The LRB Podcast

Katherine Rundell reads her study of the common swift, which flies about two million kilometres in its lifetime. You can find all Katherine Rundell's pieces on animals for the LRB here: https://lrb.me/rundellpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gaby Wood reads her diary from the latest issue of the LRB, in which she tries to draw an albatross using a camera lucida. Read the diary and much more in a latest issue: https://lrb.me/latestlrb Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Pedersen talks to Joanna Biggs about Shelagh Delaney and her landmark 1958 play, A Taste of Honey. Read Susan Pedersen on Shelagh Delaney in the LRB: https://lrb.me/delaneypod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b The first two clips in this episode are from the 1961 film, the third clip is from The White Bus (1967) directed by Lindsay Anderson, and the fourth clip is from a 1959 interview with Delaney for ITN. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Lanchester talks to Thomas Jones about Georges Simenon, whose output was so prodigious that even he didn’t know how many books he wrote. Find links to related articles and a full transcript on the podcast episode page: https://lrb.me/maigretreturnspod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sonia Gandhi and Rupert Beale, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, talk to Thomas Jones about the ways Covid-19 can affect the nervous system, the steps required to reopen the NHS after lockdown, the state of testing, and reasons for optimism about a vaccine. Read Rupert Beale’s latest piece on the coronavirus here: How to Block Spike Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew O’Hagan talks to Thomas Jones about the friendship between Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and the time they spent together in Bournemouth. Find a full transcript of this episode and links to related articles here: http://lrb.me/ohaganrlspod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Wood talks to Adam Shatz about critical theory, its origins, developments and various diversions, and where it stands today. The conversation marks the publication of the eighth volume in the LRB Collections series, The Meaninglessness of Meaning: Writing about the theory wars from the ‘London Review of Books’ by contributors including Pierre Bourdieau, Judith Butler, Richard Rorty, Lorna Sage, John Sturrock and Michael Wood. You can buy the book on the LRB Store here: lrb.me/theory Find a full transcript and list of related articles for this episode here: https://lrb.me/theorytrucepod Use the code ‘collect8’ at checkout to buy all eight LRB collections for just £40. Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colm Tóibín talks to Thomas Jones about the breakdown of Elizabeth Hardwick’s marriage to Robert Lowell, and its literary consequences. Find the pieces mentioned in this episode here: lrb.me/toibinhardwickpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Wellesley talks to Joanna Biggs about islands, blessed and not so blessed, from Homer to the Fyre Festival. Read more by Mary Wellesley in the LRB: On Blessed Isles On anchorites On Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joanna Biggs talks to Thomas Jones about the life of Simone de Beauvoir. Further reading on Beauvoir in the LRB: Joanna Biggs: https://lrb.me/biggsdebeauvoirpod Michael Rogin: https://lrb.me/rogindebeauvoirpod Toril Moi: https://lrb.me/torilmoipod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lana Spawls talks to Thomas Jones about working on a paediatric ward during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ways hospitals have changed in response to the virus. Read Lana's latest piece in the LRB: Lana Spawls: How to set up an ICU Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rupert Beale talks again to Thomas Jones about his work at the Francis Crick Institute, where he’s helping to set up a testing lab for Covid-19. He talks about the challenges of creating a scalable process, explains why a successful antibody test could be hard to achieve, and finds some reasons to be hopeful. You can find a full transcript of this episode HERE. Read more in the LRB: Rupert Beale: Wash Your Hands Lana Spawls: How to set up an ICU Thomas Jones: Quaresima Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erin Maglaque talks to Thomas Jones about the lockdown imposed by the city of Florence in January 1631 in response to a plague outbreak, the similarities with our current situation, and the differences. Maglaque wrote about the plague in Florence in a recent issue of the LRB, reviewing Florence Under Siege: Surviving Plague in an Early Modern City by John Henderson. Read her piece here: https://lrb.me/maglaquepod Read Tom's piece on Italy and the coronavirus pandemic: https://lrb.me/jonesitalypod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following his piece for the LRB about Covid-19, Rupert Beale talks to Thomas Jones about what the novel coronavirus is, how well countries are dealing with it, and what hopes there are for stopping the contagion. Read Rupert's piece here: https://lrb.me/bealecoronaviruspod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Akihito, who abdicated in April, was a paradoxical figure: a hereditary monarch, the son of the wartime emperor, Hirohito, strictly barred from political utterance, who even so stood out against the historical revisionism of the nationalist right. Richard Lloyd Parry considers the former emperor’s part in the intellectual and political debate over Japan’s wartime record, and its history of apology – or non-apology – for its conduct in East Asia. Find more from Richard Lloyd Parry in the LRB here: lrb.me/richardlloydparrypod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Given what we know about the future of the planet, is having children a matter of consumer choice, of political conviction, or something an authority will eventually decide for us? Meehan Crist explores the debate about the ethics of childbearing in the age of climate crisis. She addresses the relationship between BP and the British Museum, the implications of culture-washing, and the logic of cultural divestment initiatives. Read more from Meehan Crist in the LRB here: lrb.me/meehancristarticlespod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The line between making a fiction and telling a lie has been blurry at least since Homer, and liars – from Odysseus and Iago to Austen’s Wickham and beyond – have often played central parts within fictions. This lecture will aim to tell some (though not all) of the truth about the relationship between lies and fiction from Homer to Ian McEwan, and will ask if fiction has responded adequately to the maggoty abundance of lies in public life at the present time. Read more by Colin Burrow in the LRB: lrb.me/colinburrowpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan Bennett reads his Diary for 2019, with a few little extra bits. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: lrb.me/bennettpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last of a series of events marking the LRB's 40th anniversary, Jeremy Harding and Adam Shatz talk to Nikita Lalwani about their work for the paper, with a focus on North Africa and the Middle East. Due to some problems with the audio recording, this is a slightly abridged version of the event. Read more Jeremy Harding in the LRB: lrb.me/jhardingpod Read more Adam Shatz in the LRB: lrb.me/shatzpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of a series of events marking the LRB's 40th anniversary, Nell Dunn and Tessa Hadley talk to Joanna Biggs, one of the LRB's editors, about fictional representations of women’s everyday lives. Read more in the LRB from: Tessa Hadley Nell Dunn Joanna Biggs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of our series of events marking the 40th anniversary of the LRB, longtime contributors Rosemary Hill and Iain Sinclair talked to the LRB’s digital editor, Sam Kinchin-Smith, about London, through the lens of pieces they've written for the paper. Read more by Rosemary Hill in the LRB: lrb.me/hillpod Read more by Iain Sincliar in the LRB: lrb.me/sinclairpod Sign up to the LRB's newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of our series of events marking the LRB's 40th anniversary, Katrina Forrester and William Davies discuss political crisis, and in particular the crisis of liberalism, through the lens of pieces they've written for the paper. Read more by Katrina Forrester in the LRB: https://lrb.me/forresterpod Read more by William Davies in the LRB: https://lrb.me/daviespod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the London Review of Books, and mark the publication of The London Review of Books: An Incomplete History, the LRB’s editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers, along with Alan Bennett, Andrew O’Hagan, John Lanchester and Sheng Yun, talk to LRB publisher Nicholas Spice about the history and character of the paper. The London Review of Books: An Incomplete History is available to buy on the LRB store:https://lrb.me/storepod Read more Alan Bennett in the LRB here: https;//lrb.me/bennettpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bee Wilson on eating out in late Victorian London. Read more by Bee Wilson in the LRB: https://lrb.me/beewilsonpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Wood recalls his time at the college, with David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and others. Read more by James Wood in the LRB: https://lrb.me/jameswoodpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew O'Hagan goes to the fashion designer's memorial at the Grand Palais in Paris. Read more by Andrew O'Hagan in the LRB: https://lrb.me/ohaganpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Wellesley looks inside the cell of a medieval anchorite, and considers why so many women shut themselves away to devote themselves to prayer and contemplation, and what their lives were like. Read Mary Wellesley in the LRB: lrb.me/wellesleypod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Instead of shaking all over, I read the newspapers. I listened to the radio. I had my lunch.’ Colm Tóibín reads his account of being treated for cancer. Read more by Colm Tóibín in the LRB archive: lrb.me/colmtoibinpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan Bennett puts on a new play and finds himself on someone’s arm, in his 2018 diary. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bennettpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rosemary Hill explores frock consciousness in life and literature in her LRB Winter Lecture, delivered at the British Museum. Read more by Rosemary Hill in the LRB: https://lrb.me/hillpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Linda Colley argues that the prospect of Brexit makes history more important than ever in her LRB Winter Lecture, delivered at the British Museum. Read more by Linda Colley in the LRB: https://lrb.me/colleypod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anne Enright delivers her Winter Lecture on the corruptions of the Adam and Eve story in her LRB Winter Lecture, delivered at the British Museum. Read more by Anne Enright in the LRB: https://lrb.me/enrightpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Toby Jones reads John Lanchester’s ghost story. Read more from John Lanchester in the LRB: https://lrb.me/lanchesterpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan Bennett finds his métier at last in 2017. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bennettpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest instalment of the LRB podcast, recorded in Seoul, Richard Lloyd Parry talks to the Korean-American novelist Krys Lee about Christianity, plastic surgery and mutual incomprehension in the Korean borderlands. Read more by Richard Lloyd Parry in the LRB; https://lrb.me/lloydparrypod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jane Campbell reads a story about dispossession in paradise. Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Prebble describes meeting Harvey Weinstein. Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of their conversation, Olivier Roy and Adam Shatz discuss the deculturation of Islam, and why it has led to the radicalisation of so many second-generation immigrants and converts. Read more by Adam Shatz in the LRB: lrb.me/shatzpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first of two podcasts, Olivier Roy tells Adam Shatz about his experiences with the Gauche prolétarienne in the 1960s and his early travels in Afghanistan. Read more by Adam Shatz in the LRB: lrb.me/shatzpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carmen Callil, writer, editor and founder of Virago, tells Rosemary Hill how she made her way in 1960s London. Read more by Rosemary Hill in the LRB: lrb.me/hillpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ferdinand Mount on how India was governed strictly for the benefit of Britain. Read more by Ferdinand Mount in the LRB: lrb.me/mountpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and actor Wallace Shawn talks to Adam Shatz about ‘the thin line between entertainment and cruelty’ in the age of Trump. Read more by Adam Shatz in the LRB: https://lrb.me/shatzpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies talks to Tom Crewe about politics in the new media age. Read more by William Davies in the LRB: https://lrb.me/daviespod Read more by Tom Crewe in the LRB: https://lrb.me/crewepod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elaine Mokhtefi tells Jeremy Harding about her time working in Algeria in the 1960s when she met Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Bohemia was never a safe country for women. If they didn’t all die of consumption in a garret, many of them might as well have done’ – Rosemary Hill on the letters of Ida John. Read more by Rosemary Hill in the LRB: lrb.me/hillpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘It’s like the drunken lout at a party who can’t get anyone to like him.’ Andrew O’Hagan reads the Daily Mail. Read more by Andrew O'Hagan in the LRB: lrb.me/ohaganpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Crewe talks to Lorna Finlayson about Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s prospects in the general election and beyond. Read more by Tom Crewe in the LRB: lrb.me/crewepod Read more by Lorna Finlayson in the LRB: https://lrb.me/finlaysonpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Once you start seeing everyday behaviour as having the potential to draw people into terrorism, you’re inside the problem’ – Karma Nabulsi on the British government’s Prevent programme. Read more by Karma Nabulsi in the LRB: https://lrb.me/nabulsipod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seamus Perry and Mark Ford discuss the work of Philip Larkin, drawing on articles from our archive by contributors including Alan Bennett, Barbara Everett and John Bayley. You can find a reading list of pieces mentioned in this episode here: https://lrb.me/philiplarkinpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julian Barnes on Georges Simenon and Brexit. Read more by Julian Barnes in the LRB: https://lrb.me/barnespod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.