The TLS Podcast

This week, Lily Herd on a child's-eye view of rockstar royalty; and Toby Lichtig talks to novelist Chigozie Obioma at the Hay Festival. 'My Family and Other Rock Stars', by Tiffany Murray 'The Road to the Country', by Chigozie Obioma Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Heather O'Donoghue puzzles over the locked rooms and red herrings of the crime genre; and Josh Raymond on an animated attempt to understand teenage turmoil. 'The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators', by Martin Edwards 'Inside Out 2' Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we accompany Stephen Sawyer on a speeded-up saunter through the arrondissements; and Toby Lichtig in conversation with Rory Stewart at the Hay Festival. 'Impossible City: Paris in the Twenty-First Century', by Simon Kuper 'The Zone: An Alternative History of Paris', by Justinien Tribillon 'Politics on the Edge', by Rory Stewart Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

This week, TLS editors and writers guide you through a summer of reading; and Sarah Watling explores the extraordinary story of an artistic double act. 'Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story', Charleston, Lewes, Sussex 'The Secret Art of Dorothy Hepworth, aka Patricia Preece', by Denys J. Wilcox Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...

This week, Ben Hutchinson on the making of Franz Kafka, a century after the writer's death; and an interview with Roz Dineen about her vision of climate catastrophe and societal collapse. 'Kafka: Making of an icon', Weston Library, Bodleian, Oxford, until October 27 Accompanying book edited by Ritchie Robertson 'Briefly Very Beautiful', by Roz Dineen Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. Se...

Join us for at the Hay Festival for a conversation encompassing portals to other worlds, rock bands, improbable giraffes and the travails of the M4. 'Impossible Creatures', by Katherine Rundell 'One Ukrainian Summer: A Memoir About Falling in Love and Coming of Age in the Former USSR', by Viv Groskop Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we hear from two international prize-winning authors, Jenny Erpenbeck and Mircea Cărtărescu. 'Kairos' by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann 'Solenoid' by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, writers including Andrew O'Hagan, Rose Tremain, Ayobami Adebayo and Marian Keyes select their most memorable sporting moments; and we drop in on the European Writers' Festival at the British Library. Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we look at the busy afterlives of two canonical characters: Nathalie Olah on Tom Ripley and Emelyne Godfrey on Sherlock Holmes. 'Ripley', on Netflix 'The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes: The inspiration behind the world’s greatest detective', by Andrew Lycett Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Susan Owens explores the surreal and vivid life of the artist Eileen Agar; and Rosie Goldsmith, curator of the European Writers' Festival, joins us to explain what's on the bill. 'A Look at My Life', by Eileen Agar The European Writers' Festival, the British Library, London, 18-19 May 2024 Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Oxford Professor of Poetry AE Stallings explores the elliptical brilliance of Anne Carson; and an interview with writer, filmmaker and artist Miranda July about her forthcoming novel. 'Anne Carson: The Glass Essayist', by Elizabeth Sarah Coles 'Wrong Norma', by Anne Carson 'All Fours', by Miranda July Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

This week, Kathryn Hughes introduces her new book on the cat craze that swept Edwardian England; and she also tells us about an exhibition of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesca Woodman. Plus a review of Sunjeev Sahota's The Spoiled Heart. 'Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World', by Kathryn Hughes 'Portraits to Dream In', at the National Portrait Gallery, Lond...

As the TLS celebrates all things Shakespeare, Emma Smith goes to see Ian McKellen's larger-than-life Falstaff; plus Rana Mitter on the immense impact and lasting legacy of the Tokyo Trial. 'Player Kings: Henry IV Parts 1 and 2', by William Shakespeare, adapted by Robert Icke, Noël Coward Theatre, London, until June 22, then touring 'Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Moder...

This week, George Berridge is at the theatre to see Brian Cox in a classic role; and Toby Lichtig on a literary scandal with tragic consequences. 'Long Day's Journey into Night', by Eugene O'Neill, Wyndham's Theatre, London, until June 8 'Bound to Violence', by Yambo Ouologuem, translated by Ralph Manheim 'The Most Secret Memory of Men', by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated by Lara Vergnaud 'The Ex...

This week, environmentalist Bill McKibben joins us to talk about the latest in the fight to avert climate catastrophe; and a conversation with the brilliant novelist Hisham Matar about his new novel. 'The Exhausted Earth: Politics in a Burning World', by Ajay Singh Chaudhary 'My Friends', by Hisham Matar Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Suzi Feay sizes up the public intellectuals, deadbeat aristocrats, hedonistic oligarchs and hardened street soldiers of Andrew O'Hagan's panoramic new novel; and Michael Caines on the prolific and endlessly imaginative world of Ray Bradbury. 'Caledonian Road', by Andrew O'Hagan 'Remembrance: Selected Correspondence of Ray Bradbury', edited by Jonathan R. Eller Produced by Charlotte Pard...

This week, Andrew Holter takes us into the extraordinary world of Helen Keller, in her own words; and Peter Maber hails a magnificent retrospective of Yoko Ono's radical art and music. 'Autobiographies and Other Writings', by Helen Keller 'Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind', Tate Modern, London, until 1 September 2024 Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

This week, Miranda France contemplates the final novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and Nicola Shulman on what women write in their diaries. 'Until August', by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, translated by Anne McLean 'Secret Voices: A Year of Women's Diaries', by Sarah Gristwood Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, novelist William Boyd praises a polyphonic account of a pivotal wartime moment; and Sarah Richmond explores how we may escape ceaseless toil. ‘November 1942: An Intimate History of the Turning Point of World War II’, by Peter Englund, translated by Peter Graves ‘Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic Against Workers and How Workers Can Take it Back’, by Elizabeth Anderson ‘Af...

This week, Damon Galgut praises Diane Oliver's exceptional short stories, newly published over half a century after her death; and Rosemary Waugh on theatre director Yaël Farber's visceral engagement with Shakespearean tragedy. 'Neighbors and Other Stories', by Diane Oliver 'King Lear', by William Shakespeare, directed by Yaël Farber, at the Almeida Theatre, London, until March 30, 2024 Produced b...

This week, Fintan O'Toole assesses what makes Labour leader Keir Starmer tick; and Linda Kinstler on the Ukrainian writer, musician and activist Serhiy Zhadan's chronicles of life during wartime. Plus John Kinsella reads his new poem, 'Rooks'. 'Keir Starmer: The Biography', by Tom Baldwin 'Rooks', by John Kinsella 'How Fire Descends: New and Selected Poems', by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Virlana...

This week, comedian and actor Tim Key introduces us to his new book of poetry; and Devoney Looser on the bold runaway women of early British novels. 'Chapters', by Tim Key, designed by Emily Juniper 'Gone Girls,1684–1901: Flights of feminist resistance in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British novel', by Nora Gilbert Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

The distinguished sociologist and cultural thinker Richard Sennett was once a professional cellist and his new book, The Performer, examines the links between artistic performance, politics and the public-sphere. We were delighted to talk to him about his own experiences asa musician and about prominent figures from Leonard Bernstein and Roland Barthes to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. 'The Perfo...

This week, a special interview with the sociologist Richard Sennett takes us from Roland Barthes to Leonard Bernstein; and Hettie Judah on two memoirs inspired by a love of 17th-century art. 'The Performer: Art, Life, Politics', by Richard Sennett 'Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death', by Laura Cumming 'The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters', by Benjamin Moser...

This week, Sinéad Gleeson delights in the byways of Maeve Brennan's New York; and Costica Bradatan explores the enduring appeal of Henry David Thoreau. 'The Long-Winded Lady', by Maeve Brennan, with an introduction by Sinéad Gleeson 'Thoreau's Axe: Distraction and Discipline in American Culture', by Caleb Smith 'Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living', by John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle 'Henry...