Books Podcast

20/08/2026

Excellent new interview at www.bookspodcast.com
Dr Madeleine Pelling: Hoax - Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightnment. Maddy tells a great story, and I was enraptured. Strongly recommended.

For the ancients, genius was a spirit that descended on favoured individuals. So when did we decide that genius was not so much an activity, but more of a qualification, a status which we bestow on certain individuals? When Helen Lewis talks about the genius ‘myth’ it is this aspect which she is...

05/08/2026

We had a wonderful time at the Owl Bookshop last month talking to Helen Lewis about the paperback of The Genius Myth. The book is excellent. Helen was brilliant. The recording is now posted at www.bookspodcast.com
This is very well worth a listen. She is erudite, witty, lucid and fascinating.

For the ancients, genius was a spirit that descended on favoured individuals. So when did we decide that genius was not so much an activity, but more of a qualification, a status which we bestow on certain individuals? When Helen Lewis talks about the genius ‘myth’ it is this aspect which she is...

18/07/2026

Just in case you haven't subscribed to www.bookspodcast.com (why haven't you?), there is a fab new interview with Sir Ben Okri about his magical new novel, Waking The Warriors. Recommended

The front page of the Daily Mirror on August 28th, 1967 had the story: “Epstein – the Beatle-making prince of pop – dies at 32.”

24/06/2026

The interview with Philip Norman about Mr Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles, which we recorded in front of a live audience, is now up and available on www.bookspodcast.com
We recommend it.

The front page of the Daily Mirror on August 28th, 1967 had the story: “Epstein – the Beatle-making prince of pop – dies at 32.”

23/06/2026

Among the thrills of last week's Books Podcast event when we recorded the interview with Philip Norman about "Mr Moonlight - Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles" was that I got to meet Patti Boyd - the first Mrs George Harrison. We even got her to say a few words about her first date with him, as you will hear.
The interview will be live tomorrow morning.

18/06/2026

We had a wonderful time at the Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town, recording a Books Podcast, talking to the great Philip Norman about his wonderful new biography of Brian Epstein - the Beatles' manager. We'll let you know when the interview is published.

11/06/2026

Lovely new interview at www.bookspodcast.com
Gail Crowther - Marilyn and her Books. The literary Life of Marilyn Monroe.

The Surge is a trenchant analysis of the destructive power of water, a clarion call for recognising imminent dangers, and a panoramic narrative of human catastrophe and hubris. Some passages present as a cross between J G Ballard and John Wyndham. Others are sweeping and inspirational. The book is a...

25/05/2026

New interview at www.bookspodcast.com if you're in the market for it. Terrific book - The Surge by Jeevan Vasagar. Floods, global warming, inundations, failures and triumphs and engineering marvels. What's not to like?

The Surge is a trenchant analysis of the destructive power of water, a clarion call for recognising imminent dangers, and a panoramic narrative of human catastrophe and hubris. Some passages present as a cross between J G Ballard and John Wyndham. Others are sweeping and inspirational. The book is a...

27/04/2026

We are excited to be recording an episode of Books Podcast live in front of an audience at the Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town on 17th June.
We will be talking to the great Philip Norman, author of Shout! the first grown-up biography of the Beatles, about his new book, Mr Moonlight - a major biography of Brian Epstein. Book early!

https://owlbookshop.co.uk/product-category/events/

21/04/2026

New interview at www.bookspodcast.com
Radicals - The Working Classes and the Making of Modern Britain, by Geoff Andrews. A lively history of the movement, putting the culture and values of the working classes at its heart, showing why in Britain it was more proletarian and less ideological than in Europe, and also discussing where it all went wrong, from the Fabians to Mrs Thatcher and the current existential crisis of Labour.

One is struck by the heroic energy and fortitude of the working classes – working long and arduous hours, they found time and resources to educate themselves, to organise trades unions, to make brass bands and male voice choirs, time for political activism, time to tend allotments, and not to ment...