The Book Club (1)
I really like this series. I’ve thought for a long time that Podcastistan needs more literature, so this feels like it’s being made for me. If the subject I tutor, A-level English literature, isn’t quite dead yet, I like to think Dominic and Tabitha will enthuse a few sixth-formers by showing that novels can be read as novels, rather than unintentional indictments of the author, the period, or both. Another reviewer accused Tabitha of ‘bellowing into the mic’, but that’s all part of the fun for the ‘famous chums of yore’. The only question remaining is why this Goalhanger series is not called The Rest is Literature – perhaps they didn’t think they could compete with yours truly’s Substack.
The Book Club (2)
The Spectator’s books podcast had the name The Book Club first, and in this episode Howard Jacobson discusses his new novel, Howl. He has a sharp sense of dismay and is sharp in expressing it.
The Common Reader
I knew next to nothing about the antiquary and biographer John Aubrey (1626–97), known for his Brief Lives, so this was fascinating. Interview by Substack colossus Henry Oliver…
Conversations with Tyler
…himself interviewed here by Tyler Cowen on what is for my money the best podcast series of them all, in terms of minute-for-minute ‘value’.
The Honest Broker
The Honest Broker, from another Substack colossus, Ted Gioia, now has its own podcast series, presented by Jared Henderson. So far it’s been excellent. In this episode the guest is Naomi Kanakia. Quite a lot of the discussion is about publishing, from the writer’s point of view.
How I Write
Also about publishing but from the publisher’s point of view, namely that of Jon Yaged, CEO of Macmillan.
The London Review Bookshop Podcast
Recording of a live discussion about the British Jewish writer Alexander Baron (1917–99), featuring Iain Sinclair, Susie Thomas, and Ken Worpole. Good if Hackneycentric.
My Martin Amis
Jack Aldane’s My Martin Amis has been going since 2023, and in this episode Aldane welcomes two young New Statesman editors to discuss Amis’s memoir, Experience, one of his best (and most likeable?) books. I’m also looking out for Aldane’s new Substack series The Lit Path.
Novara
I’ve heard the authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed speak in a couple of interviews and this is the more in-depth one.
Subtext
This is only new to me, since a friend put me on to it a few weeks ago. The hosts, Wes Alwan and Erin O’Luanaigh, have built up a fantastic archive of analyses of literature (and film). This is the first one I went to, The Great Gatsby.
Within Reason
Not a literature series, but the second appearance by Adam Aleksic, the ‘Etymology Nerd’, on Alex O’Connor’s Within Reason.
Thinking about it, the first appearance was better: here.
Until next month.