Baillie Gifford Prize

Tune into the latest episode of the Read Smart podcast, where Toby Mundy will be speaking to another one of this year’s shortlisted authors, John Vaillant. John’s work Fire Weather explores the apocalyptic wildfire that took place in Fort McMurray in 2016, as well as the past and future of our increasingly flammable world. The shortlisted book delves into the intertwining histories of the oil indu...

Tune into the first of our Read Smart special shortlist episodes, where we will be chatting to all six of this year’s shortlisted authors in the run up to the winner announcement. First up, Prize Director Toby Mundy speaks to Jeremy Eichler, author of Time’s Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust and the Music of Remembrance about how music bears witness to history and carries forward the memor...

Tune into the special shortlist episode of the Read Smart podcast, which features the Baillie Gifford Prize live event from Cheltenham Literature Festival last Sunday. Hear Chair of Judges Frederick Studemann speak to last year’s winner, Katherine Rundell, about her fascination for the electric life and work of poet John Donne, alongside the moment the six books on this year’s shortlist were revea...

Tune into the latest episode of the Read Smart podcast, where two of our judges – Arifa Akbar and Ruth Scurr – will be delving into the 2023 longlist with our host, Razia Iqbal. Spanning the complex themes of war, memory, revolution and science, this year’s longlist illuminates a myriad of historical topics, bringing to life forgotten stories that address the most urgent concerns for our future. L...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast is dedicated to our Winner of Winners, James Shapiro, who won our 25th anniversary award two weeks ago today with 1599: A Year In the Life of William Shakespeare. Listen to Shapiro and Iqbal discuss the literary canon, the cultural significance of Shakespeare’s plays and the Bard’s influence on contemporary politics. Listen now to hear all about it. The...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast features Prize Director Toby Mundy speaking to Patrick Radden Keefe, who won the prize in 2021 with Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. Radden Keefe and Mundy together explore the dark and murky methods of the Sackler family, as well as the consequences of the crisis that are still seen in America today. Detailing the story of 21s...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast features Razia Iqbal speaking to Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919, formerly titled Peacemakers, about how the book casts a new light on the negotiations that influenced the modern world. As the first woman to ever win the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2002, MacMillan explores the fascinating figures behind the peace process and what could have been d...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast features host Razia Iqbal speaking to Wade Davis, 2012 winner of The Baillie Gifford Prize, about Into The Silence, a book delving into the psychological aftermath of the First World War and mountaineer George Mallory’s fatal expedition to Mount Everest. The Guardian has praised Davis’ work, highlighting how the “tried and tested narrative routes are gu...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast continues our Winner of Winners series, where each of the shortlisted authors are interviewed. This week, host Razia Iqbal will be speaking to James Shapiro, who won the prize in 2006 with 1599: A Year In The Life of William Shakespeare. Iqbal and Shapiro explore life in Elizabethan England, how Shakespeare managed to produce four great works (including...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast features host Razia Iqbal speaking to Craig Brown about his book One, Two, Three, Four: The Beatles in Time, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2020. Brown’s book has been described by The Guardian as “not a biography so much as a group portrait in vignettes, a rearrangement of stories and legends whose trick is to make The Beatles gleam anew.” One...

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast kicks off the first of our special Winners of Winners episodes, in which each of the shortlisted authors will be interviewed. This week, host Razia Iqbal will be speaking to Barbara Demick, who won the Prize in 2010 with Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea. In the book, Demick weaves together the stories of resilience between six residents of Cho...

On 9th March, the Baillie Gifford Prize announced the shortlist for its 25th anniversary Winner of Winners award, which will go to the book the judges think is the best of the previous winners of the Prize. Listen in as host Razia Iqbal talks to judges Jason Cowley and Sarah Churchwell about which books they chose, and what the process has been like so far. If this episode has piqued your interest...

Listen to the latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast to discover more about the Prize’s history, and how the wider world of non-fiction has changed in the 25 years since it was first established. In this episode, former Baillie Gifford judge Razia Iqbal talks to Caroline Sanderson and Andrew Holgate, both of whom have chaired judging panels for the Prize, about what the experience is like and ho...

Make sure you tune into the latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast, which explores what life is like in dictatorships across the world and throughout history. Our host Razia Iqbal will be joined by three former winners of the prize; Historian Michael Burleigh, journalist Barbara Demick and historian Frank Dikötter. They delve into the fascinatingly complex definitions and qualities behind the te...

Tune into the final Read Smart podcast episode of the year, where 2022 prize winner Katherine Rundell discusses her book Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne and how she feels following the announcement. Our host Razia Iqbal also speaks to some of the other guests at the awards ceremony, including former judge Sara Collins, last year’s chair of judges Andrew Holgate and Margaret Busby...

Join Toby Mundy, director of the Baillie Gifford Prize and Caroline Elkins, author of the shortlisted book ‘Legacy of Violence’, for their discussion on how the British Empire used liberal rhetoric to justify repeated violence against its colonies. Listen in to Read Smart to hear all about how Caroline and a team of researchers uncovered this hidden history, and how the Empire’s legalised violence...

Discover the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist Toby Mundy, the prize’s director and Jonathan Freedland, author of ‘The Escape Artist’, which tells the story of Rudolph Vrba, who escaped Auschwitz to warn the world about the horrors of the Holocaust, saving thousands of lives. Tune in to hear what drew Jonathan to Vrba’s story in the first place, and why it’s important we allow survivors to be flawed...

Find out more about the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist with director of the prize Toby Mundy and Polly Morland, author of ‘A Fortunate Woman’, who talks about the importance of the doctor/patient relationship and how she reinterpreted John Berger’s medical classic A Fortunate Man. Tune in to hear how Polly was first inspired to write the book, and how the pandemic affected her research. Over the...

Explore the Baillie Gifford Prize 2022 shortlist on Read Smart, as prize director Toby Mundy talks to Sally Hayden about her book ‘My Fourth Time, We Drowned’, and the role Europe plays in perpetuating the migrant crisis. Listen now to hear how migrants are ending up in refugee camps in Libya, and the importance of using the correct language when describing their plight. If you’re interested in le...

Dive into the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist with director of the prize Toby Mundy and Anna Keay, author of ‘The Restless Republic’, who talks about providing new perspectives on the English civil war and its aftermath. Listen now to hear all about the colourful cast of characters that populate the book, and why it’s so difficult to understand the mindset of the time. If you’re interested in lear...

Tune into the latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast, where our host and director of the Baillie Gifford Prize Toby Mundy, will be joined by Katherine Rundell, author of ‘Super Infinite’ to discuss why you should read about the extraordinary and tempestuous life of John Donne. Listen now to hear all about it. The podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. For more podcas...

Tune into the latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast, where our host Razia Iqbal will be joined by two members of our judging panel, Rachel Cooke and Georgina Godwin, to discuss the six books which have made the 2022 shortlist. The judges will give their reasons for why these six books stood out from the rest of the longlist, alongside how they chose to go about making such a difficult decision....

The latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast, is dedicated entirely to our much anticipated longlist. Host Razia Iqbal is joined by three members of our judging panel, Caroline Sanderson, Laura Spinney and Samanth Subramanian, to discuss all twelve longlisted books and why these have been chosen to be in the running for this year’s prize. Listen now to hear all about the longlist. The podcast is g...

On 5th September, the Conservative Party will announce the next leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party and the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  Ahead of this, tune into the latest episode of the Read Smart podcast, where Razia Iqbal, is joined by Sonia Purnell, who has written biographies on Boris Johnson and Clementine Churchill, alongside John Rentoul, Chief Political Commentat...

Tune into the latest episode of the Read Smart podcast, ‘George Floyd: Two Years On’ where writer and critic Tomiwa Owolade and Olivette Otele PhD, Professor of the Legacies and Memory of Slavery at SOAS, discuss the widespread impact of George Floyd’s tragic death on both the cultural landscape and the publishing world. Our guests delve into the role of the Black Lives Matter movement, unconsciou...