Baillie Gifford Prize

In the lead up to the winner announcement on the 24th November we'll be celebrating each of the shortlisted books in a weekly mini-cast episode. Listen to our first mini-cast with prize director Toby Mundy and Craig Brown. In this episode of 'In Conversation' Craig Brown and Toby Mundy explore the many different characters and stories that surround The Beatles and their success. This podcast was r...

Welcome to the Read Smart shortlist episode! Host, BBC's Razia Iqbal explores each of the 6 shortlisted titles and authors with 2020 judges, BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Martha Kearney, editor and novelist Simon Ings, and New York Times opinion editor Max Strasser. They go through each book individually and discuss how each title reflects the very best in non-fiction. The 2020 shortlist is: • One T...

Welcome to Read Smart, the 2020 longlist episode! BBC's Razia Iqbal explores each of the 13 titles and authors with 2020 judges, BBC presenter, professor and author Shahidha Bari, New Statesman writer Leo Robson, and journalist and author Bee Wilson. The 2020 longlist is: • One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown (Harper Collins, 4th Estate) • Labours of Love - The Crisis of Care by...

We’re excited to catch up with 2019 Baillie Gifford Prize winner Hallie Rubenhold and 2019 chair of judges Stig Abell. Hallie won with The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper and continues to work a busy schedule through lockdown; Stig is the host of the new Times Radio’s breakfast programme. Host Razia Iqbal finds out what both Hallie and Stig have been up to since last...

Razia explores writing biographies with Baillie Gifford Prize alumni Lucy Hughes-Hallett (2013 winner), Sir Jonathan Bate (2015 shortlisted) and William Feaver (2019 shortlisted). They discuss the joys and challenges that come with studying and portraying other people’s lives. Hughes-Hallet won the prize in 2013 with The Pike (Fourth Estate), Bate was shortlisted in 2015 with Ted Hughes: The Unaut...

We look at the rise in use and popularity of Artificial Intelligence. Joining podcast host Razia Iqbal is British novelist, scientist and 2020 Baillie Gifford prize judge, Simon Ings and mathematician Hannah Fry, author of 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize shortlisted book Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine. They explore our relationship, trust and increasing dependency on machines; i...

In episode 2, we’re joined by insiders from the publishing world to hear about trends in non-fiction and the world of books, and what we need in times in crisis. Host Razia Iqbal speaks to Andrew Holgate, Literary Editor of the Sunday Times; co-founder of Particular Books and publisher at Profile Books, Helen Conford; and Georgina Laycock who is a publisher at John Murray. This episode was recorde...

We’re excited to announce the new Read Smart Podcast. The show is hosted by BBC’s Razia Iqbal, produced by The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The new series builds on last year’s successful podcasts released to celebrate the prize’s 21st anniversary. Each month, Razia explores the increasingly popular world of non-fiction books...

Listen to the final episode of our podcast featuring 2019 winner Hallie Rubenhold and chair of judges Stig Abell In this episode our podcast host, Razia Iqbal, is joined by winner Hallie Rubenhold. Together they discuss The Five: The Untold Lives of The Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, and the significance of winning the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. You can also hear our chair of judges...

In this shortlist episode, our podcast host, Razia Iqbal, is joined by judges Dr Xand van Tulleken and Dr Myriam Francois to discuss the six chosen titles and how reading such a volume of different books is both challenging and enlightening. Iqbal also speaks with book blogger Olive Fellows about her reading initiative Non-Fiction November. Four of the six titles bring women’s lives to the forefro...

In this episode, our podcast host, Razia Iqbal, is joined by judges Stig Abell and Frances Wilson to talk about the twelve books that have made it onto the longlist. The twelve titles span history, biography, current affairs and natural science, with several addressing grand themes including race, courtroom drama, ideology, and economics.

In episode three of our podcast, Helen Macdonald and Philip Hoare join host Razia Iqbal to discuss their prize-winning books, and Tom Tivnan looks at the impact of winning a prize for authors.

In the second episode of this series host Razia Iqbal meets up with prize winners Antony Beevor (Stalingrad, 1999) and Margaret MacMillan (Peacemakers: The Paris Peace conference of 1919, 2002) to discuss their prize winning books.

Episode one features a discussion with prize winners Philippe Sands (East West Street, 2016) and Anna Funder (Stasiland, 2004). With host Razia Iqbal, they discuss their winning books, the relationship between the personal and political, and the forensic nature of telling true stories.

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of the prize, we have launched a new podcast generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The new series is hosted by Razia Iqbal, special correspondent at BBC. In this first introductory episode, Razia sits down with Toby Mundy, Executive Director of the Prize, to discuss its heritage and history as well as what we can expect to hear in future podcast...