Literary Friction

Isn’t this beautiful weather we’re having? Doesn’t it make you feel like running sand between your fingers and toes? Now that summer is very much on the horizon, we’re dedicating this minisode to the joys of beach reads, so stay tuned for some optimistic fantasising about long, sunny days with nothing to do but read and snooze and swim and eat, and our thoughts about what makes the perfect - or the worst - beach read.

We know that literature - like all culture - is biased, but can books also be a way of recognising and combating stereotypes? Our guest, Dr Jennifer Eberhardt, is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on racial bias, and her new book Biased is a comprehensive look at the science of unconscious bias and how it affects our society. With this show, we’re continuing our conversation about race and literature that we started with Reni Eddo-Lodge and Kishani Widyaratna in 2017 (you can find that show in our archive). Specifically, we're looking at racial bias: what it is, how it damages our society, and if there's anything we can do about it. So, join us for the next hour as we try to further decolonise our minds. Email us: [email protected] Tweet us and find us on Instagram: @litfriction Recommendations on the theme, The Science of Bias: Octavia: Swing Time by Zadie Smith https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/565/56513/swing-time/9780141036601.html Carrie: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2016/invisible-man-by-ralph-ellison/ General Recommendations: Octavia: Whereas by Layli Long Soldier https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/layli-long-soldier/whereas/9781529012804 Carrie: Three Women by Lisa Taddeo https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/lisa-taddeo/work/three-women Jennifer: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/224792/just-mercy-by-bryan-stevenson/9780812984965/

On Minisode Four we're thinking about our literary guilty pleasures - those books we might not want people to know we read, because we fear their judgement, or maybe we even judge ourselves a little for enjoying them. Basically it’s all about shame! Have you ever hidden the cover of what you’re reading so no one will know? Is there anything you’ve been embarrassed to buy in a bookshop? Are there books on your shelves that you hide when people come round? Listen in for some secrets and revelations, plus some cultural stuff we've been into lately. Recommendations: Fleabag https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p070npjv/fleabag The Dropout http://abcradio.com/podcasts/the-dropout/ Uh https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/tracks/n5xv42 The Other Side of the Sea https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/contemporary/heloise-werner-the-hermes-experiment/

In the words of celebrated Canadian poet Anne Carson, “if prose is a house, poetry is a man on fire running quite fast through it”. Whether you’re into Frank O’Hara or Emily Dickinson, Audre Lorde or e. e. cummings, Walt Whitman or Sylvia Plath, we’ve got something for you in this poetry-themed show. Our guest is poet and academic Hannah Sullivan, who joined us to talk about her evocative debut collection, Three Poems, which explores the intimacies and intricacies of life, from sex and love and being young in New York, to the birth of a son, and the death of a father. So, come get lyrical with us and we might even drop some rhyming couplets over the next hour on Literary Friction. Email us: [email protected] Tweet us and find us on Instagram: @litfriction Recommendations on the theme, Poetry: Octavia: Witch by Rebecca Tamás http://www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk/index.php/2019/01/rebecca-tamas/ Carrie: Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara https://groveatlantic.com/book/meditations-in-an-emergency/ General Recommendations: Octavia: My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/my-sister-the-serial-killer/ Carrie: Terrific Mother by Lorrie Moore https://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/product/view/id/7029/s/9780571351831-terrific-mother/ Hannah: A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford https://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/product/book/a-compass-error/

The writer Laura Relyea recently tweeted the question ‘What books are automatic red flags for you with people?’ and it got over 12,000 likes and 4,100 responses. We thought we'd stick our oars in as well, so join us for Minisode Three, in which we get into red flags, literary snobbery, books as cultural capital, and whether it's ever ok to judge a person by their reading habits.

In a world increasingly dominated by xenophobia and wall-building, this month we wanted to look to the books that cross borders instead. So our theme for this show is migration in literature, from the novels of John Steinbeck to Zadie Smith. We've been wanting to talk about this for a while, and we waited for the perfect author guest to explore this with us. We spoke to award-winning Mexican author Valeria Luiselli, whose latest novel Lost Children Archive is about both a road trip one family takes across America, and child migrants on the US/Mexico border. So, come and tear down walls with us for the next hour on Literary Friction.

We're thrilled to bring you this podcast special: a recording of our live interview with author Yelena Moskovich at Jewish Book Week. We talked about Yelena’s second novel, Vituoso, queer identities, crossing boundaries and disobedient women of the ex-Soviet diaspora, amongst many other topics. Enjoy!

We’re very pleased to report that Minisode One went down really well so we're back with another one for your pleasure. Last time we talked about books we hated, so this month we decided to get into characters we love. But, like, love love: we explored our literary crushes - from Behemoth the cat to Virginia Woolf - and the intimacy of reading. So tune in for chat about literary desire, and to hear what other cultural things got our pulses racing lately.

From Cain and Abel, to the Brothers Karamazov, to Fred and George Weasley, the pages of literature have been filled with memorable brothers. This month, we’ll be talking about our favourite fraternal pairs, and thinking about why siblings, with their love and rivalries, remain so evocative in books. As usual, our theme is inspired by our guest, Claire Adam, whose first novel Golden Child is a thrilling story about twin brothers growing up in Trinidad, and the very different paths their lives take. So, stay with us for the next hour for some brotherly love!

Welcome to our first ever minisode! We’ve wanted to bring you more literary friction for a while, so thought we’d follow the lead of some of our favourite podcasts and put out a mini episode in between full shows. This month things got a bit salty as we talked about books we hated. We also moved beyond the literary realm and recommended other cultural things that have filled us with joy. So, if you fancy a little more informal chat, then just push play.

Are the woods a joyous escape from the morals and prying eyes of polite society, or a dark and forbidding place where no-one is safe? Or both? How is the forest in literature changing as the forests in our world disappear? This month we’re going into the woods, looking at literary forests from Shakespeare to Sondheim to Lovecraft and beyond. Our theme is inspired by our guest Luke Turner, editor of The Quietus, whose memoir Out of the Woods is a beautiful and frank examination of sexuality, love, religion, and London’s Epping Forest. We also have some news: next month we're launching our first ever minisode! So if you'd like more of us wanging on about books and maybe telling you some secrets, you are in luck. But for now, relax under a canopy of green and join us as we try to see the wood for the trees on Literary Friction.

In honour of the arrival of 2019, this month we’ll be looking back at the last year in books, discussing what we most enjoyed, and looking forward to what we'll be reading in the next year. “But wait!”, you say. “I wanted an author interview!” Don’t worry - we’ve got you covered, and what a gift it is (come on, bear with us, it's just after Christmas). We talked to author Ann Wroe, whose latest book Francis: A Life in Song is an unusual, beautiful, moving portrait through poetry of the life of St. Francis of Assisi and his resonance today. It’s an unusual and wonderful book, which has had glowing reviews, and it’s a perfect way to cap off the year on Literary Friction.

What makes a man? Why do men fight? Is there a crisis of masculinity? These are some of the questions that authors from Ernest Hemingway to Grayson Perry have asked, and questions that Thomas Page McBee addresses head on in his searching, beautiful and wise second book Amateur, the true story of his quest to become the first trans man to box at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Once a 'masculinity expert' for Vice, his essays and reportage have appeared in the New York Times, Playboy, Glamour, and Salon. We spoke to Thomas about Amateur, which was shortlisted for the 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize, and the need to drastically redefine what masculinity really means in contemporary culture. So if you want to learn what it really means to be a man, just push play.

From Ivanhoe to Wolf Hall to The Essex Serpent, what is it about the historical novel that is so compelling? This month, we spoke to Canadian author Esi Edugyan about her third novel, Washington Black (shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize). It tells the story of a gifted artist, born a slave on a plantation in 1830s Bermuda, and the fantastic and surprising course of his life which takes him from the Arctic to London to the deserts of Morocco in an exciting but perilous adventure. If you’re curious about what we look for in art about the past, and have ever wondered if historical novels really have to be true to history, press play and join us.

Who wants to be a millionaire? This month, darlings, we’re talking about all things hoity-toity, posh and expensive - our theme is High Society. Why are there so many rich people in fiction? Should they be anything other than the object of ridicule and scorn? Are the rich different? To help answer these questions, we talked to award-winning Canadian novelist Patrick deWitt. His fourth novel, French Exit, is the story of Frances, an upper-class widow and her adult son, Malcolm, who flee from New York to Paris when their money runs out. Accompanying them is their cat in whom the body of Frances' dead ex-husband resides, along with, eventually, a medium, a French private investigator and a lonely sycophant. If that sounds absurd and funny - it is! So grab your champagne coup and stay with us for the next hour on Literary Friction.

Everyone needs to peace out from time to time, so this month we’re talking about the fictional trope of rest and relaxation, and how authors have explored this kind of inertia - from the tale of Rip Van Winkle to the Swiss sanitorium in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. Our guest is the novelist Ottessa Moshfegh, whose brilliant new novel is called My Year of Rest and Relaxation. In it, a privileged young woman living on the upper East side in Manhattan, dissatisfied with her life, decides to embark on a year of sleep and seclusion in her apartment aided by lots of prescription drugs and a permissive psychiatrist. So, kick off your shoes, recline, and stay with us for the next hour on Literary Friction.

Youth culture: is it the territory of fashion and music, or can novels tell us something about the teenage experience? This month is dedicated to the youths and their subcultures – from flappers to mods to punks to ravers – and we examine how authors have attempted to capture the fragile, gnarly reality of life as a young person in novels like A Clockwork Orange and the latest YA sensations. Our guest is Guy Gunaratne, whose explosive first novel In Our Mad and Furious City is set over 48 hours on a housing estate in North West London, and told through the voices of five of its residents. Listen in for teenage reminiscences and all the usual recommendations as we attempt to get down with the kids this month on Literary Friction.

Western politics is a mess right now, so what better time to discuss the role of the State of the Nation novel - those books that capture the zeitgeist and make us reflect on the contemporary moment. Can literature speak to our times in ways other media can't? Our guest today, friend of the programme Olivia Laing, has made a good argument in favour with her fourth book, but first novel, Crudo. Unfolding in real time during the summer of 2017 in the wake of the Brexit vote and Trump’s election, Crudo features a character that very closely resembles Kathy Acker coming to terms with marriage, and the state of the world around her. Listen in for our interview with Olivia, plus all the usual recommendations.

Whether it’s Jefferson, Mississippi in the novels of William Faulkner, or coastal Maine in Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, or even the Shire, the small, tight-knit community has provided fertile ground for novelists. This month, we bring you a show dedicated to small towns in literature, partly recorded in front of a live audience at the Derby Book Festival, where we interviewed acclaimed author Jon McGregor about his latest novel, Reservoir 13. It tells the story of a girl's disappearance from a small village in the Peak District in England, and the aftershocks it leaves in the community for years to come. So listen in for our conversation with Jon, some thoughts about literary small town life, and join us in resisting the overwhelming urge to quote lyrics by Journey and John Cooger Mellancamp.

Our theme this month is ‘On the Road’ and no - we’re not spending an hour discussing Jack Kerouac (phew). Instead, we’ll be talking about all the other wonderful books that have taken us on the road and, usually, on a journey of discovery too. Our guest is writer Damian Le Bas, whose fascinating debut The Stopping Places is a journey through Gypsy Britain, in which he visits the places scattered across the country where his Gypsy family and ancestors made their temporary homes. So listen in for a show dedicated to the tradition of books that roam, road novels and their intrepid travelling protagonists, and other books that use journeys as their narrative frame, plus all the usual recommendations. Ideal listening for those of you that are on the move!

Nothing grants insight into lived experience quite like a memoir, and the form is currently having a resurgence. This month, we celebrate the memoirs that take us from the experience of giving birth to coming out to what it’s like to be in a world-famous band, via all the richness and thorny issues that this form promises. Our guest is Viv Albertine, former guitarist in the hugely influential all-female punk band The Slits. Her first memoir, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys, was published in 2015, and she came in to talk to us about its follow-up, To Throw Away Unopened. It's published this month, and is about many things but mostly her complicated relationship with her extraordinary mother and growing up as a working-class kid in London.

This show is dedicated to rediscovered literature - all the neglected gems that have been reintroduced to the world by passionate publishers, writers and readers. Joining us are two wonderful guests: first, playwright and writer Nell Dunn, whose 1965 book Talking to Women is a collection of edited transcripts of conversations with nine of her female friends. Out of print until now, feminist publisher Silver Press are reviving it this May. In the book, Nell speaks to author Ann Quin, the late, little-known British writer whose work has recently been thrust back into public attention, largely because indie publisher And Other Stories have released The Unmapped Country, a new collection of her stories and fragments. The book’s editor, writer and critic Jennifer Hodgson, joins us for the second segment.

As the most famous nanny in the world once said, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but you won't need to sweeten the deal as you listen to our latest guest: French-Moroccan author Leïla Slimani joins us this month to discuss her compelling second novel Lullaby, which examines a relationship between a young Parisian couple and their nanny that ends in tragedy. Lullaby won France's most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, making Leïla the twelfth woman in history to do so, and it's since become an international sensation. So listen in as we discuss the fascinating and sometimes fraught place nannies occupy in our culture. From the magical perfection of Mary Poppins to the killer babysitters of slasher B-movies, these almost-mummies are the stuff of both dreams and nightmares.

The novella - a book that you can devour in a day, or even a single sitting. Feared by contemporary publishing but loved by readers, some of the most enduring works of literature, from Death in Venice to Mrs Dalloway to The Stranger, can be included in this category. This month we were joined by a writer of very good, very short books, Welsh author Cynan Jones, so without further ado, we dedicate this episode to the pithy brilliance of short novels.

From Adam and Eve to Hester Prynne to Cersie Lannister, characters in literature have been motivated by and undone by shame, so this month we decided to get up close and personal with this uncomfortable emotion. We spoke to author Pajtim Statovci about his brilliant first novel, My Cat Yugoslavia, which was originally published in Finnish in 2014. It tells the story of a young gay refugee from the Balkans, whose search for meaning in the midst of loneliness leads him to purchase a boa constrictor, in spite of his acute fear of snakes, and to befriend a talking cat he meets in a Helsinki gay bar.

After Brexit - the supposed ‘will of the people’ - everyone is talking about the working class. And yet the actual voice of the working class is rarely heard, especially in literature. This month, we have a very special edition of Literary Friction based around a new collection of essays on the working class by the working class called Know Your Place, published by the brilliant gang at Dead Ink Books. We talked to three authors featured in the collection about their essays and the urgent need to publish more diverse voices: award-winning novelist Kit de Waal; the editor and publisher of Know Your Place, Nathan Connolly; and London-based writer and poet Abondance Matanda.

It's September, the leaves are turning and Autumn has arrived, so in honour of this return to reality we bring you a show about the everyday, the mundane, the quotidian in literature. As usual, our theme is inspired by our guest, and this month we’ll be playing a recording of a live interview Carrie did with the celebrated Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard a couple weeks ago at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road. Knausgaard is best known for his epic My Struggle series, but he was in town to talk about his new book, appropriately called Autumn, the first in a quartet of titles based around the seasons. In Autumn, he describes the world around him – from chewing gum to toilet bowls to frogs – to his unborn daughter. So tune in for a celebration of the ordinary things in literature, and a discussion about how writers from George Eliot to Elizabeth Strout have made them compelling and extraordinary.

Ever since the Lumière brothers showed their 1895 film of a train pulling into a station, we have been captivated by the silver screen, and this month’s show is an ode to what happens when cinema and literature cross paths. We interviewed award-winning American novelist Dana Spiotta about her latest book, Innocents and Others, which tells the story of two friends who are both filmmakers, and the stress their relationship suffers when an enigmatic woman named Jelly comes into their lives. As usual, we’ll also discuss the theme more generally, talking about books that engage with cinema, from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon to the criticism of Pauline Kael and Gilles Deleuze. So, sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show!

This month we're discussing a subject that isn't covered enough: race in Britain. Our brilliant author/guest is Reni Eddo-Lodge, who came in to talk about her first book, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, a vital and passionate look at this country's long and complicated relationship with structural racism. We're also thrilled to be joined in the conversation by Kishani Widyaratna, from Picador and The White Review.

We have a very meta show for you this month: the theme is conversation, so we’ll be talking about writing about talking, from the conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities to the pithy dialogue in Bridget Jones’ Diary. You could even say that it’s a conversation about… conversations! As usual, our theme is inspired by our guest Sally Rooney, whose excellent debut novel Conversations with Friends tells the story of two female friends and former lovers, and the complicated relationship they fall into with an older married couple. Listen in and tell all your friends!

The literary essay is a slippery and expansive form, and has encompassed everything from an attempt to define the word ‘camp’ to a dispatch from a cruise ship. This month we interview writer Brian Dillon about his forthcoming book, Essayism – a collection of essays about essays and an ode to the form in all its machinations. We also discuss some of our favourite essay writers including Michel de Montaigne, Joan Didion and David Foster Wallace, plus all the usual recommendations.

From Thomas Mann to Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande, library shelves heave with stories about the struggle to understand and overcome illness. This month, we've teamed up with The Wellcome Book Prize, which celebrates literature that engages with the topics of health and medicine and the many ways they touch our lives. We interviewed two of the authors on their excellent shortlist: David France, whose narrative history How to Survive a Plague is a riveting and devastating first-hand account of the fight against AIDS in the USA; and Sarah Moss, whose fifth novel The Tidal Zone is a complex and beautiful story about family life in the wake of a serious medical emergency. Listen in for all this and a more general discussion of medicine in literature, as well as all the usual recommendations. So kick back, pop a Vitamin C, and let us be your remedy for the next hour.

It seems the Western world has begun to eat itself, so in defiance, this month we bring you a show celebrating the rich diversity of immigrants in literature. From Vladamir Nabokov to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, immigrant writers have been getting the job expertly done for a very long time. Our guest is Julianne Pachico, a Colombian-American writer whose debut book The Lucky Ones is a collection of linked stories set in Colombia and New York. Just push play to hear Julianne's take on the immigrant writer's experience, our thoughts on the immigrant literary narrative, and all the usual recommendations. At least in literature our borders can remain open!

Do illustrations have a place in the novel? Pictures were commonplace in nineteenth-century books by authors like Thackeray and Dickens, and yet today almost all grown-up fiction is devoid of any illustrations, with a few notable exceptions including the work of W.G. Sebald and Douglas Coupland. Should a case be made for bringing them back? Our guest is the Irish writer Sara Baume whose first novel, Spill Simmer Falter Wither has won and been shortlisted for a whole host of prizes, including the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for Fiction. Her second novel, A Line Made by Walking, is not only illustrated with photographs, but is infused with ideas from contemporary art. Listen in as we talk to Sara and then discuss our favourite illustrations.

The short story is literature in a single shot, and the form has many masters, from Guy de Maupassant to Edgar Allan Poe to Lorrie Moore to Junot Diaz. This month join us in conversation about what a short story actually is, how to write a good one, and who writes them best. We interviewed Jessie Greengrass about her wonderful debut collection, An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It, which was published last year by John Murray Press. Pull up a chair and let’s hear it for the small but mighty!

Baby, it's cold outside, so come and warm your cockles with us as we talk FUTURE SEX. Writer Emily Witt joined us all the way from America to talk about her ace debut of the same name - a personal and journalistic exploration of the possibilities of free love in today’s world. We’ll also be talking about how writers from have helped us to imagine the future of sex, sexuality and relationships. Bring an open mind and come along for the ride.

Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the next United States, and we are despairing. But we’re also preparing: this worldwide trend towards the normalisation of misogyny, racism, xenophobia and blatant disregard for truth demands action. What can we do? And what can books do? This show is about resistance, and we are joined by the perfect guest: Salena Godden, poet, author, essayist, performer, once described as ‘everything the Daily Mail is terrified of’. She recently contributed to The Good Immigrant, a collection of writing about what it means to be black, asian and minority ethnic in Britain today, and stopped by O's kitchen for some wine, poetry, and real talk. Vive la revolution!

This month we're joined by the celebrated Irish author Eimear McBride, who came in to discuss her fabulous second novel The Lesser Bohemians. In honour of the book's title, this show is all about La Vie Boheme. From the original Parisian bohos of the 1850s, to the Pre-Raphaelites, to the beats, the bohemian lifestyle and its artistic output has always held romantic sway in our culture. Listen in as we chat to Eimear and talk about what it really means to be a modern bohemian.

Each week we seem to get more news about violent deaths in America. What is it with America and violence, America and guns? And what can books tell us about it? Our guest this month is Gary Younge, author, broadcaster, and award-winning columnist for the Guardian, whose latest book is Another Day in the Death of America. A moving and important meditation on the violent reality of life in the US, it tells the stories of 10 children who died from gun violence in America on a random day in 2013. We'll also be talking about how violence manifests itself in American literature, from the brutal Westerns of Cormac McCarthy to the insightful nonfiction of authors like Steven Pinker and the hard-hitting journalism of Dave Cullen. Leave your weapons at the door and come join us for some literary friction.

It's that time of year again - leaves are falling and publishers are pushing out their heavy-weight literary titles - so this month we're going BACK TO SCHOOL for the Ultimate Reading List. Join us as we talk to author Dan Richards (Climbing Days) and publisher Anna Jean Hughes (The Pigeonhole) about the differences between summer and autumn reading, what they read over the holidays and what they're looking forward to reading as the nights draw in. We'll be giving our own recommendations too, and thinking about how to compile an Ultimate Reading List, if we even have the authority to do so. So polish your boots, buckle up, and get ready for a new term!

We’ve got the Brexit Blues here on Literary Friction, so for this show we’re celebrating something that bridges borders rather than closes them: literary translation. We’ve deviated slightly from our usual format to bring you not one but three interviews around the theme: we'll be talking to Spanish writer Milena Busquets, author of This Too Shall Pass, which has been translated into 27 different languages; literary translator Deborah Smith, who translates from Korean into English and is also the founder of Tilted Axis Press, a not-for-profit outfit dedicated to bringing marginal international work into the mainstream; and Meike Ziervogel, German novelist and founder of Peirene Press, which focusses on short translated European fiction. Join us as we hear from these brilliant writers, and just in time to celebrate Women In Translation month, too.

Ever wonder if you're with the flock, or against it? British author and psychiatric doctor Joanna Cannon’s debut novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep (a Sunday Times bestseller) explores how we treat - or more often mistreat - people who don't quite fit in. It tells the story of two young girls who decide to investigate a housewife’s disappearance from their tight-knit estate during the heat wave of 1976, and the unlikely truth they uncover. In honour of rebels and misfits everywhere, our theme this month is BLACK SHEEP. Join us as we interview Joanna, and discuss our favourite literary characters who stand on the margins - from Holden Caufield to Jane Eyre to Oscar Wao and more.

We are incredibly excited to be joined by American artist and writer Chris Kraus, here to discuss her novel I Love Dick. A feminist classic from the 90s recently published in the UK for the first time, I Love Dick is a hybrid of memoir, fiction and theory that focuses on the main character’s desire for an academic named Dick. We rarely see the object of our desire for what they really are, and literature has always been a rich medium through which to explore these romantic abstractions. So this month's title, taken from an anecdote in I Love Dick, is the perfect starting point for a show all about the sometimes troubling vagaries of our deepest longings.

The body – especially the female body – has forever been an object of literary fascination and desire. But what about the intimate bits that make us squirm, the pungent underarms, abject anuses? Welcome to VILE BODIES, a show dedicated to literature’s uncomfortable relationship with all things corporeal, from Philoctetes' festering foot, to James Joyce’s filthy letters to his wife, to the Vagina Monologues. We interviewed brilliant comedian and writer Sara Pascoe about her debut, ANIMAL, an illuminating and hilarious tour of the female body that isn’t afraid to tackle topics like abortion, pubic hair and consent. Tune in and let's get nasty!

Spring has sprung, so we're going down the rabbit hole with Kevin Barry, who joins us this month to talk about Beatlebone, his wonderful novel about a very famous John's quest to reach a tiny island that he owns in Clew Bay, off the West Coast of Ireland. Inspired by his trip, our theme is about all those literary escapes to the ends of the earth and to the centre of the mind. We'll be following that elusive rabbit's fluffy tail and lighting out for the territory with Huck Finn, breaking out of jail with the Count of Monte Cristo, and getting lost in all kids of mythical adventures. Come along for the ride.

Harry Parker's debut novel Anatomy of a Soldier is narrated by objects, 45 things – ranging from dog tags to a bomb to a mattress – that witness the life of Captain Tom Barnes during and in the aftermath of war in the Middle East. Inspired by the novel, our theme is OBJECTS, and in addition to interviewing Harry we look at all those things that populate our favourite books, from King Arthur's Excalibur to Desdemona's handkerchief.

In January we teamed up with our friends at Faber Social and put together an evening of live literary excitement with the theme of 'New Voices'. It was a total sell out, but if you couldn't get a ticket, never fear! Here it is, for your listening pleasure. Tune in to hear readings from some of the fabulous Faber New Poets and bestselling debut author Joanna Cannon, followed by a four-way interview with authors Evie Wyld and Ned Beauman. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Oz, that mythical land, where days are hotter than chilli sauce and water goes down the plughole the wrong way... This month we're talking to Evie Wyld about her books 'All the Birds, Singing', and 'Everything is Teeth', both set in Australia. From the writing of Miles Franklin to Richard Flanagan via the mad world of Paul Jennings, we chat about Australia's many depictions in literature, but we also ponder the metaphorical meaning behind that nickname: Oz as the foreign, the distant, the magical and the exotic; something that the Antipodean has long represented for damp and green Britain.

Christmas is all about kids, big and small, so our present to you is our Arrested Development show from earlier this year - we were joined by the wonderful (and Lena Dunham fave) Emma Jane Unsworth to talk about Animals, her raucous second novel about two friends who are in no hurry to grow up. Long live Peter Pan!

This month novelist Sara Taylor joins us for a show all about literary families that span multiple generations. From the Forsytes of The Forsyte Saga to the Buendías of One Hundred Years of Solitude, we continue to be fascinated by stories that follow bloodlines across decades. In Sara’s beautifully-written debut novel The Shore, multiple descendants of one family live and survive on a group of islands in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Virginia.