The TLS Podcast

This week, we join Toby live from the Hay Festival where he talks to Colm Tóibín where they discuss exile and return, secrets and evasion, the avoidance of drama, and how (not) to end a story.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, join us live from Hay Festival. Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dinah Birch finds solace in letters and diaries from the past, whether they be joyous, heartbreaking or down-to-earth; John Talbot reads us his poem of a very specific corner of London. A Literary Letter for Every Day of the Year, edited by Liz Ison  The Writer’s Room: The hidden worlds that shape the books we love by Katie da Cunha Lewin  Diaries of Note: 366 lives, one day at a time, edited by Shaun Usher  St Petersburgh Mews, W2, a poem by John Talbot  Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here is our exclusive conversation with Ed Vulliamy in full as he gives us a look at the letters between his Great-Aunt Gladys and Ezra Pound.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Toby Lichtig on a constellation of new fiction; and Merlin Holland on the afterlife of his grandfather, Oscar Wilde.'The Palm House', by Gwendoline Riley'Devotions: Eight Stories', by Lucy Caldwell'The Tribe', by Michael Arditti'Lázár', by Nelio Biedermann, translated by Jamie Bulloch'You Are the Führer's Unrequited Love', by Jean-Noël Orengo, translated by David Watson'After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal', by Merlin HollandProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Russell Williams on the French writers laying down their pens; and John-Paul Stonard hails a bravura production of Bertolt Brecht.The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until May 30Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma Smith on how Shakespeare scholarship grapples with gaps; and Muriel Zagha admires François Ozon's noir adaptation of Camus's classic novel'Book Culture in Shakespeare's Stratford: The Quiney Connections', by Marlin E. Blaine, Lena Cowen Orlin, Robert Bearman and Alan H. Nelson'L'étranger', various cinemasProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Herring explains why we all need to take it a bit easier; and Ana Alicia Garza on the novelist whose ancestor inspired a Victorian classic.'In Defence of Leisure: Experiments in living with Marion Milner', by Akshi Singh'The Brain at Rest: Why doing nothing can change your life', by Joseph JebelliOliver Twist & Me: The true story of Dickens's best-loved novel', by Nicholas Blincoe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Julian Evans on two books exploring the link between food and war in Ukraine; and Lily Herd introduces this issue's In Brief reviews.'Strong Roots: A Ukrainian family story, interrupted', by Olia Hercules'Bread and War: A Ukrainian story of food, bravery and hope', by Felicity SpectorIn Brief: 'Postcards, translators and Esperanto pioneers', by Guilherme Fians, Bernhard Struck and Claire Taylor; 'Rapture of the deep', by Robert Irwin, completed by Andrew Crumey; 'Here comes the sun', by Bill McKibben; 'Queens at war', by Alison Weir; 'Interrupted journeys', by Adrian Potter; 'Literature and epistemic injustice', by Sarah Colvin; 'Invading the American canon', by Muireann Maguire; 'Nabokov and the Russian diaspora', by Bryan KaretnykProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, an interview with the inspirational Michael Morpurgo; and David Horspool discusses the Second World War with Tim Bouverie, the winner of this year's Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize.'The Line to Legend Land', with an introduction by Michael Morpurgo'Black Beauty: A retelling', by Michael Morpurgo'Allies at war: The politics of defeating Hitler', by Tim BouverieProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here is our full conversation with Francis Spufford, he joined us to talk about his new novel, Nonesuch. Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As February draws to a close, we’re taking a listen back at some of the conversations we’ve had over the past month on The TLS Podcast.We listen back to Nick Enfield exploring the benefits of playing games, Mary Hitchman on the history of humanity's fascination with the moon, Peter Filkins, winner of the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize, joins us with chair of the judges Boyd Tonkin and Darra Goldstein on the hidden properties of kimchi and sourdough.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Peter Filkins, winner of the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize, joins us with chair of the judges Boyd Tonkin to talk about the mercurial genius of Elias Canetti; and a poem in praise of Tuesdays by Jamie McKendrick.'The Book Against Death', by Elias Canetti, translated by Peter Filkins'Mardi Gras', by Jamie McKendrickProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.