The LRB Podcast
Episodes
Aeschylus’ Ghosts
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Wilson talks to Thomas Jones about three new translations of the Oresteia. They discuss what the texts of the tragedies may tell us about the s...
No Wave Feminism
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Turner talks to Joanna Biggs about the history of the Women’s Liberation Movement, the loneliness of feminist work, and the seemingly unavoida...
400 Million Guns
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah Friedell talks to Thomas Jones about the origins, and origin myths, of the National Rifle Association, how it spends its money, and why it's w...
Katherine Rundell: Consider the Greenland Shark
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine Rundell reads her study of the Greenland shark, which can live for 500 years. You can find all the pieces in Katherine Rundell's series of a...
Covidology
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Beale talks to Thomas Jones about Covid-19 vaccine candidates, and reasons not to rush them; how worried we should be about reported cases of r...
Patricia Lockwood: Insane after coronavirus?
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Patricia Lockwood reads her diary about catching and recovering from Covid-19. Read more by Patricia Lockwood in the LRB here: https://lrb.me/lockwood...
The Absurdities of Race
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Shatz talks to Paul Gilroy about his intellectual background and the recent anti-racist protests in the UK and US. They discuss Gilroy’s experi...
Early and Late Kermode
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stefan Collini talks to Thomas Jones about the life and work of Frank Kermode, and Mary-Kay Wilmers remembers him as a contributor to the LRB. Find ...
Press the Red Button
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Following his piece in the latest issue of the LRB, William Davies talks to Thomas Jones about the new political polarisation, and what it owes to th...
States of Shock
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pankaj Mishra talks to Adam Shatz about his latest piece for the LRB, which looks at the ways the US and UK have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic an...
Katherine Rundell: Consider the Lemur
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine Rundell reads her study of the lemur. You can find all the pieces in Katherine Rundell's series of animal studies on her author page on the ...
Everyone misplaces my keys
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amia Srinivasan talks to Thomas Jones about the long search for a third person singular, gender-neutral pronoun, and the resurgence of the pronoun deb...
How do you change things?
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor talks to Adam Shatz about the intellectual and historical background to the Black Lives Matter movement, and why she’s optim...
Katherine Rundell: Consider the Swift
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine Rundell reads her study of the common swift, which flies about two million kilometres in its lifetime. You can find all Katherine Rundell's ...
Gaby Wood: How to Draw an Albatross
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Gaby Wood reads her diary from the latest issue of the LRB, in which she tries to draw an albatross using a camera lucida. Read the diary and much mor...
‘No, I’m not getting married!’
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Susan Pedersen talks to Joanna Biggs about Shelagh Delaney and her landmark 1958 play, A Taste of Honey. Read Susan Pedersen on Shelagh Delaney in th...
On Georges Simenon
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
John Lanchester talks to Thomas Jones about Georges Simenon, whose output was so prodigious that even he didn’t know how many books he wrote. Find l...
Reopening the NHS
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sonia Gandhi and Rupert Beale, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, talk to Thomas Jones about the ways Covid-19 can affect the nervous system, ...
Semi-Recumbent in Bournemouth
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew O’Hagan talks to Thomas Jones about the friendship between Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and the time they spent together in Bourn...
The Theory Truce
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Wood talks to Adam Shatz about critical theory, its origins, developments and various diversions, and where it stands today. The conversation ...
This Bad Business
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Colm Tóibín talks to Thomas Jones about the breakdown of Elizabeth Hardwick’s marriage to Robert Lowell, and its literary consequences. Find the p...
The Idea of the Island
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Wellesley talks to Joanna Biggs about islands, blessed and not so blessed, from Homer to the Fyre Festival. Read more by Mary Wellesley in the LR...
Beauvoir and Me
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joanna Biggs talks to Thomas Jones about the life of Simone de Beauvoir. Further reading on Beauvoir in the LRB: Joanna Biggs: https://lrb.me/biggsdeb...
On the Ward
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lana Spawls talks to Thomas Jones about working on a paediatric ward during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ways hospitals have changed in response to ...
In the Lab
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Beale talks again to Thomas Jones about his work at the Francis Crick Institute, where he’s helping to set up a testing lab for Covid-19. H...
Four Hundred Years of Quarantine
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Erin Maglaque talks to Thomas Jones about the lockdown imposed by the city of Florence in January 1631 in response to a plague outbreak, the similarit...
Wash Your Hands, Again
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Following his piece for the LRB about Covid-19, Rupert Beale talks to Thomas Jones about what the novel coronavirus is, how well countries are dealing...
Richard Lloyd Parry: Akihito and the Sorrows of Japan
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Akihito, who abdicated in April, was a paradoxical figure: a hereditary monarch, the son of the wartime emperor, Hirohito, strictly barred from politi...
Meehan Crist: Is it OK to have children?
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Given what we know about the future of the planet, is having children a matter of consumer choice, of political conviction, or something an authority ...
Colin Burrow: Fiction and the Age of Lies
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The line between making a fiction and telling a lie has been blurry at least since Homer, and liars – from Odysseus and Iago to Austen’s Wickham a...
Alan Bennett’s Diary for 2019
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Bennett reads his Diary for 2019, with a few little extra bits. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: lrb.me/bennettpod Subscribe to the LRB from...
The LRB at 40: Jeremy Harding, Adam Shatz and Nikita Lalwani
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the last of a series of events marking the LRB's 40th anniversary, Jeremy Harding and Adam Shatz talk to Nikita Lalwani about their work for the pa...
The LRB at 40: Nell Dunn, Tessa Hadley and Joanna Biggs on women in fiction
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As part of a series of events marking the LRB's 40th anniversary, Nell Dunn and Tessa Hadley talk to Joanna Biggs, one of the LRB's editors, about fi...
The LRB at 40: Rosemary Hill and Iain Sinclair on London
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As part of our series of events marking the 40th anniversary of the LRB, longtime contributors Rosemary Hill and Iain Sinclair talked to the LRB’s d...
The LRB at 40: Katrina Forrester and William Davies on the crisis of liberalism
25 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As part of our series of events marking the LRB's 40th anniversary, Katrina Forrester and William Davies discuss political crisis, and in particular t...
The LRB at 40: Mary-Kay Wilmers, Alan Bennett, Andrew O'Hagan, John Lanchester and Sheng Yun
11 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the London Review of Books, and mark the publication of The London Review of Books: An Incomplete History, the LR...
Bee Wilson: Mmmm, chicken nuggets
23 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bee Wilson on eating out in late Victorian London. Read more by Bee Wilson in the LRB: https://lrb.me/beewilsonpod Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 ...
James Wood: These Etonians
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
James Wood recalls his time at the college, with David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and others. Read more by James Wood in the LRB: https:/...
Andrew O'Hagan: The Lagerfeld Fandango
02 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew O'Hagan goes to the fashion designer's memorial at the Grand Palais in Paris. Read more by Andrew O'Hagan in the LRB: https://lrb.me/ohaganpod ...
Mary Wellesley: 'This place is pryson'
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Wellesley looks inside the cell of a medieval anchorite, and considers why so many women shut themselves away to devote themselves to prayer and ...
Colm Tóibín: ‘It’s curable,’ he said
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
‘Instead of shaking all over, I read the newspapers. I listened to the radio. I had my lunch.’ Colm Tóibín reads his account of being treated fo...
Alan Bennett: Diary for 2018
03 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Bennett puts on a new play and finds himself on someone’s arm, in his 2018 diary. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bennettp...
Rosemary Hill: The Dress in Your Head
27 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rosemary Hill explores frock consciousness in life and literature in her LRB Winter Lecture, delivered at the British Museum. Read more by Rosemary Hi...
Linda Colley: The Problem with Winning
14 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Linda Colley argues that the prospect of Brexit makes history more important than ever in her LRB Winter Lecture, delivered at the British Museum. Rea...
Anne Enright: The Genesis of Blame
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Anne Enright delivers her Winter Lecture on the corruptions of the Adam and Eve story in her LRB Winter Lecture, delivered at the British Museum. Read...
John Lanchester: 'Coffin Liquor', a story
06 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Toby Jones reads John Lanchester’s ghost story. Read more from John Lanchester in the LRB: https://lrb.me/lanchesterpod Sign up to the LRB newslette...
Alan Bennett: Diary for 2017
04 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Bennett finds his métier at last in 2017. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bennettpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https:/...
The Defectors: Richard Lloyd Parry talks to Krys Lee
21 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest instalment of the LRB podcast, recorded in Seoul, Richard Lloyd Parry talks to the Korean-American novelist Krys Lee about Christianity,...
Jane Campbell: ‘Cat-Brushing’, a story
06 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Campbell reads a story about dispossession in paradise. Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...
Lucy Prebble: Harvey Weinstein
02 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lucy Prebble describes meeting Harvey Weinstein. Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/acast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...
Absolute Revolt: Adam Shatz talks to Olivier Roy, part 2
16 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the second part of their conversation, Olivier Roy and Adam Shatz discuss the deculturation of Islam, and why it has led to the radicalisation of s...
Living Orients: Adam Shatz talks to Olivier Roy, part 1
10 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of two podcasts, Olivier Roy tells Adam Shatz about his experiences with the Gauche prolétarienne in the 1960s and his early travels in ...
Don’t learn shorthand: Rosemary Hill talks to Carmen Callil
26 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Carmen Callil, writer, editor and founder of Virago, tells Rosemary Hill how she made her way in 1960s London. Read more by Rosemary Hill in the LRB: ...
Ferdinand Mount: Staffing the Raj
06 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ferdinand Mount on how India was governed strictly for the benefit of Britain. Read more by Ferdinand Mount in the LRB: lrb.me/mountpod Sign up to the...
Trump is the Boot Man: Adam Shatz talks to Wallace Shawn
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and actor Wallace Shawn talks to Adam Shatz about ‘the thin line between entertainment and cruelty’ in the age of Trump. Read more by Adam ...
Post-Press Politics: Tom Crewe talks to William Davies
01 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
William Davies talks to Tom Crewe about politics in the new media age. Read more by William Davies in the LRB: https://lrb.me/daviespod Read more by T...
Panthers in Algiers: Jeremy Harding talks to Elaine Mokhtefi
18 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Elaine Mokhtefi tells Jeremy Harding about her time working in Algeria in the 1960s when she met Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver. Hosted on Acas...
Rosemary Hill: Ida John
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
‘Bohemia was never a safe country for women. If they didn’t all die of consumption in a garret, many of them might as well have done’ – Rosema...
Andrew O'Hagan: Dacre’s Paper
21 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
‘It’s like the drunken lout at a party who can’t get anyone to like him.’ Andrew O’Hagan reads the Daily Mail. Read more by Andrew O'Hagan i...
The Corbyn Project: Tom Crewe talks to Lorna Finlayson
05 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Crewe talks to Lorna Finlayson about Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s prospects in the general election and beyond. Read more by Tom Crewe in the LRB:...
Karma Nabulsi: Snitching on Students
17 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
‘Once you start seeing everyday behaviour as having the potential to draw people into terrorism, you’re inside the problem’ – Karma Nabulsi on...
Close Readings: On Philip Larkin
10 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Seamus Perry and Mark Ford discuss the work of Philip Larkin, drawing on articles from our archive by contributors including Alan Bennett, Barbara Eve...
Julian Barnes: People Will Hate Us Again
27 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Julian Barnes on Georges Simenon and Brexit. Read more by Julian Barnes in the LRB: https://lrb.me/barnespod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: lrb.me/aca...
The Syrian War: Adam Shatz talks to Joshua Landis
20 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Shatz talks to Joshua Landis about the war in Syria. Read more by Adam Shatz in the LRB: https://lrb.me/shatzpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: h...
Talking Politics: John Lanchester talks to David Runciman
12 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
David Runciman talks to John Lanchester about banks, Europe and technology in this latest collaboration with Talking Politics. Read John Lanchester in...
Iain Sinclair: The Last London
29 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Iain Sinclair delivers his lecture on ‘The Last London’ at the British Museum, as part of the LRB’s Winter Lecture series. Read more by Iain Sin...
Mary Beard: From Medusa to Merkel
16 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Beard delivers her lecture ‘Women in Power’ at the British Museum. Read Mary Beard in the LRB: https://lrb.me/beardpod Sign up to the LRB new...
Talking Politics: Mary Beard talks to David Runciman
28 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of our ongoing and occasional collaboration with the Talking Politics podcast, David Runciman talks to Mary Beard about women in power. R...
Emily Witt: Burning Man
12 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Witt goes to the Burning Man gathering in Nevada, from our 17 July 2014 issue. Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Ac...
Alan Bennett: Diary for 2016
05 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Bennett reads his diary for 2016. Read more by Alan Bennett in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bennettpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/a...
In Conversation: On John Berger
04 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
To mark John Berger’s 90th birthday, the London Review Bookshop and Verso Books organised a discussion of his work with Mike Dibb, Yasmin Gunaratnam...
Frederick Seidel: In Late December
15 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Seidel reads his poem ‘In Late December’. Read Frederck Seidel in the LRB: https://lrb.me/seidelpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https...
Hal Foster: Robert Rauschenberg
01 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hal Foster reviews the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition at Tate Modern. Read Hal Foster in the LRB: https://lrb.me/fosterpod Sign up to the LRB newslett...
Susan Pedersen: ‘Race Studies’
19 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Susan Pedersen on the birth of ‘International Relations’. Read Susan Pedersen in the LRB: https://lrb.me/pedersenpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter...
In Conversation: Long-Form Essays in the Digital Age
11 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mary-Kay Wilmers, Andrew O’Hagan and Ben Eastham talk to Sarah Howe about ‘Long-Form Essays in the Digital Age’. Sign up to the LRB newsletter: ...
John Lanchester: Brexit Blues
27 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
John Lanchester on the implications of the UK’s EU referendum. Read John Lanchester in the LRB: https://lrb.me/lanchesterpod Hosted on Acast. See ...
Gavin Francis: In the Morgue
13 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Gavin Francis observes the autopsy of a man pulled from a river. Read Gavin Francis in the LRB: https://lrb.me/francispod Sign up to the LRB newslette...
Frederick Seidel: Trump for President!
29 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Seidel reads his poem ‘Trump for President!’. Read Frederick Seidel in the LRB: https://lrb.me/seidelpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: ...
Andrew O'Hagan: The Satoshi Affair
29 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew O'Hagan watches Craig Wright show Gavin Andresen, one of the most respected bitcoin core developers, that he holds the Satoshi key. Read Andrew...
Peter Pomerantsev: European Schools
15 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Pomerantsev remembers his time in the 'English section' at the European School in Munich. Read Peter Pomerantsev in the LRB: https://lrb.me/pome...
Naomi Klein: Let Them Drown
01 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Naomi Klein examines how Edward Said’s ideas of racial hierarchy, including Orientalism, have long been the silent partners to climate change. Read ...
Charles Hope: Giorgione
30 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Hope on Giorgione, 'a sort of Venetian counterpart to Leonardo'. Read Charles Hope in the LRB: https://lrb.me/hopepod Sign up to the LRB newsl...
Colm Tóibín: After I am hanged my portrait will be interesting
30 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Colm Tóibín on the story of Easter 1916. Read Colm Tóibín in the LRB: https://lrb.me/toibinpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast...
Julian Bell: Delacroix
17 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Julian Bell discusses Delacroix and his heirs. Read Julian Bell in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bellpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast...
Frances Stonor Saunders: Where on Earth are you?
03 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Frances Stonor Saunders examines the crossing of borders, in her LRB Winter Lecture delivered at the British Museum. Read Frances Stonor Saunders in t...
James Meek: Robin Hood in a Time of Austerity
18 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
James Meek asks how, in a time of austerity economics, we define the robber and the robbed, in his LRB Winter Lecture delivered at the British Museum....
Alan Bennett: What I Did in 2015
07 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Bennett works the line, in his LRB Diary for 2015. Read Alan Bennett in the LRB: https://lrb.me/bennettpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https:/...
David Runciman: Thatcher in Her Bubble
03 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
David Runciman on Margaret Thatcher. Read David Runciman in the LRB: https://lrb.me/runcimanpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast H...
Chaohua Wang: Beijing locks up its lawyers
05 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Chaohua Wang on justice in China. Read Chaohua Wang in the LRB: https://lrb.me/chaohuawangpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Ho...
Andrew O'Hagan: At Tottenham Court Road
23 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew O'Hagan crosses the road. Read Andrew O'Hagan in the LRB: https://lrb.me/ohaganpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted...
Robert Hanks: On Putting Things Off
09 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Hanks on the pleasures and pains of putting things off. Read Robert Hanks in the LRB: https://lrb.me/hankspod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: ht...
Julian Barnes: Selfie with ‘Sunflowers’
29 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Julian Barnes on Van Gogh. Read Julian Barnes in the LRB: https://lrb.me/barnespod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast Hosted on Aca...
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad: In Sanaa
20 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on the rise of the Houthis in Yemen. Read Gaith Abdul-Ahad: https://lrb.me/abdulahadyt Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me...
The Killing of Osama bin Laden: Seymour Hersh talks to Christian Lorentzen
20 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Seymour Hersh talks to Christian Lorentzen about his pieces for the LRB, collected in a new book, The Killing of Osama bin Laden. Read Seymour Hersh i...
Hilary Mantel: ‘The School of English’, a story
06 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Hilary Mantel reads her short story, ‘The School of English’. Read Hilary Mantel in the LRB: https://lrb.me/mantelyt Sign up to the LRB newsletter...
Tariq Ali: The New World Disorder
08 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In his 2015 Winter Lecture, Tariq Ali argues that we are living in the twilight period of democracy. Read more Tariq Ali in the LRB: https://lrb.me/ta...
Marina Warner: Learning My Lesson
19 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In her 2015 Winter Lecture, Marina Warner shows how higher education in the UK has been betrayed. Read more Marina Warner in the LRB: https://lrb.me/w...
Adam Phillips: Against Self-Criticism
05 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In his 2015 Winter Lecture, Adam Phillips reflects on the ways we hate ourselves. Read more by Adam Phillips in the LRB: https://lrb.me/phillipspod Si...
Peter Pomerantsev: Iammmmyookkraaanian
19 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Pomerantsev on images and myths of Maidan. Read more by Peter Pomerantsev in the LRB: https://lrb.me/pomerantsevpod Sign up to the LRB newslette...
Death in Belgravia
05 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Rosemary Hill on the life and disappearance of Lord Lucan. Read more Rosemary Hill in the LRB: https://lrb.me/hillpod Sign up to the LRB newsletter: h...