Book Shambles

Comedian and Bake Off host Tom Allen joins Robin and Josie this week to talk about his memoir No Shame, which is out now. They chat of growing up in the suburbs, doing Julie Andrews numbers at high school plays and early comedy gigs in New Cross. They also discuss in detail how many celebrities admit to soiling themselves in their autobiographies... To hear an extended edition of this episode subs...

Two guests on this week's episode. Firstly Robin chats to A.L. Kennedy who returns to the podcast to chat about her new collection of short stories We Are Attempting to Survive Our Time and why she finds writing short stories a different, and sometimes harder, challenge than writing a novel. And then in the second half of the episode Josie talks to philosopher and author Tom Whyman about his book...

Robin and Josie are joined by author Douglas Stuart, winner of the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut novel Shuggie Bain ahead of it's release in paperback. They chat about the book's decade long gestation, growing up in Glasgow under Thatcher and the importance of getting more working class stories into popular fiction. As always, an extended version of this episode is available for Patreon supporte...

On today's episode Josie and Robin are joined by the actor, comedian and writer Katy Wix to talk about her new book, Delicacy: A Memoir about Cake and Death. They chat about the book, stories of the Fringe, jugglers who can't juggle and then, eventually, Josie just can't keep her love of Stath Lets Flats in any longer... To hear a super bumper edition with 25 minutes of extra chat, become a Patreo...

Two science authors on the show today, both with new books that look at different ways of what makes us human. First up it's Shambles regular, Ginny Smith chatting to Robin and Josie about her new book Overloaded: How Every Aspect of Your Life is Influenced by Your Brain Chemicals, which is out today! And then they chat with Melanie Challenger about her new release, How to Be Animal: A New History...

This week's Book Shambles is a cross over event. Physicist, and one of the world's biggest selling science authors, Carlo Rovelli has a new book out today, Helgoland. He joined Robin for a conversation for our Patreon exclusive series Tips for Existence but we're making some of that conversation around the book available for free here on Book Shambles. To hear the full Tips for Existence episode,...

It's a double header this week! First up Robin and Josie chat with journalist Ben Machell about his book, The Unusual Suspect: The Rise and Fall of a Modern-Day Outlaw and then in the second part Robin chats to Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste. If you'd like to hear the full versions of both of these interviews, you can subscribe to the podcast's Patreon at patreo...

Journalist Nell Frizzell's new book is The Panic Years: Dates, Doubts, and the Mother of All Decisions and it spoke so strongly to Josie that she provided one of the cover quotes so it only makes sense she join her and Robin on the podcast. They chat about the book, motherhood, some of Nell's favourite books about parenting, vegetable growing and much more. To hear an extended edition of this epis...

On today's episode, Josie couldn't make the recording and so Robin is joined by a guest co-host, the brilliant Natalie Haynes. They chat to Mark Steel about a new book of collected writings and musings of the late Jeremy Hardy, Speaks Volumes, for which Mark wrote the introduction. They chat about the difference between a comedian and a comic, favourite stories in the book and why it's high time w...

Salena Godden was one of our very first guests on Book Shambles six years ago and now she's back to talk about her debut novel, the hugely acclaimed Mrs Death Misses Death. She chats to Josie and Robin about the book, discovering female authors in her thirties and the process of writing while walking. Support the show on Patreon to get extended editions each and every week. You can do that at patr...

This week Robin and Josie are joined by the multi-award winning, and Booker Prize long-listed, Irish novelist and short stories writer Kevin Barry. They chat about his latest collection of short stories, That Old Country Music, the grumpiness of Dennis Potter, a hatred of the first draft and the appeal of living by a swamp. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreo...

Marian Keyes is one of the most successful Irish writers of all time with her novels having sold over 30 million copies and been translated into 33 languages. With her most recent novel, the Sunday Times #1 bestseller Grown Ups, just landing in paperback she joined Josie and Robin to talk about the book, her writing process, dealing with important issues in 'genre fiction' and much more. As always...

You've probably heard us talking about our new audio documentary series An Uncanny Hour on Book Shambles recently. Well we've just finished season one of the show, which features six one hour documentaries on everything from Hawkwind to David Cronenburg. We speak to authors, performers and scientists such as Stewart Lee, Reece Shearsmith and Kier-La Janisse about the weird and the uncanny corners...

Author Nikesh Shukla returns to the podcast this week to chat to Robin and Josie about his new memoir, Brown Baby. They chat about the importance of humour in non-fiction, the idea of writing a memoir to his children and the amusement derived from dropping Marvel Easter Eggs into the book. They also cover parenting, the pointlessness of Twitter arguments and Nikesh's daughter's desire for the epis...

Alexi Pappas is an author, actor, screenwriter and Olympian to boot. You might have recently seen her in the film Olympic Dreams, alongside Nick Kroll, with whom she also co-wrote it. She competed in track and field for Greece in the 2016 Olympics and has just released her brilliant memoir Bravey, in which she talks about her life, drive and battles with depression. She joins Robin and Josie from...

Robin has often mentioned how much he enjoyed Cosey Fanni Tutti's book Art Sex Music so it was only right we finally get her on the show. She joins Robin and Josie to talk about Hull, the counter culture, finding your own path in art and feminism in the 70s. Josie was having all myriad of technical difficulties during this recording so please bear with her! And also please note that there is some...

For our first proper episode of 2021 Josie and Robin are joined by comedian and broadcaster Alan Davies, who is also the author of the new acclaimed memoir, Just Ignore Him. They chat about the process of writing the book, dealing with the past, separating the art from the artist and a whole lot more. Please note that this episode does contain discussion around the subject of abuse. To hear an ext...

In our first episode of 2021, Robin and Josie look back on the best things they read in 2020. Most are books that came out last year, but a few aren't, don't hold it against us. From poetry to science to horror, there's something in this long list of recommendations for everyone! Support the show, and hear extended episodes, by signing up at patreon.com/bookshambles

In a somewhat Christmas themed episode Robin is joined by the philosopher Julian Baggini and the former Dean of Guilford to talk about Julian's new book, The Godless Gospel. They chat about the main question of Julian's book, if we take the 'magical' elements out of The Bible, was Jesus a good moral teacher? They also talk about the philosophy of Jesus, the role of, and failures of, religion today...

Jenny Landreth returns to the podcast this week to speak to Josie about her new book Breaking a Leg. They chat about the wonderful world of am-dram, the negative connotations of the word 'amateur' and how Jenny single handedly invented cold water swimming. For reading lists, past episodes etc head to cosmicshambles.com/bookshambles and support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles

Today Robin is joined by author and journalist Susannah Cahalan. Her first book, Brain on Fire, was a smash hit memoir about contracting a rare auto-immune disease, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis that was turned into a film of the same name with Chloë Grace Moretz playing the role of Susannah. Her new book is The Great Pretender in which she investigates the work of prominent psychologist David R...

When we said Hallie Rubenhold was going to be a guest on the show we were flooded with comments from people saying The Five, her 2019 book about the lives of the women murdered by Jack the Ripper, was one of their favourite books of the last few years. They're not alone as it was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize and won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction. Robin chats to Hallie abou...

Janna Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Columbia University and a world leading researcher on our understanding of black holes. Her new book, Black Hole Survival Guide, is out this week and she joined us from the US to chat about it. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

A little while ago we did a Book Shambles Livestream as part of the Royal Albert Home series and now, here it is, in podcast form. Robin and Josie co-host with Science Shambles co-host Helen Czerski and they are joined by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to chat about her new book, Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut, as well as musician Tanita Tikaram whose music was taken to space by a number of as...

This week Robin is joined by physician and author Gavin Francis to talk about his obsession with islands, and his new book on the subject Island Dreams. They talk about the psychology and philosophy beyond humans connections to islands and when moving to an island can become more of a nightmare than a dream. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patre...