We take a trip to Anfield with sports pundit Bob Holmes, who joins us to talk about his new book, “Shanks, Yanks & Jurgen”. True to its title, the book traces the history of Liverpool FC from its early days under the late Bill Shankley to the current revival with Jurgen Klopp - and Bob even shares his favourite quotes and anecdotes of Shanks. We wrap things up with a discussion on our favourite sports books. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 13, 2019•37 min
We take a trip to Anfield with sports pundit Bob Holmes, who joins us to talk about his new book, “Shanks, Yanks & Jurgen”. True to its title, the book traces the history of Liverpool FC from its early days under the late Bill Shankley to the current revival with Jurgen Klopp - and Bob even shares his favourite quotes and anecdotes of Shanks. We wrap things up with a discussion on our favourite sports books. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 13, 2019•37 min
Between adulting, life admin, work and Netflix - where does one find time to read? That's the question we try to answer in this week's episode, examining our own reading habits, how they've changed over the years and crucially, how we maintain a healthy relationship with our books and our time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 06, 2019•37 min
For a certain group of readers around the world, July 31 is an important date: the birthday of The Boy Who Lived. For the uninitiated, that’s Harry Potter, and yes, we are taking this opportunity to revisit and reminisce over our love for J.K. Rowling’s global phenomenon of a book series. Whether you loved it, hated it, or have yet to read it, join us as we discuss what made the series so significant, both to the literary world and to us personally. We wrap things up with a look at the recently ...
Aug 01, 2019•33 min
Tash Aw's latest novel, We the Survivors, examines the story of a Malaysian man who commits a violent, racist crime, and asks: what were the circumstances that led him there? We speak to Tash himself about what inspired the book, why it has its specific tone and language, and all the different Malaysias we experience, depending on our privilege and education. And then we follow that up with a brief chat about our favourite outsider characters, and how they make everything more interesting. See o...
Jul 23, 2019•32 min
Tash Aw's latest novel, We the Survivors, examines the story of a Malaysian man who commits a violent, racist crime, and asks: what were the circumstances that led him there? We speak to Tash himself about what inspired the book, why it has its specific tone and language, and all the different Malaysias we experience, depending on our privilege and education. And then we follow that up with a brief chat about outsider characters, and literary news. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
Jul 23, 2019•32 min
In honour of Bastille Day on July 14, we get a crash course on French literature from Roland Husson of the Embassy of France in Malaysia. We discuss how reading and literature in France have evolved over the history, what contemporary French literature is, and some of the literary connections between France and Malaysia. We wrap things up by talking about our experiences with translated literary works. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 16, 2019•33 min
This month we turn our attention to Normal People, the much-feted, much-discussed second novel by Sally Rooney, which explores intense love, social isolation, and ideas of masculinity and fragility. BFM's Dhanya Nair joins us for this journey. And then after that, we catch up on some correspondence about American novels and novelists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 10, 2019•39 min
The 4th of July is the United States of America’s Independence Day, and we take the opportunity to discuss American literature - and particularly, the idea of the “great American novel” and why it is so particular to the US. We also discuss some of our favourite American writers, including John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, and - quite unanimously - Stephen King! We wrap things up with a nod to World UFO Day, and the books that revel in telling stories of unidentified flying objects. See omnystudio.com...
Jul 02, 2019•37 min
This week we venture into the tricky waters of canon - how do we feel when authors revisit their works and worlds, and make changes? Are we able to accept that some of our favourite characters might adapt and have hidden histories? We discuss all this and more, invoking Harry Potter and queerness, and posthumous changes to Atticus Finch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 25, 2019•36 min
Our book club ventures into a galaxy far, far away with BFM’s Arvind Yuvaraj, to re-acquaint ourselves with a beloved screen character: Princess Leia. Claudia Gray’s young adult novel, Leia: Princess of Alderaan introduces us to a 16-year-old Leia Organa, and takes us along on her journey of growing into her legacy. And as a nod to Father’s Day, we discuss our favourite literary dads, both complex and beloved, from Game of Thrones, The Godfather, and Harry Potter. See omnystudio.com/listener for...
Jun 18, 2019•42 min
What if we could reconstruct the library of the humorist, author, and literary icon that is Mark Twain? What would we be able to find out about how he read, and why is that knowledge important? We find out with Alan Gribben, professor of English at Auburn University, who's spent the better part of his academic life hunting down the books of Mark Twain. He's also (not coincidentally) the author of Mark Twain's Literary Resources: A Reconstruction of His Library and Reading. After that, we also gi...
Jun 11, 2019•35 min
The Hari Raya celebrations begin this week, and along with it, reflection on the values that are often associated with the holiday. We take this time to talk about empathy when it comes to reading, and how books have the ability to put us in someone else's position. Our picks include Anthony Bourdain's travel books, Black Beauty, Wonder, and All the Light We Cannot See. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 04, 2019•29 min
With the premiere of the highly anticipated Amazon Prime adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens, we chat about literary adaptations that have worked. Why have some movies and shows worked better than others? What are the great ones managing to capture? We discuss this and more, including Game of Thrones, Handmaid's Tale, and The Godfather. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 28, 2019•30 min
For this month’s book club, we turn armchair philosophers with BFM’s Haniff Baharudin, and delve into Julian Baggini’s The Pig that Wants to be Eaten: And Ninety-Nine Other Thought Experiments. The book poses 100 thought experiments drawn from the history of philosophy and ideas, leaving readers with many questions to mull over. We then round things off with some favourite books that question reality: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, and The Raw Shark Tex...
May 21, 2019•36 min
Yangsze Choo's latest book explores 1930s Malaya, mythology, forbidden love... and weretigers. We talk to her about The Night Tiger, and the research required to evoke and describe a Malaya from the past with both accuracy and poetry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 14, 2019•32 min
It’s been one year since Malaysia’s watershed elections. We mark the anniversary by discussing the books that awoke in us, in ways both overt and subtle, a sense of political awareness. Picks include George Orwell’s Animal Farm, The Diary of Anne Frank, Alan Moore’s Watchmen, and Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 07, 2019•32 min
For the very first edition of our monthly book club, we read Paul Kalanithi's memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, with BFM's own Tee Shiao Eek. The book chronicles his journey from neurosurgeon in training, to a patient diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer, and examines his changing relationship with medicine, time, mortality and hope. We discuss all this, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 30, 2019•35 min
Zen Cho’s first internationally published novel, “Sorcerer to the Crown”, debuted to much acclaim. We speak to her about the pains and pleasures of writing its follow-up, “The True Queen”. And because it’s World Book Day, we get back to basics and talk about the pleasures of reading… well, just about anything! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 23, 2019•27 min
As the “Game of Thrones” TV show starts its final season, we reminisce about the epic fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin that started it all - and how it feels to watch a show that has now overtaken the books. We also talk about our love for epic fantasies as a whole, from David Eddings to Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower”. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 09, 2019•33 min
We commemorate the declaration of Malacca as a historical city by exploring books that put a sense of place front and centre, creating and describing cities that are rich, palpable and detailed. Picks include Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, and Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Books discussed: 1. Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino 2. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 3. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie 4. Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell 5. Am...
Apr 09, 2019•33 min
A show where we celebrate books and a love of reading - for our very first episode, we talk about the books that have shaped and defined us as readers and people. Expect picks ranging from Anne of Green Gables to Kazuo Ishiguro, and a discussion on why representation matters in literature. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 02, 2019•34 min
