred years after his birth this month’s World Book Club, will be discussing Albert Camus' seminal novel The Outsider with his acclaimed biographer Oliver Todd, and Professor of French at Sheffield University, David Walker. And appropriately the programme comes from the hea ... Show More
53m 21s
Jul 2017
009 - Friends, Romans, countrymen? - Part 2
<p>Julia Farley, Curator of British and European Iron Age Collections, once again joins Iszi Lawrence to examine the early years of the Roman conquest. Iszi puts your questions to Julia as they examine life in Roman Britain – from female warriors to druids. Highlighting fascinati ... Show More
42m 3s
Jan 2025
Book Club: Let’s Talk About Alan Hollinghurst’s ‘Our Evenings’
<p>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 st ... Show More
47m 52s
Sep 2025
ON WRITING... With Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro
Welcome to another special edition of How to Fail, where I revisit conversations from the How to Fail archives. Each week, we shine a light on a particular theme, hopefully offering inspiration, perspective and comfort through the words of past guests. This week’s theme is on wri ... Show More
24m 18s
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
Sep 2025
British Museum, a steak and a yogi
Catherine talks about death, life and life-changing moments, in the London sunshine. ---Named 'Podcast of the Year' by Radio Times and picked as 'Best Podcasts of the Year 2023' by the Financial Times, Observer, Pod Bible and The Week. ---The conversations that follow are always ... Show More
9m 7s