Having created thrills on screen as an actor it was perhaps only a matter of time before Richard Armitage decided to create a literary thriller of his own. After memorable appearances in TV thrillers like Spooks and three separate Harlan Coben dramas, Armitage has penned his own, Geneva , which sees a Nobel Prize-winning scientist forced to question everything as intrigue swirls around a new bio-tech innovation. We sat down to talk about literary influences, his approach to writing, and why acti...
Oct 17, 2023•17 min•Season 11Ep. 32
Familiar to millions as the woman who brought Indian cookery into UK kitchens through her books and TV series, Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a sumptuous new edition featuring some brand new recipes. We sat down to speak with her from New York about her childhood in India, training as an actress in London, and her influence to this day as the author of the book that many still maintain is the best Indian cookbook available....
Oct 10, 2023•26 min•Season 11Ep. 31
In her latest book, eminent historian and author, Mary Beard , presents a thematic approach to the role of Roman Emperor. What did it mean to be at the head of the empire, what daily work was involved, and what did it mean to have access to his inner circle? We sat down to talk about Roman dining, statues and coins, and why this period of history holds such fascination to people living today....
Oct 03, 2023•21 min•Season 11Ep. 30
Well-known to fans of The Young Ones, Bottom, or any number of alternative comedy shoots from the 1980s onwards, Adrian Edmondson ’s anarchic comedy of violence has surprising roots in an unsettled childhood. We sat down to talk about boarding school, found family and why the whole comedy thing was a bit of an accident.
Sep 26, 2023•29 min•Season 11Ep. 29
No matter how you feel about them, there’s no doubt that the Royal Family still play a crucial role in our national identity - but how did we get to where we are? And how much do we really know about the Kings and Queens of our past? We sat down with comedian and writer David Mitchell to discover why the early Kings were just successful bullies, why royal succession is a bit like losing your mobile phone, and why Magna Carta is important for many reasons, but doesn’t get you off wearing a face m...
Sep 19, 2023•23 min•Season 11Ep. 28
The cause of more dropped jaws than almost any other entertainer, Miriam Margolyes shared a lifetime of hilarious incident in her first memoir, This Much Is True. Thankfully, she has plenty more to say, and in Oh Miriam! we have more hilarity, but also reflection, emotion, and a healthy dose of passion too; all of which is on display in our exclusive conversation with her....
Sep 13, 2023•20 min•Season 11Ep. 27
Former Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-winner Katherine Rundell has turned to fantasy to create her latest fictional world. The Archipelago is a cluster of magical islands where humans live alongside the creatures of myth, but the magic is under threat. We sat down to speak about a childhood of adventure, standing on the shoulders of giants, and what readers can expect from this exciting new trilogy....
Sep 12, 2023•24 min•Season 11Ep. 26
It was amusing at first when Naomi Klein found people would confuse her with fellow author Naomi Wolf. But when her namesake started to develop increasingly extreme views during the COVID pandemic, it required more attention, and opened up a mirror-world of conspiracy, misinformation and shifting ideologies. In a fascinating conversation with the author of No Logo we discuss why what Doppelgänger depicts is such a pressing issue for us all, and how to get back to what really matters....
Sep 11, 2023•35 min•Season 11Ep. 25
The Wren, The Wren, the new novel from Booker Prize-winner Anne Enright, continues her examination of themes around motherhood, family relationships and connection. As we sat down to talk about it, we discussed how it is really a novel about its characters and an investigation into what language is trying to do, and what happens when it reaches its limits.
Sep 05, 2023•25 min•Season 11Ep. 24
From her debut novel 23 years ago, Zadie Smith has held both readers and critics in rapt attention. That debut was of course White Teeth, which went on to become a multi award-winning bestseller, and whilst the novels that have followed have taken readers to different parts of the world, she has for many been an essential chronicler of life in London. Her new novel, The Fraud, is set once again in our capital city but in a surprise to some, including the author herself perhaps, it is set during ...
Aug 31, 2023•41 min•Season 11Ep. 23
Anyone who’s had the chance to meet a favourite author at an event knows that it can add something really special to the books you love; and book festivals offer the opportunity to do it again and again. In a special episode of the podcast we head to the Edinburgh International Book Festival to meet authors Josie Long, Monica Heisey, Will McPhail, Brandon Taylor and K Patrick, as well as readers too, and discover what makes it so special.
Aug 25, 2023•24 min•Season 11Ep. 22
The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize returns for its second year and our booksellers have once again identified the most exciting new writing talent out there. We spoke with all six authors about how it feels to hand over that all-important manuscript for others to pass judgement on, discover how much autobiography feeds into their work, the kind of research it takes to create fiction, and that trickiest of questions: where does the inspiration and compulsion to write come from? Find all the book...
Jul 13, 2023•59 min•Season 11Ep. 21
When Caitlin Moran was out promoting her series of books about women and feminism, she would often encounter the same question from audiences at the end of the event: What about Men? At a time when people can claim that men actually have it harder than women in some respects, what advice did she have for them? So she went away, spoke to male friends, did the research and came back with her thoughts. We sat down to talk about the strange ways men talk to each other, the dangers of the manosphere ...
Jul 04, 2023•43 min•Season 11Ep. 20
Lorrie Moore has continued to delight readers with her short stories but it has been 14 years since her last novel, the Women’s Prize-shortlisted A Gate at the Stairs . Her new novel, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home , contains dual narratives which deal with the themes of love, loss and memory. As one of America’s most distinctive voices it’s best not to try and summarise things for a pith intro, far better to join our conversation about literary forms, the absurdity of loss and why romanti...
Jun 27, 2023•29 min•Season 11Ep. 19
Caroline O’Donoghue ’s new novel for adults, The Rachel Incident , is a love story but just not the one you might be expecting from the book’s premise. Set in the post-economic crash Republic of Ireland of 2009 it sees our eponymous heroine looking for love and to be taken seriously in a world full of uncertainty. We sat down to talk about friendship, making memories and cultural touchstones....
Jun 20, 2023•32 min•Season 11Ep. 18
After her attention-grabbing debut novel, The Girls , Emma Cline has been quietly getting on with the business of writing. A story collection, Daddy , is now followed by a new novel, The Guest , another stylish display of Cline’s considerable skills that follows a young woman, drifting amongst the elite of Long Island, with the threat of everything being washed away with one wrong decision. We sat down to speak about literary influences, avoiding the obvious and portraying femininity....
Jun 13, 2023•24 min•Season 11Ep. 17
Stories of seafaring, shipwreck, mutiny and murder have long held a fascination, particularly for dwellers of this island nation and in his latest investigative piece of narrative non-fiction, David Grann has a tale that grips from first page to last. The Wager was a vessel shipwrecked in the 1740s, its crew presumed lost, until a group of survivors washed up on the coast of Brazil. Their story of survival would have been incredible enough except for a second group of survivors to appear in Chil...
May 30, 2023•38 min•Season 11Ep. 16
It’s an old question but one that seems to be asked with increasing frequency in the era of so-called cancel culture: can you separate the art from the artist? After Essayist and memoir-writer Claire Dederer wrote a viral article about her own response to Roman Polanski she looked further into the lives and works of other problematic figures. The result, Monsters , is a personal and entirely subjective look at creatives like Woody Allen, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, Pablo Picasso and more, that...
May 23, 2023•41 min•Season 11Ep. 15
There is no stopping Rebecca Kuang . With the Poppy War trilogy already under her belt and the fantastic success of Waterstones Book of the Year nominee Babel, she has reinvented herself once again this year with Yellowface, a literary thriller that satirises the very industry she’s involved in, publishing and bookselling. As someone who has worked in both of those industries myself, not to mention the world of social media for 15 years, I couldn’t wait to read this one and was even more excited...
May 16, 2023•32 min•Season 11Ep. 14
Caleb Azumah Nelson made a huge impression with his debut novel Open Water, an emotionally complex novel of love that was also a celebration of black creativity. His new novel, Small Worlds, continues both of those themes, whilst also looking at notions of family, home and a connection with the authors own Ghanaian culture. We sat down for a talk about love, memory and the creative urge....
May 09, 2023•32 min•Season 11Ep. 13
When Han Kang won the International Booker Prize in 2016 the bonus for readers was that there were more of her books ready to be translated into English. Her latest, Greek Lessons , features a woman who has stopped speaking and her professor, a man who has gradually been losing his sight in a tale of human connection and communication, translated once again by her fellow Booker-winner Deborah Smith, working this time with Emily Yae Won. I sat down with her and interpreter Mi Na Sketchley to talk...
May 02, 2023•18 min•Season 11Ep. 12
Emily Henry had already published four young adult novels before turning 30 but with her fifth, Beach Read, and a switch to writing romantic comedy for adults she found a whole new level of engagement with readers. With huge popularity on TikTok and a boom in romantic fiction in general, we sat down to talk about writing through phases in life, creating relatable characters and whether those cartoon covers are hiding something a little darker inside....
Apr 25, 2023•35 min•Season 11Ep. 11
In Diana Evans ’ previous book we were introduced to the couple Melissa and Michael. That novel, Ordinary People , was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Rathbones Folio Prize, and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. It was also beloved by readers and so many of those will be delighted to hear that her latest novel, A House for Alice , continues their story, together with that of Melissa’s family, headed up by her mother, the titular Alice. I sat down with Diana to talk about...
Apr 04, 2023•31 min•Season 11Ep. 10
In 2022, Sheena Patel published her debut novel I’m A Fan and was chosen as one of the Observer’s Top 10 best debut novelists. In the book, an unnamed narrator tells us about the similarly unnamed ‘woman I am obsessed with’ and ‘man I want to be with’ in a tale of social media, obsessive love, power, privilege and race. It’s an incendiary novel, chosen by Foyles as their fiction Book of the Year and one I knew would allow us to have a frank and funny conversation about where we find ourselves ri...
Mar 28, 2023•45 min•Season 11Ep. 9
Benjamin Myers is the kind of writer who has devoted readers. A series of novels over the last 15 years or so, particularly those published by indie imprint Bluemoose, have earned him awards, plaudits, and many dedicated booksellers keen to hand-sell his books. His prolific output belies the fact that for the last 5 years he has been working on Cuddy , a novel that takes inspiration from Saint Cuthbert, the unofficial patron saint of the North of England. What led an atheist to write a novel abo...
Mar 21, 2023•41 min•Season 11Ep. 8
Tiffany McDaniel ’s previous novel, Betty , made such a huge impact with booksellers and readers that we were delighted to make it the fiction book of the month back in August 2021. It was brutal read at times, but violence and poverty were combined with an attention to language that made it a must-read for many. Her new novel, On the Savage Side , deals in similarly dark terrain so I sat down with Tiffany to talk about the real unsolved crime that inspired it, writing about the most difficult t...
Mar 14, 2023•17 min•Season 11Ep. 7
Together with the disruption caused by the global pandemic and the lockdown periods that accompanied it, many people were left with a sense that things weren’t quite right, though it proved hard to put a finger on exactly what was wrong. Feelings of fatigue, anxiety and the great overwhelm led writer Katherine May to seek a closer connection to nature’s ability to inspire both wonder and something slightly more magical - enchantment. We sat down to talk about play, pebbles and why you’ll never r...
Mar 07, 2023•30 min•Season 11Ep. 6
The novels of Sebastian Barry form an intriguing web of family history and his latest, Old God's Time , follows a retired policeman who is forced to reckon with the past as an old case rears its head. We spoke with two-time Costa Book of the Year-winner Sebastian Barry about fleshing out the past, fatherhood and falling in love.
Feb 28, 2023•54 min•Season 11Ep. 5
Peter Frankopan 's epic new history, The Earth Transformed , begins at the very dawn of our planet, 4.5 billion years ago, and shows how climatic changes have shaped nations, notions, religions and empires. We sat down to talk about the science behind his new work, some of the astounding discoveries, and what the past can teach us about our current crisis....
Feb 21, 2023•45 min•Season 11Ep. 4
Many people find it difficult to know how to speak with others about death and grieving, especially when the experience of it can be so intensely personal. In an extended conversation we speak with three authors who have shared their own experiences and wisdom; Chloe Hooper , author of Bedtime Story , Michael Rosen , author of Getting Better and Cariad Lloyd , creator of Griefcast and author of You Are Not Alone . ...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 11Ep. 3
