Meet the Writers
525 episodes - English - Latest episode: 23 days ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsWant to know more about the authors behind your favourite books? Tune in to discover the methods of – and inspiration behind – some of the world’s most exciting writers. Every Saturday, Georgina Godwin hosts an in-depth discussion with the person behind the prose.
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Episodes
Monocle Reads: The Elephant Conspiracy
December 15, 2022 18:32 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBGeorgina Godwin sits down with former British anti-apartheid leader and cabinet minister Peter Hain to discuss his latest novel on the corrupted business of poaching; ‘The Elephant Conspiracy’. It is the sequel to his successful first thriller ‘The Rhino Conspiracy’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘The Elephant Conspiracy‘
December 15, 2022 15:14 - 23 minutes - 32.5 MBGeorgina Godwin sits down with former British anti-apartheid leader and cabinet minister Peter Hain to discuss his latest novel on the corrupt business of poaching, ‘The Elephant Conspiracy’. It is the sequel to his successful first thriller, ‘The Rhino Conspiracy’.
Paul Feig
December 11, 2022 14:46 - 28 minutes - 26 MBGeorgina Godwins meets US actor, director, comedian and filmmaker Paul Feig. He is best known for directing ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘The Heat’ and ‘Ghostbusters’. His latest book is ‘Cocktail Time!: The Ultimate Guide to Grown-Up Fun’. It includes 125 cocktails recipes each served along with a funny insider story about Paul’s Hollywood life and famous friends. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Emily’s Walking Book Club
December 08, 2022 18:24 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to Emily Rhodes, the inventor of Emily’s Walking Book Club. Started in 2012, the book club has monthly meetings where Emily guides other reading enthusiasts on a “walk and talk” across the beautiful landscape of Hampstead Heath in London. They discuss the club and the advantages that come with it, as well as the art of writing a good book review. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Percival Everett
December 04, 2022 11:20 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to the winner of the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction: celebrated American author Percival Everett. His winning novel ‘The Trees’, which was also shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, is a dark satire about America’s history of racism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘Unsuitable for Females’
December 01, 2022 19:12 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to sports journalist and academic Carrie Dunn about her new book ‘Unsuitable for Females’, which tells the story of the Lionesses and the inspiring yet troubled history of women’s football in England. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nina Stibbe
November 27, 2022 10:35 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to author and winner of the 2019 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction Nina Stibbe. Her letters to her sisters became her first book ‘Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life’ which was adapted into the television series ‘Love, Nina’ starring Helena Bonham Carter. Her latest book is the feel good novel ‘One Day I Shall Astonish the World’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘Piccadilly’
November 25, 2022 08:05 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to journalist and creative-writing tutor Midge Gillies about her latest book, ‘Piccadilly: The Circus at the Heart of London’. It tells the story of the events that have shaped one of London’s most historic sites and the colourful cast of characters that it attracts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2022: Katherine Rundell
November 20, 2022 11:15 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBAfter winning the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2022 for her book ‘Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne’, Katherine Rundell sits down with Georgina Godwin. Raised in Zimbabwe and a fellow of Oxford’s All Souls College, Rundell is known for her award-winning children’s books, as well as the adult essay ‘Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise’. She speaks to Georgina about ‘Super-Infinite’, a vivid biography of one of the world’s greatest ...
Monocle Reads: 'Takedown'
November 17, 2022 17:29 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBFarah Nayeri is an Iranian- born journalist and author based in London who writes regularly on culture for ‘The New York Times’. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Greg Mosse
November 13, 2022 10:32 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBGreg Mosse is an actor, director and writer with a long career in theater producing plays and musicals. He is also the founder and leader of the West Dean College MA in Creative Writing. Greg sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest book, the cli-fi thriller ‘The Coming Darkness’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Orwell Daily
November 10, 2022 18:33 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBOrwell Daily is a new email subscription from Substack that sends readers excerpts of George Orwell’s writings. Georgina Godwin speaks to Jean Seaton, the director of the Orwell Foundation and a professor of media history at the University of Westminster, about this new mailout and the author’s enduring relevance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Melvyn Bragg
November 06, 2022 10:49 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBThe renowned British broadcaster and author speaks to Georgina Godwin at Cheltenham Literary Festival. The conversation covers Melvyn’s working-class upbringing in northwest England, the death of his father and his remarkable career spanning five decades to date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: KING: Life, Death and Hip Hop
November 03, 2022 19:08 - 24 minutes - 22 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to journalist Christopher Riley about his new book ‘KING’; a memoir about the musical pioneer Hau Latukefu, co-written with the artist himself. It follows Hau from his childhood in Queanbeyan aka ‘struggle town’ to the top of Australian hip hop. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Gene Sherman
October 30, 2022 11:49 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBGeorgina Godwin meets Gene Sherman, the Australian philanthropist and art collector. They speak about her new book, ‘The Spoken Object’, a beautifully photographed monograph of her extensive furniture and fashion collections, as well as the recent loss of Gene’s husband of 54 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Jackdaw
October 27, 2022 17:03 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to psychiatrist, artist and science-fiction writer Tade Thompson about his latest darkly comic novella, ‘Jackdaw’. It follows a psychiatrist hired to write a piece on the painter Francis Bacon who becomes obsessed with the artist and his life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Cosmo Landesman
October 23, 2022 10:31 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBGeorgina Godwin meets journalist, broadcaster and author Cosmo Landesman. His new book ‘Jack and Me: How Not To Live After Loss’ is a poignant memoir about losing his son, Jack, to suicide. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘How to Teach Economics to Your Dog’
October 20, 2022 16:58 - 24 minutes - 22 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to Dr Rebecca Campbell and her husband, author Anthony McGowan, about their latest book, ‘How to Teach Economics to Your Dog’. Over the course of 17 dog walks, it looks at different economic concepts and how they shape our everyday lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dorthe Nors
October 16, 2022 09:54 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBThe Danish novelist and writer speaks to Georgina Godwin about her new non-fiction book ‘A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast’, growing up in rural Denmark and how its rugged landscape has influenced her writing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Takeaway
October 13, 2022 16:09 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBAngela Hui is a writer and an award-winning journalist from South Wales, reporting on culture, food justice and the hospitality industry, as well as the associate editor of Sandwich Magazine. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about her new book ‘Takeaway’ which is a memoir of growing up in a Chinese takeaway. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘Takeaway’
October 13, 2022 15:26 - 24 minutes - 34.2 MBAngela Hui is a writer and award-winning journalist from south Wales, reporting on culture, food justice and the hospitality industry. She is also the associate editor of ‘Sandwich Magazine’. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about her new memoir, ‘Takeaway’.
Natalie Haynes
October 09, 2022 09:55 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBWriter, broadcaster and ‘rock star mythologist’ Natalie Haynes tells Georgina Godwin about her early career as a comedian, the joy of studying classics and her new book, ‘Stone Blind’. The novel sees Haynes apply a feminist lens to the Greek myth of Medusa and asks readers to see the snake-haired Gorgon not as a monster or victim but as a person. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Lviv Bookforum
October 06, 2022 15:31 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBLviv Bookforum is Ukraine’s largest literary festival. This year it is teaming up with the UK’s Hay Festival to host 40 writers and thinkers, including Margaret Atwood and Elif Shafak. Georgina Godwin speaks to the festival’s curator, Sophia Cheliak, about the 15-strong programme of conversations covering everything from art in times of conflict to gender equality. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Andrey Kurkov
October 02, 2022 11:16 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MBOne of Ukraine’s most successful literary exports speaks to Georgina Godwin. Before turning to writing, Kurkov served as a prison warden and later a journalist before trying his hand at fiction. He boasts a wealth of novels and screenplays to his name, including the bestselling ‘Death and the Penguin’. His latest book is ‘Grey Bees’, which details the turmoil in Ukraine through the eyes of a mild-mannered beekeeper. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: 'The Pachinko Parlour’
September 29, 2022 15:46 - 24 minutes - 33.9 MBElisa Shua Dusapin is a Franco-Korean writer and author of the award-winning novel ‘Winter in Sokcho’. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about her latest book, ‘The Pachinko Parlour’, which was recently published in English.
Monocle Reads: The Pachinko Parlour’
September 29, 2022 15:36 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBElisa Shua Dusapin is a Franco-Korean writer and author of the award-winning novel ‘Winter in Sokcho’. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about her latest book, ‘The Pachinko Parlour’, which was recently published in English. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Why We Play
September 25, 2022 13:04 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBJoanna Fortune is a psychotherapist and a trauma and attachment repair specialist. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Why We Play: How to Find Joy and Meaning in Everyday Life’. It looks at the importance of play in adult life and shares advice on how to stay playful. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Gavin Plumley
September 25, 2022 11:21 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBThe British cultural historian and writer speaks to Georgina Godwin. Gavin’s first book is ‘A Home for All Seasons’, published earlier this year to wide acclaim. Part-memoir, part-history, the book recounts how Gavin and his husband Alistair bought a rural English building after falling in love with it at first first. Then Gavin began exploring its past. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Felix Francis
September 18, 2022 11:25 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBBefore Felix Francis became a novelist he spent many years as a physics teacher, helping his father, crime writer and jockey Dick Francis, with research in his spare time. After his father’s death, Francis became a full-time author in his own right. His 16th novel is ‘Hands Down’, about a conspiracy in the world of horse racing. Here he speaks to Georgina Godwin about his life and work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘All the Knowledge in the World’
September 15, 2022 15:47 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to British journalist and non-fiction author Simon Garfield about his latest book, ‘All the Knowledge in the World’. It looks at the fascinating history of the encyclopaedia and asks what value there is in old knowledge.
Monocle Reads: ‘Survival of the Richest‘
September 14, 2022 08:48 - 25 minutes - 23 MBDouglas Rushkoff is an award-winning writer and media theorist who was named as one of the world’s 10 most influential intellectuals by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jill Dawson
September 11, 2022 11:10 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBThe bestselling author on her extensive writing career and latest novel, ‘The Bewitching’. Based on the 16th-century case of the witches of Warboys, the story follows Alice Samuel who accuses a neighbour of witchcraft and sets in motion a shocking train of events. Dawson has written 11 novels, many of which draw on true historical tales. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been a Costa judge. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Michael Arditti
September 04, 2022 12:07 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBThe award-winning English author and literary critic talks to Georgina Godwin about his 30-year career. His latest novel, ‘The Young Pretender’, is about the rise, fall and attempted comeback of long-forgotten child actor William Henry West Betty in Georgian Britain. Arditti often deals with spirituality and sexuality in his work and was described by Philip Pullman as a ‘chronicler of the rewards and pitfalls of present-day faith’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘Let’s Talk’
September 01, 2022 15:47 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBNihal Arthanayake is an award-winning broadcaster and presenter who has won several accolades for his conversational skills, including Interview of the Year at the 2019 BBC Radio and Music Awards. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Alex Harvey
August 28, 2022 10:54 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBThe British author, director and producer tells Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Song Noir: Tom Waits and the Spirit of Los Angeles’, a gritty account of Waits’ formative first decade in LA. Harvey has produced and directed several films, including ‘Enter the Jungle’, a feature documentary on mixed martial arts fighting in Brazil. He formerly worked on Panorama and The Late Show for the BBC and is a contributing writer for the ‘London Review of Books’ and the ‘Los Angeles Review of Boo...
Monocle Reads: 'My Family and Other Enemies'
August 25, 2022 16:21 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBMary Novakovich is an award-winning travel journalist who has written and edited numerous European guidebooks over the past 30 years. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘My Family and Other Enemies’, which is part travelogue, part memoir, which dives into the hinterland of Croatia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Margie Orford
August 21, 2022 11:28 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBSouth African writer Margie Orford is an award-winning journalist, film director and author. She is an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and the president emerita of Pen South Africa. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her new book, ‘The Eye of the Beholder’, a dramatic story of lies, trust and love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘Social Warming’
August 18, 2022 18:34 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBCharles Arthus is a writer, journalist and speaker who has been reporting on science and technology for more than 30 years. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Social Warming’. It is an insightful and important exploration of the pervasive effects of social media on politics and society, and a call for us to pay attention to the world’s most compelling addiction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Shehan Karunatilaka
August 14, 2022 10:48 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBThe award-winning Sri Lankan writer talks to Georgina Godwin about his highly anticipated new book, ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’. Long-listed for the 2022 Booker prize, the satirical novel follows his critically acclaimed debut, ‘Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew’, which established Karunatilaka as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: ‘Under the Skin’
August 11, 2022 15:57 - 21 minutes - 20 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to journalist, educator and author Linda Villarosa. They discuss her latest book ‘Under the Skin’, which gives a detailed account of racialised health disparities in the US, as well as her Lambda Literary award-nominated first novel ‘Passing for Black’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Louis de Bernières
August 07, 2022 11:17 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MBAt this year’s World of Words Gstaad Literature Festival, Georgina Godwin speaks to the award-winning British novelist about his circuitous route to becoming a writer and his bestseller ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Lexi Stadlen
August 04, 2022 16:54 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to anthropologist and ethnographer Lexi Stadlen about her new book ‘Nine Paths: A Year in the Life of an Indian Village’. Lexi spent 18 months living in a small community off eastern India, immersing herself in the community. The result is an intimate account of the lives of nine women. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Louisa Young
July 31, 2022 11:16 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBLouisa Young is a best-selling novelist, journalist, songwriter and biographer. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her book, ‘Twelve Months and a Day’. Young’s newest novel is heartbreaking and thought-provoking, following the love stories of Rasmus and Jay, Róisín and Nico through life and death. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: Dreaming the Impossible
July 28, 2022 16:41 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBMihir Bose is a British-Indian journalist who has written about sport, business and social and historical issues for the ‘Financial Times’, the ‘Evening Standard’ and many others. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Dreaming the Impossible: the Battle to Create a Non-Racial Sports World’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Arthur Snell
July 24, 2022 11:50 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBArthur Snell is a former British diplomat who has held postings around the world. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘How Britain Broke the World: War, Greed and Blunders from Kosovo to Afghanistan, 1997-2021’. It draws on extensive research and personal experiences to map out how British foreign policy has fuelled the decline of the liberal international order. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Monocle Reads: How to Be a Writer
July 21, 2022 17:47 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBMarcus Berkmann has been a freelance journalist for over 30 years. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about his latest book ‘How to Be a Writer’ which offers a candid, humorous and unfiltered view into the often glamorised, but tough lives of writers today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ruth Ozeki
July 17, 2022 12:00 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThe winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 speaks to Georgina Godwin. Ozeki, who is also a film-maker and Zen Buddhist priest, talks about ‘The Book of Form and Emptiness’, which tells the story of a grieving teenager who finds solace in reading.
Monocle Reads: The Evening Standard Stories Festival 2022
July 14, 2022 21:49 - 9 minutes - 12.4 MBIn the run-up to the Evening Standard Stories Festival 2022, its organisers are launching a writing competition called What’s Your Story? Georgina Godwin speaks to one of the judges, author and journalist Lotte Jeffs, about the competition. They also discuss her latest book, ‘How to Be a Gentlewoman’, as well as her LGBTQ+ parenting podcast ‘Some Families’.
John Walsh
July 10, 2022 10:50 - 30 minutes - 28.4 MBThe journalist and author tells Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Circus of Dreams’, a memoir on the UK literary scene in the 1980s. Walsh worked as literary editor for the ‘Evening Standard’ and ‘The Sunday Times’ and spent 20 years at ‘The Independent’. He brought his lifelong passion for literature with him throughout his career, chairing the judging panel of the Forward Poetry Prize and often appearing on BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Write Stuff’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...
Monocle Reads: Before We Were Trans
July 07, 2022 20:24 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBKit Heyam is a trans awareness trainer, writer, activist and historian, as well as a lecturer in medieval early modern studies at Queen Mary, University of London. They speak to Georgina Godwin about their new book ‘Before We Were Trans’ which looks at people around the world and throughout history whose experience of gender does not fit into binary categories. From Renaissance Venice to Japan, the United States and seventeenth-century Angola; the book is a celebration of gender as fluid and ...