The TLS Podcast

The TLS Podcast

A weekly podcast on books and culture brought to you by the writers and editors of the Times Literary Supplement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

April 17, 2025 51 mins

This week, Peter Holland treads the boards in Elizabethan London in search of Shakespeare before the Globe; and Muriel Zagha on a captivating tale of cheese-making in the Jura.


'The dream factory: London’s first playhouse and the making of William Shakespeare', by Daniel Swift

'Holy Cow', a film by Louise Courvoisier


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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This week, Margaret Drabble explores how Dickens drew on his love of the macabre and grotesque to create literary magic; and Norma Clarke takes a tour around the British coast.


'Dickens the enchanter: Inside the explosive imagination of the great storyteller', by Peter Conrad

'The restless coast: A journey around the edge of Britain', by Roger Morgan-Grenville

'Seascape: Notes from a changing coastline', by Matthew Yeoma...

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April 3, 2025 46 mins

Caroline Moorehead salutes the energetic brilliance of singer Josephine Baker; and Aaron Peck on the past, present and future of the avant-garde.


'Fearless and free: A memoir', by Josephine Baker, translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis

'Josephine Baker's secret war: The African American star who fought for France and freedom', by Hanna Diamond


'What art does: An unfinished theory', by Brian Eno and Bette A.

'How to...

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March 27, 2025 48 mins

This week, we're joined by Harriet Baker, winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award; and Helen Scales tunes into the sonic marvels beneath the surface of the sea.


'Rural Hours: The country lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann', by Harriet Baker

'Sing Like a Fish: How sound rules life under water', by Amorina Kingdon



Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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March 20, 2025 49 mins

This week, novelist Damon Galgut remembers the ground-breaking South African playwright Athol Fugard; and Michael Caines on two very different approaches to the Danish prince.


'Grand Theft Hamlet', on Mubi

'Hamlet', by William Shakespeare, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon- Avon, until March 29 


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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March 13, 2025 46 mins

This week, Larry Wolff immerses himself in a bold operatic vision of Melville's classic; and Travis Elborough on a boosterish attempt to rescue Croydon from its knockers.


'Moby-Dick', composed by Jake Heggie, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, until March 29

'Croydonopolis: A Journey to the Greatest City that Never Was', by Will Noble


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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March 6, 2025 56 mins

This week, Toby Lichtig chats to Sam Leith about formative literature at Jewish Book Week; and David Horspool meets Sue Prideaux, winner of this year's Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize.


'The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading', by Sam Leith

'Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin', by Sue Prideaux


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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February 27, 2025 50 mins

This week, Michael Caines interviews the men behind the Royal Shakespeare Company's thrilling new production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II; and Nat Segnit finds Pico Iyer's journeys to a Californian monastery a welcome retreat from the world.



'Edward II', by Christopher Marlowe, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until April 5 2025

'Learning from Silence: Lessons from More Than 100 Retreats', by Pico Iyer


Produced by ...

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February 20, 2025 49 mins

This week, Edith Hall finds herself mesmerised, entranced and perplexed by Sophocles; and Barnaby Phillips on a bizarre imperial incursion in 19th-century Africa.


'Oedipus', by Sophocles, Old Vic until March 29

'Electra', by Sophocles, Duke of York's Theatre until April 12

'A Training School for Elephants', by Sophy Roberts


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February 13, 2025 44 mins

This week, we're joined by Eimear McBride as she publishes a compelling new novel; and Anne Fuchs celebrates WG Sebald's illuminating and idiosyncratic essays.


'The City Changes Its Face', by Eimear McBride

'Silent Catastrophes: Essays in Austrian Literature', by WG Sebald, translated by Jo Catling


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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February 6, 2025 48 mins

This week, Kevin Brazil on the revealing tour d'horizontal of a great writer; and Keith Miller goes down a rabbit-hole in search of Richard Ayoade.


'The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir', by Edmund White

'The Unfinished Harauld Hughes', 'Plays, Prose, Pieces, Poetry', 'The Models Trilogy', 'Four Films', by Harauld Hughes/Richard Ayoade


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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January 30, 2025 53 mins

This week, Toby Lichtig assesses the latest recreation of Bob Dylan, man and myth; and David Gallagher on an academic and spy who inspired the work of Javier Marias.


'A Complete Unknown', a film by James Mangold

'Scholar-Spy: The Worlds of Professor Sir Peter Russell', by Bruce Taylor


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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January 23, 2025 42 mins

This week, Boris Dralyuk on a compelling portrait of the Black Sea port of Odesa, past and present; and Russell Williams is put in mind of the rumpled TV detective Columbo by a pacy French novel.


'Undefeatable: Odesa in Love and War', by Julian Evans

'Bristol', by Jean Echenoz


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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January 16, 2025 46 mins

This week, Vanessa Curtis is entranced by the candour of the Bloomsbury set's photograph albums; and Emma Greensmith on the mythical creatures that fascinated the ancient world.


'The Bloomsbury Photographs", by Maggie Humm

'Centaurs and Snake-Kings: Hybrids and the Greek Imagination', by Jeremy McInerney


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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January 9, 2025 48 mins

This week, JS Barnes trembles in his boots before the latest incarnation of a classic vampire tale; and Mary C Flannery on the practical magic of the medieval kitchen.



'Nosferatu', various cinemas

'Recipes and Book Culture in England, 1350-1600', Carrie Griffin and Hannah Ryley, editors


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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January 2, 2025 35 mins

This week, Alex Clark and Lucy Dallas look forward to 2025's most tempting reading, plan a Jane Austen road trip and resolve to sit up straight.


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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December 19, 2024 54 mins

This week, Simone Gubler ponders the contents of a dog's mind; and Tristram Fane Saunders praises the poet Wendy Cope's strengths and subtleties.


'The Happiness of Dogs: Why the Unexamined Life is Most Worth Living', by Mark Rowlands

'Collared: How We Made the Modern Dog', by Chris Pearson

'Collected Poems', by Wendy Cope


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December 12, 2024 56 mins

This week, Catriona Seth goes in search of the mysterious last queen of France; and Maria Margaronis is entranced by the stage adaptation of a children's classic.


'Marie-Antoinette', by Charles-Éloi Vial

'Ballet Shoes', adapted by Kendall Feaver from Noel Streatfeild's novel, National Theatre, London, until February 22


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December 5, 2024 48 mins

This week, novelist and playwright Caryl Phillips remembers his friendship with the magnificent James Baldwin; and Robert Potts on the ingenious return of George Smiley.


The works of James Baldwin

'Karla's Choice', a John le Carré novel, by Nick Harkaway


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


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November 28, 2024 53 mins

This week, Mary Beard squares up to the gorefest of Gladiator II; and Alan Hollinghurst in conversation at the Cambridge Literary Festival.


'Gladiator II', various cinemas

'Our Evenings', by Alan Hollinghurst


Produced by Charlotte Pardy


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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