Episodes List
Madeleine Milburn on running her own literary agency, discovering "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" and what makes a perfect book-club book
15 Sep, 2026Matt Haig on his early struggles as a literary novelist and the unexpected success of his memoir "Reasons to Stay Alive"
01 Sep, 2026Amanda Harris on the economics of publishing, setting up her own literary agency and what makes a worthwhile celebrity book
18 Aug, 2026Jeff Maysh on optioning dozens of his magazine stories to film and TV production companies and the roots of his interest in crime
04 Aug, 2026Vicki Willden-Lebrecht on screens, the reading crisis and building a business around illustrated children's books
21 Jul, 2026Tom Rob Smith on his bestselling debut "Child 44", screenwriting for the BBC and FX, and taking a different approach in his new novel "Twenty Years Together"
07 Jul, 2026Siri Hustvedt talks about her marriage to the novelist Paul Auster - and writing about him after his death in “Ghost Stories”
23 Jun, 2026John Lanchester on his novelistic portrayal of London on the brink of a financial crisis in "Capital" and intergenerational strife in his new book "Look What You Made Me Do"
09 Jun, 2026Kathryn Stockett on the success (and controversy) of "The Help" and taking 17 years to publish a follow-up novel, "The Calamity Club"
26 May, 2026Michael Morpurgo on how his novel about a horse in the First World War gained a spectacular second life on stage and screen
12 May, 2026Lauren Groff on book bans, artificial intelligence and what novels set in the past reveal about the present
28 Apr, 2026Jason Burke on his career as a foreign correspondent and unravelling 1970s terror networks in his new book
14 Apr, 2026Katy Hessel on making museums accessible, writing "The Story of Art without Men" and the value of an art-history degree
31 Mar, 2026Doug Naylor on creating iconic 80s and 90s TV, a hit novelty song and books for children
17 Mar, 2026Mary Beard on "The Odyssey", "Gladiator 2" and why popular culture is always in dialogue with the ancient world
03 Mar, 2026Jacques Testard on setting up Fitzcarraldo Editions, publishing fiction in translation and those blue-and-white covers
17 Feb, 2026Jacques Testard on setting up Fitzcarraldo Editions, publishing fiction in translation and those blue-and-white covers
17 Feb, 2026Nicole Vanderbilt on how Bookshop.org is taking on Amazon through recommendations, not algorithms
03 Feb, 2026Frank Close on the nuclear age, physics' forgotten figures and writing for a general audience
20 Jan, 2026#229: Moira Buffini, playwright, screenwriter and novelist
06 Jan, 2026#228: Salman Rushdie, novelist
23 Dec, 2025#227: Michelle Paver, novelist
09 Dec, 2025#227: Michelle Paver, novelist
09 Dec, 2025#226: Anthony Horowitz, novelist
25 Nov, 2025#226: Anthony Horowitz, novelist
25 Nov, 2025#225: Susan Choi, novelist
11 Nov, 2025#224: Dean Koontz, novelist
28 Oct, 2025#223: Sarah Perry, novelist
14 Oct, 2025#223: Sarah Perry, novelist
14 Oct, 2025