The TLS Podcast

This week, Gabriel Roberts explores the past, present and - we very much hope - the future of bioabundance in animal species; and novelist Gwendoline Riley takes us into the affecting and brutally funny world of Michael Bracewell’s return to fiction after 21 years. Species loss and bioabundance, by Gabriel Roberts ‘Unfinished Business’ by Michael Bracewell Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Aca...

Christy Edwall reflects on a meditations on Keats’s poems, and a new account of his last days. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/a-greeting-of-the-spirit-susan-wolfson-written-in-water-alessandro-gallenzi-keats-book-review-christy-edwall/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olivia Laing secrets and lies in the life and work of Kathy Acker. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/eat-your-mind-kathy-acker-jason-mcbride-book-review-olivia-laing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Lucy Lethbridge explains what a curate's eye is, and how ideas of British cooking range from Aga fantasies to bacon butties; and J. S. Barnes takes us to the dark side of the festive season, via Dickens and M. R. James.... 'The British Cookbook: Authentic home cooking recipes from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland' by Ben Mervis 'To Be Read At Dusk: Dickens, ghosts and the s...

Simon McBurney, the artistic director of the endlessly innovative and influential Complicité theatre company, talks to Lucy Dallas about two of their major new projects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we hear how the music-hall star Josephine Baker became a secret agent; and we talk to Simon McBurney of Complicité theatre company, about their haunting audio production of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising. 'The Flame of Resistance' by Damien Lewis 'The Dark Is Rising' by Susan Cooper, BBC World Service, December 20 Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Alan Forrest on Napoleon’s enemies at home and abroad. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/napoleon-michael-broers-napoleon-at-peace-william-doyle-book-review-alan-forrest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Breeze Barrington takes us through a history of art with a difference - there are no men; and Larry Wolff talks us through the diva-rich operatic event of the season, the world premiere of The Hours at the Met in New York. 'The Story of Art Without Men' by Katy Hessel 'The Hours' by Kevin Puts Metropolitan Opera, New York, until December 15. Live transmission in various cinemas, Decembe...

Anna Reid on the improbable rise of Volodymyr Zelensky https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/volodymyr-zelensky-biographies-book-review-anna-reid/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Mary Beard talks us through coins and emperors, real and fake, and the hidden networks beneath the Roman Empire; and Norma Clarke discusses the life and work of Rosa Bonheur, a celebrated female artist who kept her radical private life to herself. Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michele Pridmore-Brown on the troubled dreams of the gods of the digital universe https://www.the-tls.co.uk./articles/survival-of-the-richest-douglas-rushkoff-book-review-michele-pridmore-brown/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Baillie Gifford Prizewinner Katherine Rundell describes how John Donne’s life force captivated her; and celebrated actor and playwright Wallace Shawn surveys a lifetime of writing essays. Produced by Charlotte Pardy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Berridge on Cormac McCarthy’s long-awaited diptych of conspiracy and nuclear anxiety https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-passenger-stella-maris-cormac-mccarthy-book-review-george-berridge/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we discuss Emmanuel Carrère’s incisive account of France’s judicial response to the Bataclan attacks; and a host of TLS contributors on their favourite books of 2022. ‘V13: Chronique judiciare’ by Emmanuel Carrère Books of the Year 2022 Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Potts considers the inconstancies of John le Carré. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private-spy-letters-john-le-carre-secret-heart-suleika-dawson-book-review-robert-potts/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Alex Clark and Lucy Dallas explore the rise to prominence of Volodymyr Zelensky, the satirical stand-up turned president and war leader; and blow the cobwebs off the world’s rarest medieval manuscripts. 'The Zelensky Effect' by Olga Onuch and Henry E Hale 'Zelensky: Ukraine’s president and his country' by Steven Derix with Marina Shelkunova, translated by Brent Annable 'The Fight of Our...

Colin Thubron on an anthology of human beings straining at the limits. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/endurance-levison-wood-book-review-colin-thubron/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week André Aciman toasts the genius of Marcel Proust, a century after his death; and Richard Lea on the mesmerising multiverses of John Banville. The works of Marcel Proust ‘The Singularities’ by John Banville Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Leith on Roald Dahl’s life of plane crashes, bunk-ups, secret agenting – and children’s writing https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/teller-of-the-unexpected-roald-dahl-matthew-dennison-book-review-sam-leith/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we learn about the final years of the Napoleonic era, poke around the exclusive gentlemen’s watering holes of Pall Mall, and discover how Roy Orbison ended up meeting his wife in Batley Variety Club. ’Napoleon: The decline and fall of an Empire, 1811-1821’ by Michael Broers ’Napoleon at Peace: How to end a revolution’ by William Doyle ‘Behind Close Doors: The secret life of London’s pri...

Laura Thompson on the much-married daughter of Barbara Cartland who became Lady Diana’s stepmother https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/three-times-a-countess-tina-gaudoin-book-review-laura-thompson/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Toby Lichtig interviews the new Booker laureate, Shehan Karunatilaka, and discovers why he killed off his protagonist; and we explore the latest developments in a Chaucerian controversy. ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Shehan Karunatilaka Mary C Flannery on Chaucer Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michele Pridmore-Brown considers our quest for godlike immortality https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/hybrid-humans-harry-parker-the-price-of-immortality-peter-ward-book-review-michele-pridmore-brown/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Dunn joins Alex and Lucy to discuss how humanity began to measure the world around it; and Lauren Elkin illuminates the immense artistic contribution of Annie Ernaux, this winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. ‘Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement’ by James Vincent The work of Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize laureate 2022 Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See a...

Bill McKibben considers the future of farming in a rapidly warming world https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/rooted-sarah-langford-sixty-harvests-left-philip-lymbery-regenesis-george-monbiot-review-bill-mckibben/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.