The 15 Minute Book Club
We don't always have an hour or so to spare. In this new, short-form podcast, Alex and Matt interview an author, gameshow style, and they have fifteen minutes on the clock to convince you to buy their new book. With a minute to go, the alarm sounds and your hosts will throw out the meanest, saddest comment they think the internet will come up with about the book and the author gets a chance to respond. Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClub Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/@15MinuteBook_Club Buy the book (UK) https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClub Buy the book (US) https://bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClub Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Leander Sharlockens joins us to discuss his new book about the US Men's National Team, The Long Game: U.S. Men's Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, and we trace the uneven history of the U.S. men’s national team, from its early struggles and the 1950 win over England through the long period when the programme was underfunded and disorganised to today's hopes in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
After much pestering, we have the author of Alex's favourite recent read joining us! Gareth L. Powell's latest is Jitterbug, in which a crew of bounty hunters find themselves ensnared in a conspiracy on the very fringes of the devastated solar system, in a ship that acts like a parrot. Alex was very happy.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was wr...
The Fifth Crusade was unlike any other. It was the first to invade Egypt, a story filled with adventure and intrigue, yet it often gets overshadowed by its predecessors. Dr. Thomas Smith joins us to tell the untold tale of this epic campaign, where the Crusaders faced more than just battles; they encountered a land filled with ancient history and the remnants of powerful empires.
This week on the 15-Minute Book Club, Adrian Goldsworthy joins us to delve into the rivalry between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century BC and their continued influence on us today. Plus, we ask just how much of ancient history is just made up.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15Min...
There is no room to swing a cat this week as we are wall to wall cats! Author Alex Howard joins us to tell us about Archie the streetwise cat's odyssey in his new book, The Ship's Cat, and he has just 15 minutes to convince you to buy it.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBook...
James Holland joins us to convince you to buy his upcoming book, The Visionaries: The Making of the Post World War II Order in the West in just 15 minutes! James' new book looks at the politics and economics of WW2 in a change of gear from his usual campaign focus. Let us know if he convinced you in the comments!
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the...
The sale of Chelsea FC in 2022 saw politics play a vital role in the sale of football. Nick Purewal, the then AP correspondent assigned to Chelsea had a ringside seat to the remarkable £2 billion pound sale. Nick joins us to discuss interviewing everyone from Roman Abramovich down with Chelsea fan Alex and Matt, who couldn't care less...
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes a...
On the 17th March 2026, author Len Deighton passed away at the age of 97. To remember this wonderful author, Boney is in the hot seat as he tries to convince Alex that Bomber is a must read from the extensive cateloge of Deighton's books.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBook...
At the beginning of the Great Depression, three groups of Germans moved to Floreana Island in the Galápagos to create their own utopia. Over the coming years, paradise crumbled into sex, acrimony, and eventually murder. Author Abbott Kahler joins Alex and Boney to ask what the hell happened and to convince you to buy Abbott's book, in just 15 minutes.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see ...
Our old buddy Kit Chapman joins us to tell us all about his new book, which looks at the global quest to achieve immortality, cure all disease and transmute lead into gold as he reveals the illuminating stories of how the alchemists first broke new ground and shaped the scientific method.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subs...
In August 1940, a man walked into Leon Trotsky's study in Mexico City and drove an ice pick into his skull. While the death of Trotsky is well known, the paths taken to that fateful day in Mexico City are not, and Josh Ireland had an incredible story tell, but can he convince you to buy his book in just 15 minutes?
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the boo...
Congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr. led a political career spanning from1951 to 1980. He was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till's killers, worked behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr., and founded the Congressional Black Caucus. Brown University's Prof. Marion Orr, author of a new biography of Diggs, House of Diggs, has just 15 minutes to convince you to learn more and buy his book.
In the 1970s, extremists like Leila Khaled, Carlos the Jackal, and the Baader-Meinhof Gang captured the world's attention with their hijackings and murders. In The Revolutionists, Jason Burke takes on an incredible journey from how various groups of leftist radicals took on Israel and the West and then morphed into something entirely more dangerous.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind ...
From mockery to global mourning, the last 30 years of David Bowie's life were a creative whirlwind of hits, misses, films and side projects that culminated in two remarkable albums in the years before his death in 2016. Alexander Larman joins us to convince you buy his new Bowie biography, Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie, and he only has 15 minutes to do it.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you...
It is always great to welcome back old History Hack friends and Vaseem Khan returns with a corcker! Q has been kicked out of MI:6, and when Q's old school chum ends up dead, it's time for him to find out what happened. Vaseem has 15 minutes to convince you to join Q on his new adventure outside of the hallowed walls of The River House.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and...
Sherlock Holmes dominates the thoughts of the Victorian detective; in her Wolfson History Prize shortlist book, Sarah Lodge brings to life the real women who brought justice to Victorian streets and in the fiction of the time. Can Sarah convince you to buy her book in just 15 minutes?
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe...
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a medical revolution was afoot. Alanna Skuse ventures into the bustling medical marketplace of Renaissance England – a world of travelling surgeons, prosthetics craftsmen, faith healers and snake oil merchants. Can Alanna convince you to join her in just 15 minutes?
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book...
In 1967, a group of writers penned a fake US Government Report titled "Report From Iron Mountain." The report was satirical, but it was so frighteningly convincing that its contents are still believed by many today. Phil Tinline joins Alex Churchill and Matt Bone and has 15 minutes to convince you to buy his book.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book ...
Women who rule as heads of state are badasses, and Elizabeth Norton joins Alex Churchill and Matt Bone to convince you to buy her book, Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy, and introduce you to some of the most incredible women to have ever ruled. She has 15 minutes to do it.
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You ...
In the late 1980s, a band exploded out of LA's Sunset Strip, and their power cords spread far and wide, playing a vital role in defeating communism. That is the tale of the fictional Whyte Python and Alex and Boney loved every single moment. Author Travis Kennedy takes on the 15 minutes to wade through your hosts basically fangirling every single second. WYTHE PYTHON NEVER DIES!!!
Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in ...
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