The Iranian Embassy siege of 1980 was one of those ‘where were you when it happened?’ moments, but beyond the explosive live footage of the SAS assault that ended things, what of the previous six days of tense standoff and the lives of the 26 hostages and the 6 armed men who held them? Ben Macintyre writes narrative history like no-one else and after extensive research and interviews with those who were there he sat down with us for an interview of his own. Who were these people, what exactly di...
Sep 11, 2024•28 min•Season 12Ep. 26
The sound of change jangling in our pockets may be less familiar in these days of contactless payment, but we all know how important money can feel in our lives. But might it actually have shaped human history? From the very beginnings of money as a concept, through ideas like credit, forecasting, and cryptocurrency, to its connections to literary classics and great works of art, economist David McWilliams finds the stories that will help the reader to understand the innate link between money an...
Sep 09, 2024•33 min•Season 12Ep. 25
After creating the irresistible anti-hero Grace in How To Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie returns with more familial dysfunction, more unlikeable characters and, yes, more murder in What A Way To Go. We sat down to discuss the lives of the super wealthy, her fascination with the appeal of true crime, and finding humour in the darkest of places.
Sep 03, 2024•28 min•Season 12Ep. 24
Clare Chambers knows how to hook readers, with her previous novel, Small Pleasures, winning The British Book Awards 2022 Pageturner Book of the Year. She looks set to do it all over again with her latest, Shy Creatures, which unearths the story of a mute patient in a psychiatric hospital. We sat down to talk about factual inspiration, the influence of lockdown on even this period piece, and why human flaws provide such narrative fuel....
Aug 27, 2024•16 min•Season 12Ep. 23
After introducing us to legal dogsbody Gary Thorn in The Satsuma Complex, comedian Bob Mortimer returns with its sequel, The Hotel Avocado. We sat down with a nice slice of Battenberg cake to discuss death row meals, memories of his days as a South London solicitor and the correct ratio of marzipan to cake.
Aug 20, 2024•19 min•Season 12Ep. 22
Ferdia Lennon’s riotously funny debut disarms from the very first page. With a setting of Syracuse in 412 BC but a very modern Irish vernacular, readers will enjoy every minute they spend with best friends Gelon and Lampo as they seek to stage a performance of Euripides with a group of captured Athenian soldiers. We spoke with him about finding the right voice, has fascination with the classics, and why what will survive of us is art.
Jul 26, 2024•13 min•Season 12Ep. 21
Chris Whitaker 's previous novel, We Begin At The End, was a multi-award-winning smash with readers, who fell in love with its characters and pressed copies on friends so as to have someone to discuss it with. He’s done it again with All The Colours of the Dark, which again features characters that will get under your skin, a plot so propulsive the pages fly past, and a story that doesn’t release its grip on your heart. We spoke with Chris to find out more about creating characters, writing ...
Jul 09, 2024•24 min•Season 12Ep. 20
The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize is powered by our brilliant booksellers, whose keen eye for the most exciting new talent makes it a thrilling short list every year. In this third year, we spoke with authors from around the globe about having the support of booksellers, the release of seeing years of work finally realised and how specificity in their stories builds bridges with all readers. Enjoy!
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 12Ep. 19
Hot from winning the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024, we spoke with V. V. Ganeshananthan about her novel, Brotherless Night, which took over 15 years to complete. Exhaustive research, an incendiary setting, and characters that capture your heart. We spoke with her about the politics of civil war, the time it takes to write and the support you need along the way.
Jun 17, 2024•21 min•Season 12Ep. 18
The concept of following Brooklyn with a sequel took even the author by surprise, but after 15 years the story of Eilis continues in Long Island. We spoke with Colm Tóibín about his rigorous approach to avoiding the tedious, his long working relationship with editor Mary Mount and his connection to his hometown Enniscorthy in County Wexford, Ireland.
May 28, 2024•25 min•Season 12Ep. 17
Some debuts are so assured and so distinctive that you just have to know more about what went into their creation. Kaliane Bradley ’s The Ministry of Time is one such debut. We sat down with her to discover how the book was originally meant to be something else entirely, the inspirations behind its brilliant plot, and how she managed to balance comedy and trauma in such an entertaining read....
May 14, 2024•24 min•Season 12Ep. 16
With a novel that spans twenty years, marked by three celestial events and characters with their feet firmly on the ground, we sat down for a fascinating conversation with former Waterstones Book of the Year author, Sarah Perry . How do faith and science intersect, what do we really mean by love, friendship and family, and when our orbits bring us back together how do we mark this significance?...
May 01, 2024•25 min•Season 12Ep. 15
On 12 Aug 2022, over 30 years after a fatwa had been ordered against him, Salman Rushdie was attacked as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. By his own admission, he shouldn’t have survived such serious injuries. So what was it that helped him to persevere and how has it changed his outlook on life. We spoke with him about the hard work of recovery, the need to write about the ordeal, and what it means to have a second chance at living....
Apr 29, 2024•35 min•Season 12Ep. 14
Fresh from breaking hearts with the TV adaptation of his bestselling One Day, David Nicholls came in to talk to us about his new novel, You Are Here, which introduces us to Marnie and Michael, two souls on an epic walk, on the precipice of a new friendship, and maybe more. We sat down to talk about his love of walking, music and, well... love.
Apr 23, 2024•23 min•Season 12Ep. 13
Not many writers would be brave enough to take an American classic like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and rework it from a new perspective, but then Percival Everett isn’t like most writers. We sat down to talk about giving fresh voice to one of American literature’s most important characters, the whole concept of ‘black voices’ and what drives his prolific output.
Apr 19, 2024•16 min•Season 12Ep. 12
With African history having largely been told through a western lens, Zeinab Badawi travelled to over 30 countries in the continent of her birth over the course of 7 years, speaking with historians, archaeologists and academics in order to give them voice and weave an epic narrative from the cradle of humanity to a vibrant future.
Apr 16, 2024•31 min•Season 12Ep. 11
Rejoice! For Marian Keyes is back with another hilarious novel which follows Anna Walsh's move from New York back to Ireland, leaving expensive beauty products and easy access to HRT behind, for a moving confrontation with her past - and some small-town politics. We spoke with her about the surprisingly personal inspiration for this new tale, changing your personal narrative and what it takes to forgive people....
Apr 09, 2024•30 min•Season 12Ep. 10
When Chimene Suleyman went to an abortion clinic with her partner, she had no idea that this would be the last time she would see him; even less that she was not the only woman to have been manipulated and betrayed by him. In a frank and revelatory conversation we speak with her about the social media post that united these women in their experience, the chain of support they were able to offer each other, and how the persistent misogyny that allowed smart and self-aware women to be duped in thi...
Apr 02, 2024•31 min•Season 12Ep. 9
With a debut that became an immediate bestseller and a second novel that joined his first as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, we were of course front of queue to find out where Stuart Turton might take us with his latest book . Did anyone guess a crime thriller set in a utopian community made up of the last humans on earth after a catastrophe has wiped out most of humanity? We sat down with him to talk about the hurdles of writing, how he got over them, and why he’s enjoying creating his fic...
Mar 26, 2024•26 min•Season 12Ep. 8
If you’ve ever seen someone in the supermarket who you’re sure you know, but can’t remember their name, or had the answer for something on the tip of your tongue, or had that sense of deja-vu; this is the book for you. Using the latest memory research, neuroscientist Dr. Charan Ranganath helps us to understand more about how memory works, why it’s important to forget, and some tips to help you remember that person in the supermarket....
Mar 19, 2024•25 min•Season 12Ep. 7
Anna Jones has always been a passionate advocate for vibrant, sustainable cooking that places vegetables centre stage. In her latest book, Easy Wins , she highlights 12 hero ingredients that will allow you to get maximum flavour into your food with minimum effort, the perfect solution for those who don’t want to compromise on taste but may have limited time to prepare meals. We visited her kitchen to whip up a little something and to find out more about the philosophy behind the book and to get ...
Mar 12, 2024•40 min•Season 12Ep. 6
Growing up in the shadow of Canary Wharf’s towers, Gary Stevenson always yearned for more. In an eye-opening conversation we learn how a simple card game changed his life and how a nose for how the world turns combined with a skill for maths led him to become the most successful trader in one of the world’s largest banks. Featuring larger-than-life characters we discuss why making millions from wealth inequality led to him leaving the obscene bonuses behind in an attempt to alert people to a dan...
Mar 05, 2024•34 min•Season 12Ep. 5
The facts are compelling: A couple sailing to the other side of the globe, adrift after their yacht sinks and a battle to survive for 117 days. But the telling of that story is taken to whole new level by Sophie Elmhirst who uses her journalistic skills to uncover the facts and then takes us inside the marriage of her eponymous heroes. Who were Maurice and Maralyn, where did their spirit of adventure come from, and how was their relationship the key to survival?
Feb 27, 2024•31 min•Season 12Ep. 4
Fresh from co-writing the brilliant Adventures on Trains series with M. G. Leonard , Sam Sedgman has created an ingenious new adventure for children that follows aspiring inventor, Isaac Turner, across London landmarks on the trail for clues to his father’s disappearance. We spoke with Sam about how a visit to Big Ben with his own father proved to be all the inspiration he needed to create this new series, why he finds the real world so much more fascinating than fantasy and where Isaac’s advent...
Feb 06, 2024•15 min•Season 12Ep. 3
An idyllic, private Greek island in the company of a movie star may sound like paradise but things are about to turn deadly in The Fury, the latest thriller from Alex Michaelides . In a fascinating conversation we learn more about how his Cypriot upbringing infuses his storytelling, the new approach to writing that freed up his style, plus the real-life Hollywood inspiration behind his latest creation....
Jan 30, 2024•23 min•Season 12Ep. 2
You've been told the problem is salt, or sugar, or even you! But in a fascinating conversation with Chris Van Tulleken we discover why it’s not you, it's the food. And by food we mean 'industrially produced edible substance' - YUM! What is ultra-processed food, what is it doing to our bodies and the planet, and what can we do to improve our health?
Jan 23, 2024•24 min•Season 12Ep. 1
After charming the nation with Love, Nina - the collection of letters written to her sister during a five year stint as a nanny in '80s London, surrounded by literary types all new to her - Nina Stibbe returns to London once again, this time under the roof of author Deborah Moggach, with a hilarious diary of her life as a woman now in her 60's. Went to London, Took The Dog sees her wit as sparkling as ever, as she negotiates discarded takeaway on the streets of London, women's health...
Nov 07, 2023•28 min•Season 11Ep. 36
Looking back on his life so far through the prism of food, Ed Gamble’s Glutton is a hilarious take from a foodie obsessive who’s come to recognise quality over quantity. We sat down to talk about the ultimate cheeseboard, why Guinness is magical, and how type 1 diabetes impacts his favourite pastime.
Nov 02, 2023•30 min•Season 11Ep. 35
Widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest actresses, Dame Judi Dench has conquered both stage and screen in a career spanning six decades. In Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent , her conversations with actor and director Brendan O’Hea provide illuminating insights into the works of the Bard as well as hugely entertaining stories from her life on stage. We sat down for our own conversation with them both to talk about first steps on the stage, the genius of Shakespeare, and why being part ...
Oct 24, 2023•38 min•Season 11Ep. 34
With a career spanning seven decades, Sir Patrick Stewart is still probably best known to many as Captain Jean-Luc Picard or Professor X - but what of the journey towards these career highs? With his memoir, Making it So , now on shelves, we sat down to speak with him about his childhood in Yorkshire, the influence of a troubled father, and the inspiring teachers who set him on the path to stardom....
Oct 23, 2023•19 min•Season 11Ep. 33
