There are few people in this country as obsessed with understanding the cultural and social potential of Australian cuisine as New Zealand-born chef Ben Shewry. And there are even fewer who have managed to combine that passion with the highest echelons of success. This week, Michael sits down with Attica’s head chef to discuss his new memoir, Uses for Obsession , and Ben share’s why he wanted to write a kind of antidote to the macho chef culture we’ve all come to expect. Reading List: Uses for O...
Oct 09, 2024•31 min
Melanie Cheng began her writing career as an author of short stories. Her first collection, Australia Day , was published in 2017 to much acclaim. Her second novel, The Burrow , follows a Melbourne family forced to confront the tragedy of their shared past. This week, Michael sits down for a conversation with Melanie about family, connection, and the power of narrative medicine. Reading list: Australia Day , Melanie Cheng, 2017 Room for a Stranger , Melanie Cheng, 2019 The Burrow, Melanie Cheng,...
Oct 02, 2024•30 min
Rumaan Alam is the author of four novels. He broke out in 2020 with his New York Times best-selling novel Leave the World Behind . This week Michael sits down with Rumaan for a conversation about his latest novel, Entitlement , and they discuss class, desire, and the influence of Sylvia Plath. Reading list: Rich and Pretty , Rumaan Alam, 2016 That Kind of Mother , Rumaan Alam, 2018 Leave the World Behind , Rumaan Alam, 2020 Entitlement , Rumaan Alam, 2024 Intermezzo, Sally Rooney, 2024 You can f...
Sep 25, 2024•30 min
Richard Osman wears many hats, from television producer to comedian to podcaster. Now, however, he’s best known as a bestselling author for his series The Thursday Murder Club. Richard’s new series is called We Solve Murders and this week, he sits down with Michael to discuss it and he reveals the piece of advice he gave to Pierce Brosnan. Reading list: The Thursday Murder Club , Richard Osman, 2020 The Man Who Died Twice , Richard Osman, 2021 The Bullet That Missed , Richard Osman, 2022 The Las...
Sep 18, 2024•30 min
Malcolm Knox began his career as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, back in the 90s. His breakout was in 2004 when, as literary editor, he broke the story of the fake Jordanian memoirist, Norma Khouri for which he won a Walkley Award. Since then he has written more than a dozen books of nonfiction and has been publishing fiction since 2000. The First Friend is his seventh novel. Reading list: The Wonder Lover , Malcolm Knox, 2015 Bluebird , Malcolm Knox, 2020 The First Friend , Malcolm ...
Sep 11, 2024•25 min
Caoilinn Hughes is an Irish poet and writer whose debut novel Orchid And The Wasp was published in 2018 to rave reviews. Her third and latest novel, The Alternatives , might be her best yet, and this week she sits down with Michael to discuss it. Reading list: Gathering Evidence, Caoilinn Hughes, 2014 Orchid And The Wasp , Caoilinn Hughes, 2018 The Wild Laughter , Caoilinn Hughes, 2020 The Alternatives , Caoilinn Hughes, 2024 Enter Ghost , Isabella Hammad, 2023 Long Island Compromise , Taffy Bro...
Sep 04, 2024•30 min
Rodney Hall might be the greatest Australian writer you’ve never heard of. He is a two-time Miles Franklin Award winner and has published dozens of books of fiction, poetry and memoir across his long career. Now 88, Rodney has just released his 14th novel titled Vortex and it might be his best. This week, Michael sits down with Rodney to discuss his new book and why writing is always a collaborative process between author and reader. Reading list: The Ship on the Coin: A Fable of the Bourgeoisie...
Aug 28, 2024•28 min
Roxane Gay is a prominent American author, professor, and cultural critic known for her unflinching honesty, quick wit, and razor-sharp intellect. She has gained acclaim for her essays, fiction, and memoirs that explore identity, gender, race, and body image. This week, Roxane joins Michael for a conversation about what it means to be a public intellectual and how this has shifted throughout her career. Reading list: Ayiti , Roxane Gay, 2011 An Untamed State , Roxane Gay, 2014 Bad Feminist, Roxa...
Aug 21, 2024•29 min
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. She is a self-described “citizen of the world” and has become a notable public intellectual and human rights activist. Elif's latest novel, There are Rivers in the Sky, stretches across millennia, following a single drop of water. This week, Michael chats with Elif about her new book and why she is not just a storyteller but a silence teller, too. Reading list: The Bastard of Istanb...
Aug 14, 2024•29 min
Eric Beecher is a news man. As a journalist, he’s worked for some of the most well-respected newspapers in the world, including the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wall Street Journal. As his career progressed, Eric climbed the media ladder: he’s currently the head of Private Media, which runs the website, Crikey . This week, Michael sits down with Eric to discuss his new book, The Men Who Killed the News . Reading list: The Men Who Killed the News, Eric Beecher, 2024 Woo Woo , Ella Baxter, 2024 Y...
Aug 07, 2024•28 min
Alexis Wright’s 2023 novel Praiseworthy has just been awarded the Miles Franklin Award. It also won the Stella Prize and has been described as “an astonishing feat of storytelling and sovereign imagination.” In this special episode, Alexis joins Michael for a conversation about Praiseworthy and reveals why she decided very early on in her literary career that she wasn't going to be trapped in anyone’s box. Reading list: Carpentaria , Alexis Wright, 2006 The Swan Book , Alexis Wright, 2013 Tracke...
Aug 02, 2024•30 min
Evie Wyld writes dark and often trauma-informed books, but she also has a remarkable capacity to capture the tenderness of memory. Her novels have been a critical and commercial success, with her second, All The Birds Singing, winning the Miles Franklin and her third, The Bass Rock , taking home the 2021 Stella Prize. This week, Michael sits down with Evie for a conversation about her latest book The Echoes , which explores how we tell stories around, and into the absences that define us. Readin...
Jul 31, 2024•29 min
Michael Robotham began his career as a ghost writer, working on more than a dozen bestselling books for people like Tony Bullimore and Geri Halliwell, before he published a novel under his own name. Twenty years later, he has just released his 18th book, a new crime novel titled Storm Child . This week, the two Michaels sit down together for a conversation about crime writing, truth wizards and what’s next. Reading list: The Suspect, Michael Robotham, 2004 Life or Death , Michael Robotham, 2014 ...
Jul 24, 2024•25 min
Dylin Hardcastle has been publishing their writing since they were 21, having now completed a memoir, a book of YA fiction and two novels. In their latest work, Dylin takes the reader back to 1972, and across three decades, explores the parallel lives of two women, shaped by their contrasting experiences of desire. This week, Michael sits down with Dylin Hardcastle for a wide-ranging conversation about this new novel, A Language of Limbs . Reading list: A Language of Limbs , Dylin Hardcastle, 20...
Jul 17, 2024•28 min
Gerald Murnane doesn’t have readers, he has acolytes. The New Yorker described him as “the reclusive giant of Australian letters”. He’s written 10 novels, several collections of short stories and essays, and a memoir about horse racing. Together these books represent one of the most formidable and singular bodies of work in literature. This week, Michael drives out to the Goroke golf course to chat with Gerald on his home turf. Reading list: Tamarisk Row, Gerald Murnane, 1974 A Lifetime on Cloud...
Jul 10, 2024•35 min
Sri Lankan-born Canadian essayist, poet, and Booker Prize-winning novelist Michael Ondaatje has just released a stunning collection of poems. Ondaatje is now 80 years old and it’s almost half a century since he published his first novel; even longer since he first published poetry. This week, Michael joins Read This for a conversation about A Year of Last Things and why writing remains such a joyful act of discovery. Reading list: Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje, 1976 In the Skin of a...
Jul 03, 2024•28 min
Paul Murray’s last two novels, Skippy Dies and The Mark and the Void, were both modern masterpieces of institutional failure. In his 2023 Booker Prize shortlisted novel, The Bee Sting , the failing institution Paul turns his comedic eye to is the family. This week, Michael and Paul sit down for a discussion about fraudulence, empathy, and the beautiful opera of life. Reading list: An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Paul Murray, 2003 Skippy Dies, Paul Murray, 2010 The Mark and the Void, Paul Murray, 20...
Jun 26, 2024•31 min
For many years, Irish writer Paul Lynch was a household name…in France. And while his work was popular in translation, and received numerous French literary awards, it was still considered niche. This all changed in 2023, following the release of Prophet Song , which was critically lauded and eventually won the holy grail of English language literary awards: the Booker Prize. This week we return to the Melbourne Writers’ Festival to hear a conversation between Michael and Paul about how Paul bec...
Jun 19, 2024•35 min
Leslie Jamison is celebrated for her ability to link the personal to the cultural to the critical in ways that resonate and move and connect with readers. She first did it with The Empathy Exams – an essay, then a best-selling, award-winning collection. Now she is back with a new book, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, a memoir about rebuilding a life after the end of a marriage. This week, Michael sits down with Leslie to discuss this latest work and what it means to be many things – a tea...
Jun 12, 2024•30 min
In 2015, Viet Thanh Nguyen was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his debut novel, The Sympathizer . Now, nearly a decade later, the book has been adapted into an HBO miniseries of the same name. This week, Michael sits down with Viet for a conversation about his latest book, A Man with Two Faces , which expands beyond the familiar beats of memoir, and features the author’s trademark interest in the broader political and colonial implications of the personal. Reading list: The Sympathizer , Viet Thanh...
Jun 05, 2024•30 min
It was 2014 when Bruce Pascoe went from being a prolific, yet relatively unknown writer, to public enemy #1 in Australia’s culture wars. That was the year that Bruce published his now infamous book, Dark Emu , and its re-examination of accepted historical accounts of pre-invasion Australia. This week, he joins Michael for a discussion about his new novel Imperial Harvest and shares why he still believes we need the messiness of democracy. Reading list : Dark Emu , Bruce Pascoe, 2014 Imperial Har...
May 29, 2024•27 min
Writer, artist, and filmmaker Miranda July has a devoted – even rabid – following, through her writing, her work on the screen, and her collaborative art projects. Her debut 2007 collection of short stories No One Belongs Here More Than You was a publishing sensation, and her debut film, Me and You and Everyone We Know , won the Palme D’Or at Cannes Film Festival. This week, she and Michael discuss her new novel, All Fours , which explores desire, intimacy, dance, and an often overlooked part of...
May 22, 2024•31 min
Across half a dozen novels, Andrew O’Hagan has made a name for himself as an author of delicacy and grace, painting the community he comes from, in Scotland’s west, with tenderness and wry, affectionate humour. His latest, Caledonian Road , follows art historian Campbell Flynn. A man who is at a turning point and is about to come up against his own downfall. This week, Michael sits down with Andrew for a conversation about the Dickensian world he has created in his new novel and why he considers...
May 15, 2024•31 min
Winnie Dunn is used to being behind the scenes. As the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Western Sydney, she has been instrumental in helping other writers find their voice. But now, the spotlight is on her. This week, Michael sits down with Winnie for a conversation about her debut novel, Dirt Poor Islanders . She reflects on the demonising narratives she had to fight and the piece of writing advice that she’d given to others that resonated for her. Reading list: Dirt Poor Islan...
May 08, 2024•26 min
Sloane Crosley is known for her funny and acerbic personal essays, including her New York Times’ best-selling collection I Was Told There’d Be Cake . But in her new memoir she digs much deeper to examine the loss of her best friend. This week, Michael sits down with Sloane to discuss Grief Is For People, and Sloane reveals the challenges of writing an intimate portrait of a singular friendship. Reading list: I Was Told There’d Be Cake , Sloane Crosley, 2008 How Did You Get This Number, Sloane Cr...
May 01, 2024•31 min
We're off this Thursday, but we'll be back next week. Email us: [email protected] Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 24, 2024•1 min
Morris Gleitzman is an Australian institution. A beloved author of novels for young people, Morris is known for his ability to be funny and warm without shying away from the realities of life. He has been writing for almost half a century now and has delighted generations of readers with his more than 40 books of fiction. This week, Michael and Morris sit down to reflect on Morris’s multi-generational impact and to discuss his latest novel, Tweet . Reading list : Two Weeks with the Queen , Morri...
Apr 17, 2024•29 min
Patrick deWitt has made a career out of creating eccentric, unforgettable characters. From his gun-slinging duo in the darkly comic The Sisters Brothers , which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize to the severely unsympathetic down-at-heel aristocrats in The French Exit . But in his fifth novel, The Librarianist , Patrick employs his signature verve and wit to reveal the extraordinary in the otherwise ordinary life of retired librarian Bob Comet. This week, Patrick joins Michael in the studio f...
Apr 10, 2024•26 min
Star investigative journalist Louise Milligan has spent her career working on some of the most high-profile criminal cases in Australia. This incredible breadth of experience informs her first novel Pheasant’s Nest , which follows the abduction of a young journalist and provides a unique insight into the media, policing and politics that surround a crime like this. This week, Michael sits down with Louise to discuss the leap from reporting to fiction and why writing this book was a kind of thera...
Apr 03, 2024•24 min
Even if you’re not an obsessive Ancient Rome aficionado, you may have heard of Mary Beard. With more than 20 books to her name, including the wildly successful SPQR, Mary might be most famous for her work as a BBC host for shows such as Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town and Julius Caesar Revealed . Her latest book is Emperor of Rome and this week on the show she sits down with Michael to discuss her life sentence — the half dozen words that set her on the path to becoming Britain’s best-kn...
Mar 27, 2024•31 min
