Reading Orwell
Episodes
26. Orwell and Aldous Huxley
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
An account of Orwell's and Aldous Huxley's views of their most famous works, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and Brave New World (1932), concentra...
25. A conversation with Professor David Dwan, University of Oxford
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Professor David Dwan about Animal Farm (1945) and the annotated edition of it he produced in 2021 for the Oxford World's...
24. Thoughts on Nineteen Eighty-Four: Part III
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The third and final instalment of a 3-part mini-series looking at Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in hour-long episodes, focusing on Part II...
23. Thoughts on Nineteen Eighty-Four: Part II
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The second instalment of a 3-part mini-series looking at Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in hour-long episodes, focusing on Part II of the b...
22. Thoughts on Nineteen Eighty-Four: Part I
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The first instalment of a 3-part mini-series looking at Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in hour-long episodes, starting with Part I of the boo...
21. A conversation with Liam Knight, University of Birmingham
11 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talk to Liam Knight, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham working on a thesis addressing the question of 'endotextuality' in ...
20. A conversation with Professor John Bowen, University of York
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Professor John Bowen, about his recent experience of editing Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) for the Oxford World's Classics series.
19. A conversation with Dr Lisa Mullen, University of Cambridge
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A conversation with Dr Lisa Mullen about Homage to Catalonia (1938) and the annotated edition of it she recently produced for the Oxford World's Class...
18. Love in Nineteen Eighty-Four
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is Nineteen Eighty-Four a love story? In this episode, we consider how love survives, to a degree, while also being twisted into new, disturbing forms...
17. Nostalgia, Misogyny, and the Future in Coming Up for Air
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
George Orwell's 1939 novel, Coming Up for Air, combines a sceptical view of the nostalgic with dread about a looming future of pain and suffering. Thi...
16. War, Confusion, and Mud in Homage to Catalonia
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Orwell's mud. Homage to Catalonia shows how Orwell could turn the muddying of troops and the muddied waters of civil war into impressionistic form. Th...
15. Beastly Men and Humanlike Beasts in Animal Farm
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode considering how Orwell's most famous satire, Animal Farm, traces the equivalences between men and animals as part of its fairy-tale respons...
14. The Question of Poverty Tourism in The Road to Wigan Pier
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) socio-economically voyeuristic? This episode discusses some of the issues surrounding this and related questions, giv...
13. Normality and Stickiness in A Clergyman’s Daughter
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An episode about Orwell's least well-known novel, A Clergyman's Daughter (1935), in which images of glue and stickiness denote the text's very particu...
12. Emptiness, Racism, and Fat Shaming in Burmese Days
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Orwell's novel Burmese Days (1934) takes a dim view of empire, but is itself deeply prejudiced. This episode considers prejudice at two levels: the ra...
11. Civilization, Death, and Money in Keep the Aspidistra Flying
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Gordon Comstock--the great enemy of money, in Orwell. This episode looks at his rage, the deathliness of the world around him, and the poor choices to...
10. Poverty and Genre in Down and Out in Paris and London
24 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Orwell, down and out. In this episode, we track the various formal tensions in Orwell's first major work, his study of poverty and precarity in Paris ...
9. Orwell’s Voice: A Brief Introduction to the Man and his Work
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A brief introduction to Orwell's prose style, and his critical 'voice'.
8. Resurrected from the Ashes: Nineteen Eighty-Four Part I, Chapter 7
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The diary, again, and Winston’s ongoing anxieties about memory, truth, and resistance.
7. Dirtying the Sex Instinct: Nineteen Eighty-Four Part I, Chapter 6
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Winston continues to write in his diary, and remembers his encounter with a sex worker.
6. A Sort of Saving Stupidity: Nineteen Eighty-Four Part I, Chapter 5
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What is Newspeak? Why is Airstrip One so dirty? These are the main questions tackled in this episode, which also considers Orwell’s views on politic...
5. One Piece of Nonsense for Another: Nineteen Eighty-Four Part I, Chapter 4
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What does Winston do at work? This episode considers his employment in the Records Department at the Ministry of Truth, and what this means for human ...
4. Water Imagery in Nineteen Eighty-Four
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many different kinds of water and liquidity feature in Orwell’s novel. This episode examines how wateriness structures the text in the form of reson...
3. Melting into Mist: Nineteen Eighty-Four Part I, Chapter 3
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why does Winston have to touch his toes? This episode considers this question as a frame for thinking about ancient times, the past, the body, and mem...
2. Not Death but Annihilation: Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part I, Chapter 2
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this chapter, fate comes knocking for Winston Smith--or does it?
1. The Physical Texture of Life: Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part I, Chapter 1
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An account of the opening chapter of Orwell’s novel, focusing on the depiction of its key themes and concepts.