The Common Reader

Who else in literature today could be more interesting to interview than Brandon Taylor, the author of Real Life , Filthy Animals , and The Late Americans , as well as the author of popular reviews and the sweater weather Substack? We talked about so much, including: Chopin and who plays him best; why there isn’t more tennis in fiction; writing fiction on a lab bench; being a scientific critic; wh...

I’ve been a big Zena Hitz fan since I read Lost in Thought in 2020, a book I am still recommending to people nearly five years later. We talked about Shakespeare, children’s books, St John’s College , the Catherine Project , whether you should read secondary literature, Tolkien, nuns, and we had a giggle while we did so. Zena is one of the best public intellectuals who remains deeply committed to...

I spoke to Samuel Arbesman about late bloomers . He asked many splendid questions no-one has asked before. With Mark Crowley I discussed some practical aspects of late blooming. On December 5th I am talking to professor Stephen Greenblatt and psychoanalyst Adam Philips about their new book Second Chances , which combines Shakespeare and late blooming. What more could I ask for? I was delighted to...

It was a delight to talk to Naomi Kanakia who writes the Woman of Letters Substack. We talked about the homogeneity of modern fiction, whether the Great Books are really great (and which ones she found boring), as well as economics and fiction. I enjoy Naomi’s literary criticism on Substack very much and I am anticipating her new book about the Great Books. This is a public episode. If you would l...

I was delighted to talk to the novelist Catherine Lacey , whose book Biography of X I admired very much indeed. We talked about personal websites , how she learned to code in HTML, 9 Beet Stretch , her writing on Substack ( Untitled Thought Project ), biography as a genre, modern novels, figurative art, Derek Parfit , MFAs, fiction and non-fiction, short stories, Merve Emre, W.S. Merwin, televisio...

There’s a profile about me and Second Act in the New Zealand Listener . It’s very good so if you’re in NZ and have a subscription (it’s paywalled) do take a look. I chuckled at this line: “Speaking by Zoom from London, Oliver is a serious fellow, and has the manner of someone older.” This was nice too: “He also has a strong sense of his own mortality. For someone still in their 30s, this seems sur...

I always enjoy corresponding with Hollis Robbins (@Anecdotal) and was therefore delighted to talk to her about poetry and literature. It’s a wonderful conversation that ranges across so many books and ideas. We covered why there is no crisis in the humanities, why you should read Walter Scott, our favourite modern poets (Hollis: Terrance Hayes ; Henry: Sally Read — I like her book Day Hospital ver...

What a delight to talk to James Marriott, the Times columnist who writes about literature, culture, and being a millennial. James is very well-read and we covered the ground from Iris Murdoch to Harry Potter, from why men should read novels to whether the crisis of modernity is actually modern. You can read James’s columns at the Times or see his Twitter feed here . I found James’ comments on the...

NB The first two or three minutes have some audio glitches but the rest of the recording is much better quality. I was delighted to talk to A.N. Wilson, novelist, journalist, biographer, and historian, whose books on Iris Murdoch, Dante, and Prince Albert I very much admire, as well as his memoir Confessions . Wilson’s new book Goethe. His Faustian Life comes out in September (December in the USA)...

In Tyler Cowen’s new book there is a whole chapter about John Stuart Mill, and I think Tyler really gets Mill, and draws on many of the key sources, both primary and secondary. So I’m pleased to offer you this conversation about Mill and biography, economics ideas where Mill remains relevant, how to read Mill properly, why Mill isn’t so influential today, whether Mill was a coherent thinker, the g...

This is the second part of an essay about Zadie Smith. You can read the first part here . As an experiment, I have recorded this essay so you can listen rather than read. Let know what you think… Both essays are partly paywalled. But, good news, there’s a summer sale—20% off a subscription if you sign up before September 13th. Don’t forget, the next bookclub is this Sunday 10th September, 19.00 UK...

Writing Elsewhere Recently I have written for The Critic about how to find somewhere to live in London , solving the problem of modern architecture, and in praise of stupid politicians . I also produced some epigrams framed as advice for young people . Noah Smith is an economics blogger with his own Substack (highly recommended). We talked about late bloomers, motivation, modelling effects, peer e...

NEWS * Podcasts are now available in places like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you listen to them there, please rate or like the episodes as this helps other people to find them. * I am writing films reviews on Letterboxd. You can find them here . You might enjoy this one about The Truman Show . Again, hit like to help other people find the review. Thanks! Anna Gát was a showbiz child in Budapest...

This conversation with economist and late bloomer Robin Hanson probably peaks towards the end, when we were bouncing ideas around, but the whole thing is highly interesting. Robin has a habit of rephrasing questions to make sure he is answering something specific, something I have seen in successful lawyers. Robin talked about his idea for a polymath department in universities, why desperation not...

It was such a pleasure to talk to Sarah Harkness . Sarah is a former partner at Arthur Andersen who had a career in corporate finance and then as a non-executive director. She is now a literary late bloomer. She has self-published a book about the Victorian artist Nelly Erichsen . She has an MA in Biography from the University of Buckingham, where she studied with with Jane Ridley. She won the Ton...

Before we get started… Writing elsewhere I have recently written about modern Russian literature for CapX , as well Victorian YIMBYs and Katherine Mansfield and 1922 , for The Critic . Tours of London Sign up here to get updates when we add new tour dates. There will be three tours a month, covering the Great Fire, Barbican, Samuel Johnson and more! Helen Lewis is a splendid infovore, which is how...

I was very pleased to talk to Charles Moore , who I have read admiringly for many years. His three volume biography of Margaret Thatcher is one of the most interesting biographies published in the last few years. He also edited a volume of T.E.Utley’s journalism . In this discussion you will hear (or read the transcript below!) whether Margaret Thatcher is more left-wing than we think, what Charle...