Cassie McCullough

And it's Duncan's friend, James, who's whacked one of these men and smashed his leg.

So can I also leap in again?

Is this a bit like fake news and social media?

Like, is it a kind of metaphor for social media?

Well, that's the upside of corporal punishment.

It does finish at some point.

So perhaps didn't bring home the promises that it had set loose at the beginning.

I'm Cassie McCullough here with Kate Evans and guests today, science educator George Aranda and literary academic Heather Nielsen.

Yeah, look, I'm interested that you say that.

And I want to know more about that.

Because this is a thing now that people write these half true books.

And I'm thinking also of the recent one we were discussing with Jodie Williamson, Martin Amis's book, Inside Story, was it Kate?

Well, speaking of those, I mean, I've read a lot of people talking about this book.

And one of the things I've read is about an encounter in the book with Donald Trump and Ayad's father being a cardiologist.

Now, this could easily have happened if

I mean, how do you know that this has actually happened?

It feels like there's a sort of companion novel or book that goes with it that is actually the real facts.

And

I can't, I mean, I know this has got rave reviews and everyone loves it, but I can't help but think I would be really irritated by this blending of fact and fiction.

Why didn't you say earlier?