The Critic Books Podcast
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
25: Lucasta Miller on Emma Smith's Portable Magic
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
📚From prison stints for defacing books, to the historical evolution of the “shelfie”, Emma Smith's Portable Magic is a riot of detail, scholarl...
24: Marjorie Grant Cook and Latchkey Ladies
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Francesca Peacock is joined by Sarah LeFanu to discuss Marjorie Grant's novel Latchkey Ladies, which has been out of print for just o...
23: How to be a cult writer
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Critic Books Podcast, Francesca Peacock is in conversation with Alexander Larman about his piece in the April issue of the maga...
22: DJ Taylor's Stewkey Blues
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What makes it "Stewkey" rather than "Stifkey"? How has Norfolk and Norwich changed in the last few decades? What is different about writing short stor...
21: Amanda Craig's The Golden Rule
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when two women meet on the train and agree to murder their ex-husbands? Amanda Craig's latest novel is a panoramic look at Britain in the...
20: Anna Keay's The Restless Republic
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What happened in the decade Britain was without a monarch? Was day-to-day life altered by the revolution? Paul Lay, The Critic's Literary Editor, spea...
19: Holly Kyte's Roaring Girls
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A cross-dressing sailor, renowned pick-pocket, and a mad Duchess — the women of Holly Kyte's Roaring Girls are anything but boring. By exploring the...
18: Yasmin Cordery Khan's Edgware Road
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Set across Oxford, London, and Karachi — and between 1981 and 2003 — Yasmin Cordery Khan's debut novel is a mix of family drama and mystery. Franc...
17: David Hendy's The BBC: A People's History
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It is 100 years since John Reith, Arthur Burrows, and Cecil Lewis first set up the British Broadcasting Company, as it was then known. A General Strik...
16: Hannah Kent's Devotion
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Set in Prussia and Australia in 1836, Devotion is a story of suppression, repression, and love. Francesca Peacock spoke to Hannah Kent about the histo...
15: James Birch's Bacon in Moscow
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1988, James Birch staged an exhibition of Francis Bacon's works in Moscow — still behind the Iron Curtain at the time. Honeytraps, KGB officers, ...
14: Sarah Hall's Burntcoat
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Burntcoat was one of the first “pandemic novels” to be published in 2021. Francesca Peacock spoke to Sarah Hall about the difficulties of taking i...
13: The poetry of Marianne Moore
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Heather Cass White — the editor of the New Collected Poems of Marianne Moore — speaks to Francesca Peacock about the difficulties of editing Moore...
12: Salena Godden's Mrs Death Misses Death
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Salena Godden's debut novel tells the story of Mrs Death — the female shape-shifting spirit of death herself. It is a bold, imaginative novel that t...
11: Ulysses's 100th Birthday
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode of The Critic Books Podcast is released on the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses. Francesca Peacock s...
10: Penelope Corfield's The Georgians
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How different was the eighteenth century to our own? Why are the Georgians famed for their libertinism? Was Georgian Britain a crucible of meritocracy...
9: Nick Blackburn's The Reactor
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca Peacock speaks to Nick Blackburn about The Reactor: A Book About Grief and Repair. Part memoir, part poetic commentary on culture and litera...
8: Charlotte Higgins' Greek Myths
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca Peacock speaks to The Guardian's chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins about her Greek Myths: A New Retelling, illustrated by Chris Ofili. ...
7: C J Carey's Widowland
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the first episode of The Critic Books Podcast in 2022, Francesca Peacock speaks to C J Carey (Jane Thynne) about her novel Widowland. What might ha...
6: Jennifer Saint's Ariadne
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Critic's Francesca Peacock speaks to Jennifer Saint about her novel Ariadne. Why is it important to tell such ancient myths from a female perspect...
5: Sally Coulthard's The Barn
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca Peacock speaks to writer and columnist Sally Coulthard about her new book The Barn — a history of Yorkshire life, agriculture, folklore, a...
4: Andrew Robert's George III
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of The Critic Books Podcast, The Critic's Deputy Editor Graham Stewart speaks to Andrew Roberts about his new biography of George III....
3: Laura Thompson's Heiresses
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the latest episode of The Critic Books Podcast, Francesca Peacock speaks to Laura Thompson about her new book Heiresses. From the threats of kidnap...
2: Salley Vickers' The Gardener
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of The Critic Books podcast, Francesca Peacock speaks to Salley Vickers. Salley published her first novel — Miss Garnet’s Angel —...
1: J R Thorp's Learwife
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the first episode of The Critic Books podcast, Francesca Peacock speaks to J.R Thorp - a librettist and novelist whose debut novel Learwife was pub...