Joining Charles Adrian for the 111th Second-Hand Book Factory is actor, performer, comedian and dogsbody Jonathan Richardson. They talk about a dirty Aesop’s Fable, the Scottish origins of Freemasonry and some of the mix that makes up London. Episode image is a detail from the cover of Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch, published by Gollancz in 2011; cover illustration © Stephen Walter; image courtesy of the Artist/TAG Fine Arts; image taken from The Island – London Series, published by TAG Fi...
Jul 25, 2017•18 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Joining Charles Adrian for the 110th Second-Hand Book Factory is Christopher Forbes, who is a person at crossroads. They tackle the mythologisation of history, a traveller’s view of Europe and opposing ideas of illness and identity. The TED talk by Andrew Solomon that Christopher mentions can be watched here (Love No Matter What): https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_solomon_love_no_matter_what Episode image is a detail from the cover of Far From The Tree (Parents, Children and the Search for Identi...
Jul 11, 2017•19 min•Season 5Ep. 10
Joining Charles Adrian for the 109th Second-Hand Book Factory is unruffled writer, storyteller, poet and theatre-maker Anna Beecher. They talk about a deeply compassionate classic, the rebelliousness of fairy tales and the value of learning how to get lost. Episode image is a detail of the cover of A Field Guide To Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, published in 2006 by Canongate Books; cover image: plainpicture / Rachel Rebibo; design: Peter Adlington / Canongate. More information, including book ...
Jun 27, 2017•19 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Joining Charles Adrian up in the Frobisher Boardroom at London’s Barbican Centre for the 108th Second-Hand Book Factory is poet, spoken word performer, producer, writer and educator Dan Simpson. They discuss a world in which the word cyber still evoked a streetwise tomorrow, an experience that might arguably be described as the worst date ever and a poetic response to the onset of austerity. Episode image is a detail from the cover of 81 Austerities by Sam Riviere, published in 2012 by Faber and...
Jun 13, 2017•19 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Joining Charles Adrian near West Kensington tube station in London for the 107th Second-Hand Book Factory is hungry actor, producer and writer Kevin Shen. They talk about empathy with uncomfortable protagonists, good deaths of bad guys and the relatable life of an everyday Egyptian family. Episode image is a detail from the cover of Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, published by Black Swan in 2004; cover illustration by Murray Zanoni. Vera Chok, mentioned by Kevin in this episode, is the most-inter...
May 30, 2017•20 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Joining Charles Adrian in the shadow of the Royal Free Hospital in London for the 106th Second-Hand Book Factory is writer, poet and storyteller Clair Whitefield. They talk about longing and love and connection. Episode image is a detail from the cover of The Elegance Of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, published in 2008 by Gallic Books More information, including book listings, at http://www.pageonepodcast.com/
May 16, 2017•20 min•Season 5Ep. 6
For the 105th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined in Peckham Rye by consultant and project manager James Bottomley. They talk about some classic, visceral, virtuosic poetry, some classic British comic writing and some terrifyingly topical American counterfactual writing. James is Vera Chok’s flatmate. Vera has been interviewed repeatedly on the podcast. Episode image is a detail from the cover of The Plot Against America by Philip Roth, published by Vintage in 2005; book design by...
May 02, 2017•20 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Joining Charles Adrian for the 104th Second-Hand Book Factory is Nottingham-born writer and comedian, also translator, editor and interpreter-in-ovo, James Harris. They discuss comedians on comedy, the naming of people and the now-discredited Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Episode image is a detail from the cover of Through The Language Glass by Guy Deutscher, published by Arrow Books in 2011; cover design by Kelly Too; mirror illustration derived from textiles sourced from istockphoto.com. An account ...
Apr 18, 2017•21 min•Season 5Ep. 4
For the 103rd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by writer, podcaster and joiner David Turner. They discuss telling the truth about intimacy, a distance travelled that is not only physical and the fear that comes with aspiration. Marked as explicit on iTunes because of sexual language and imagery. Episode image is a detail from the cover of A Death In The Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard, published by Vintage Books in 2013; photograph © Nina Mangalanayagam / Millennium Images. More ...
Apr 04, 2017•20 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Joining Charles Adrian in Brighton for the 102nd Second-Hand Book Factory is Mathilda Gregory and her staffie Agatha. Mathilda co-produced the first Brighton Smut Slam and is a writer and performer. They talk about a less common perspective on break-ups, fantasy as allegory and how gender can mess with our self-categorisation of our sexuality. *Apologies for the electro buzz interference, which happens between 9:06 and 9:10* Marked as explicit on iTunes because of sexual language and imagery. Ep...
Mar 21, 2017•20 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Joining Charles Adrian for the first episode of the fifth season (!), aka the 101st Second-Hand Book Factory, is writer, actor and performance maker Vera Chok. They talk food and carcinogens, unapologetic feminism, the sexy lamp theory and a young sexual awakening. Episode is marked as explicit on iTunes because of light sexual content. Episode image is a detail from the cover of Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler, published in 2010 by Grand Central Publishing; cover design by Anne Two...
Mar 07, 2017•20 min•Season 5Ep. 1
For the 74th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian spoke to playwright, performer and accidental sex-positivity educator, advocate and activist Cameryn Moore. They talk about sex, magic, mystery and food. Cameryn’s Smut Slams kick off in Bristol, London, Brighton and Manchester this month! This is a night of true life storytelling around sex. More information at http://www.camerynmoore.com/smut-slam/ Cameryn’s website: http://www.camerynmoore.com/ Podcast website (for book listing and more in...
Jan 03, 2017•20 min•Season 4Ep. 23
For the 100th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by award-winning Librarian, Spoken Word Artist and trainee Agony Aunt Ms Samantha Mann. They talk provincial ladies, French poets and Scottish fiddlers. If you have a dilemma that you would like Samantha to address, in her role as resident Agony Aunt at TRC3, you can find her on Twitter (https://twitter.com/MsSamanthaMann), on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mssamanthamann/) or you can can get in touch through her own website (h...
Nov 29, 2016•23 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Next week's episode will be rather special for a couple of reasons. Charles Adrian explains... Website (for info and previous episodes): http://www.pageonepodcast.com/
Nov 22, 2016•4 min•Season 4Ep. 21
For the 99th Second Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian goes to meet theatrical educationalist and daydreamer Natalie Flynn at the Liverpool Empire Theatre. They talk about childhood, friendship, stories, the wisdom of Pooh, the importance of acceptance and the pain of becoming real. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk The Danger Of The Single Story can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg Warning: There is a certain amount of background noise sidling in through the open wind...
Nov 08, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 20
For the 98th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined on the South Bank by professional book expert and compulsive creative Polis Loizou. They talk about the effect of grief on faith and credulity, eye acting, the social commentary to be found in horror fiction and a modern nod to a classic. Polis’s company Off-Off-Off-Broadway can be found here: http://www.offoffoffbroadway.co.uk/ Website (for more info and book listings): http://www.pageonepodcast.com/...
Oct 25, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 19
For the 97th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined, in a bedroom upstairs at the Battersea Arts Centre in London, by performer and reader Miriam Gould. They discuss books as empathy technology, dead people who never stop talking and moral pornography. Miriam's website: https://miriamgould.com/ Page One website (for book listing and more info): http://www.pageonepodcast.com/ Episode image is a detail from the cover of The Sadeian Women by Angela Carter, published by Virago Ltd in 197...
Oct 11, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Joining Charles Adrian for the 95th Second-Hand Book Factory is designer and artist Bettina John. With scales being sung in the background and both host and guest suffering the comet tail of departed illness, they discuss books as physical objects with interesting histories, art that incorporates different realities in the same frame and stories that are just complex. Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com/
Sep 13, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Joining Charles Adrian for the 94th Second-Hand Book Factory is bath-taker and cat-poker (also English poet and performer) A. F. Harrold. They talk about an iconic first page, some of the sadness of growing up and a couple of dubious creation stories. Incidentally, my first visit to Tilehurst was to interview Iszi Lawrence; you can hear our conversation here: http://www.pageonepodcast.com/home/#/page-one-112-iszi-lawrence/ . A. F. Harrold is author of The Imaginary and the Fizzelbert Stump serie...
Aug 30, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 14
For the 93rd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by inveterate dabbler, also photographer and writer, Katherine Leedale. They discuss books that keep you reading into the night, a failed Peeping Tom and an unhelpful feeling that certain things are not for us. Photos of Ms Samantha Mann by Katherine are here: http://www.mssamanthamann.com/photos/ Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com...
Aug 16, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 13
For the 92nd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by passionate, itinerant generalist and creative (on the interior) Isbel James. They talk about skewed perspectives on familiar places, fiction that feels like memoir (and vice versa) and the descriptive power of Robert Louis Stevenson’s writing. The photograph that is discussed is, in fact, Tove Jannson’s niece Sophia sitting with her (Sophia’s) grandmother, who was Tove Jannson’s mother. Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com...
Aug 02, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Marked as explicit because of some gentle swearing. For the 91st Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined in London’s Russell Square by writer, actor, nerd and (whisper it) ex-gymnast Iskandar Sharazuddin. They talk about the swashbuckling founder of an independent dynastic monarchy, the shifting sands of identity and the creation of a ferocious emotional truth. It is interesting to note, perhaps, how relentlessly noisy central London is. Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com/...
Jul 19, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 11
A note about the rating: This episode is marked as explicit because there is a brief and passing reference to sexual assault. Joining Charles Adrian for the 90th Second-Hand Book Factory is creative layabout, also actor, writer and blagger, Joseph Paterson. They talk about seeing the world through someone else’s eyes, the crossroads of people’s lives, and the pleasure that comes with being read to. As you will hear, Joseph would like it to be known that the phrase he was looking for to describe ...
Jun 21, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Joining Charles Adrian for the 89th Second-Hand Book Factory is poet, writer, performer, facilitator and musician, otherwise artist Antosh Wojcik. They talk about feeling naked on the train, a decent workaday detective and a good idiosyncratic voice. Incidentally, I love the way Antosh refers to his neighbour as 'Next Door'. Website: pageonepodcast.com
Jun 09, 2016•19 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Joining Charles Adrian for the 88th Second-Hand Book Factory is artist, designer, musician and all-round creative Satoshi Dāté. They talk about a kind of self-help literature, a very particular strain of Englishness and a lot of origami cranes. Satoshi reads in Japanese so there is ear porn on offer for language addicts. Website: pageonepodcast.com
May 24, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Content note: mention of suicide Joining Charles Adrian downriver of the Thames Barrier for the 87th Second-Hand Book Factory is writer and illustrator Donna Butlin. They reminisce about Donna’s project Storytape, dark comedy done really well, the familiarity of fables and how talking about death can make you think about life. Website: pageonepodcast.com
May 10, 2016•19 min•Season 4Ep. 7
This episode is marked as explicit because there is some discussion of sex with trees (dendrophilia) and of sex in general. Recorded in Tilehurst (near Reading) on Pancake Day, Charles Adrian is joined for the 86th Second-Hand Book Factory by comedian, podcaster, graphic designer and voice-over artist Iszi Lawrence . They talk dendrophilia, a woman who sits at one of the crossroads of European history and the danger of hope. Website: pageonepodcast.com...
Apr 26, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 6
A quick note about the rating of this episode: I’ve marked this episode as explicit because there are some sexual references. Nothing that’s going to make you choke on your cornflakes but you might want to be careful around children and anybody who doesn’t know about sex. Joining Charles Adrian for the 85th Second-Hand Book Factory is actor, performer, theatre-maker, writer, and space and science geek Griffyn Gilligan . They talk about why the measure of love is loss, how we deal with the passin...
Apr 12, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Joining Charles Adrian for the 84th Second-Hand Book Factory is actress and writer Nancy Crane. They talk about Raymond Chandler as a poet of loneliness, the brilliance of Charles Dickens and having to be on your own to see. Incidentally, it turns out that there have been both radio and television adaptations of Martin Chuzzlewit. Website: pageonepodcast.com...
Mar 29, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 4
For the 83rd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by professional podcaster and human woman Helen Zaltzman . They marvel at the sincerity of an early-seventies feminist life-swap, share the joy of making stuff and discover Mexican Menonites. Website: pageonepodcast.com
Mar 15, 2016•20 min•Season 4Ep. 3
