The Book Club
380 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 37 ratingsLiterary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith.
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Episodes
Sarah Churchwell: Behold, America
May 24, 2018 14:29 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBIs the "American Dream", as Donald Trump claims, dead? Is “America First” a policy of national pride or a dogwhistle to white supremacists? In this week’s Spectator Books, we take the long view. My guest, Sarah Churchwell, excavates the long histories and surprisingly variable meanings of these two phrases in her new book Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream — and shows how central they have been to the United States’s long argument with itself about the meaning...
Antony Beevor: Arnhem
May 17, 2018 12:48 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBIn this week’s Spectator Books, Sam Leith talks to the military historian Antony Beevor about his latest book, Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944.
Richard Overy: The Birth of the RAF
May 10, 2018 15:23 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBSam Leith talks to historian Richard Overy about his new book The Birth of the RAF, 1918. 100 years ago this spring, the Royal Air Force took to the skies for the first time. Yet it was far from inevitable that it would come into being, that having done so it would continue to exist beyond the end of the First World War, or even that the Royal Air Force would be Royal. He disentangles a forgotten history of political and public-relations manoeuvring and inter-service rivalry, before lookin...
Carlo Rovelli: The Order of Time
May 03, 2018 14:23 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBSam Leith talks to physicist Carlo Rovelli about the nature of time. Do we have free will? Can you understand physics without maths? Just what is Roger Penrose on about? We tackle all these questions and more. And gosh he’s a good talker. So go on: take the time.
Stig Abell: How Britain Really Works
April 26, 2018 16:58 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBWith Stig Abell, Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and LBC talk radio host. Stig talks about Britain's magnificently chaotic hodgepodge of institutions, his own unusual career, how the press is doomed, being a "centrist dad", the joys of PG Wodehouse -- and his first and only encounter with Richard Desmond. Presented by Sam Leith.
Boyd Tonkin and Frank Wynne: the pleasures and perils of translation
April 19, 2018 12:25 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBWith Boyd Tonkin, former chair of the International Booker and author of the forthcoming The 100 Best Novels in Translation, and Frank Wynne, nominated in the International Booker shortlist for his translation of Virginie Despentes. Presented by Sam Leith.
L.S. Hilton: Ultima
April 12, 2018 16:25 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBWith Lisa Hilton, a.k.a. L.S. Hilton, author of Ultima, who talks about her 'filthy books' on international art dealing and murderous heroines. Presented by Sam Leith.
Richard Holloway: Waiting for the Last Bus
March 29, 2018 13:07 - 29 minutes - 28 MBWith Richard Holloway, writer, broadcaster, and formerly Bishop of Edinburgh, discussing questions of life, death, and faith. Presented by Sam Leith.
Gimson's Prime Ministers: Brief Lives from Walpole to May
March 22, 2018 18:07 - 21 minutes - 20 MBWith Andrew Gimson and Martin Rowson, author and illustrator of Gimson's Prime Ministers. Presented by Sam Leith.
St Paul: A Biography
March 15, 2018 12:30 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBWith N. T. Wright, author of Paul: A Biography. Presented by Sam Leith.
Wendy Cope: Anecdotal Evidence
March 08, 2018 12:42 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBWith Wendy Cope. Presented by Sam Leith.
Jay Heinrichs: How To Argue With A Cat
March 01, 2018 10:56 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBWith Jay Heinrichs, author of How To Argue With A Cat: A Human’s Guide to the Art of Persuasion. Presented by Sam Leith.
Steven Pinker: Enlightenment Now
February 22, 2018 11:20 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBWith Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now. Presented by Sam Leith. This is a live recording of a Spectator Books Podcast event. To find tickets to more events, visit spectator.co.uk/events
Mick Herron: The Jackson Lamb novels
February 15, 2018 13:16 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBWith Mick Herron, author of London Rules. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Minister and the Murderer
February 08, 2018 12:56 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBWith Stuart Kelly, author of The Minister and the Murderer: A Book of Aftermaths. Presented by Sam Leith.
Mohsin Hamid: Exit West
February 01, 2018 14:33 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBWith Mohsin Hamid, author of Exit West. Presented by Sam Leith.
The life and work of Muriel Spark
January 25, 2018 14:16 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBWith Alan Taylor, author of Appointment in Arezzo, and Philip Hensher. Presented by Sam Leith
200 years of Frankenstein
January 18, 2018 11:45 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBWith Fiona Sampson, author of In Search of Mary Shelley. Presented by Sam Leith.
Lost Connections: Uncovering the real causes of depression
January 11, 2018 13:34 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBWith Johann Hari, author of Lost Connections, and Joel Beckman, Operations Director of CALM. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Year in Strange Facts: The QI Elves
December 14, 2017 14:09 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBWith Andrew Hunter Murray, Dan Schreiber, James Harkin, and Anna Ptaszynski. Presented by Sam Leith.
How totalitarianism reclaimed Russia
December 07, 2017 13:04 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBWith Masha Gessen, author of The Future is History: How totalitarianism reclaimed Russia. Presented by Sam Leith.
Richard Flanagan: First Person
November 30, 2017 12:40 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBWith Richard Flanagan, author of First Person. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Anna Karenina Fix
November 23, 2017 13:14 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBWith Viv Groskop, author of The Anna Karenina Fix. Presented by Sam Leith.
Melvyn Bragg on William Tyndale
November 16, 2017 12:26 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBWith Melvyn Bragg, author of William Tyndale: A Very Brief History. Presented by Sam Leith.
Hilary Spurling on Anthony Powell
November 09, 2017 14:57 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBWith Hilary Spurling, author of a new biography of Anthony Powell. Presented by Sam Leith.
Philip Pullman: La Belle Sauvage and Daemon Voices
November 02, 2017 02:35 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBWith Philip Pullman, author of La Belle Sauvage and Daemon Voices. Presented by Sam Leith
Speeches that shape the world – and why we need them
October 26, 2017 13:03 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBWith Philip Collins, author of When They Go Low, We Go High. Presented by Sam Leith.
Claire Tomalin: A Life of My Own
October 19, 2017 11:31 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBWith Claire Tomalin, author of A Life of My Own. Presented by Sam Leith.
Alan Hollinghurst: The Sparsholt Affair
October 12, 2017 11:40 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBWith Alan Hollinghurst, author of The Sparsholt Affair. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914
October 05, 2017 13:38 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBWith Simon Heffer, author of The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914. Presented by Sam Leith.
Robert Harris: Munich
September 28, 2017 12:26 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBWith Robert Harris, author of Munich. Presented by Sam Leith.
Anne Applebaum: Red Famine
September 21, 2017 12:42 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBWith Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine. Presented by Sam Leith.
Robert Webb: How Not To Be a Boy
September 14, 2017 11:58 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBWith Robert Webb, author of 'How Not To Be a Boy'. Presented by Sam Leith.
Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker
September 07, 2017 09:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBWith A.N. Wilson, author of Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker. Presented by Sam Leith.
World Book Club's 15th Birthday
August 31, 2017 10:49 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBWith Harriet Gilbert, presenter of World Book Club on the BBC World Service. Presented by Sam Leith.
Clive James: Injury Time
August 24, 2017 11:54 - 33 minutes - 30.2 MBWith Clive James, author of Injury Time. Presented by Sam Leith.
A century of Robert Lowell
August 17, 2017 11:47 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBWith Jonathan Raban. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Art of the Sequel
August 10, 2017 09:31 - 15 minutes - 15.6 MBWith Bonnie MacBird, author of Unquiet Spirits, and Anthony O'Neill, author of Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek. Presented by Sam Leith.
Harry Potter at 20
August 03, 2017 12:05 - 16 minutes - 15 MBWith Nick Hilton and Melanie McDonagh. Presented by Sam Leith.
Is monogamy dead?
July 27, 2017 11:33 - 24 minutes - 23.4 MBWith Rosie Wilby, author of Is Monogamy Dead? Presented by Sam Leith.
Summer Reads
July 20, 2017 11:39 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBWith Alex Clark and Damian Barr. Presented by Sam Leith.
Naomi Klein: No Is Not Enough
July 13, 2017 12:26 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBWith Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough. Presented by Sam Leith.
Living with the Living Dead: The wisdom of the zombie apocalypse
July 06, 2017 11:27 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBWith Greg Garrett, author of Living With The Living Dead: The Wisdom of the Zombie Apocalypse Presented by Sam Leith.
Jonathan Meades: The Plagiarist in the Kitchen
June 29, 2017 11:16 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBWith Jonathan Meades, author of The Plagiarist in the Kitchen. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Secret Lives of Julian Assange, Craig Wright and Ronald Pinn
June 22, 2017 12:14 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBWith Andrew O'Hagan, author of The Secret Life. Presented by Sam Leith.
First Novels: The shortlisted authors for The Desmond Elliott Prize
June 15, 2017 13:38 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBWith Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Kit de Waal, and Francis Spufford. Presented by Sam Leith.
Michael Wood on William Empson
June 08, 2017 12:29 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBWith Professor Michael Wood. Presented by Sam Leith.
Will Self: Phone, psychosis and postmodernism
June 01, 2017 12:08 - 17 minutes - 16 MBWith Will Self, author of Phone. Presented by Sam Leith.
Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident
May 25, 2017 11:19 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBWith Peter Stanford, author of Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident, and Peter Marshall, author of Heretics and Believers. Presented by Sam Leith.
The Art of Losing Control
May 18, 2017 10:45 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBMeditation, psychedelic drugs, charismatic Christianity, sex parties... all this, and more, in the search to lose control. With Jules Evans, author of The Art of Losing Control. Presented by Sam Leith.