Meet the Writers

As the author of six critically acclaimed novels, including the 2022 PEN/Faulkner award winning ‘The Wrong End of the Telescope’, Rabih Alameddine is no stranger to the living art of storytelling. His work explores worlds that may seem beyond words, everything from civil war to exile and epidemics, and yet finds the words we need[...]

Literary editor of ‘The Spectator’ Sam Leith is surrounded by books of various genres every day. His latest non-fiction work ‘The Haunted Wood’ takes an exploratory look into childhood reading from Aesop’s fables to Malorie Blackman. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about the world of children’s literature, the first book he read as a child[...]

Magda Szubanski is known as Sharon Strzelecki in the comedy series ‘Kath and Kim’ in Australia and globally for the role of Esme Hoggett in the ‘Babe’ film series. The comedy actress won the 2016 Douglas Stewart Prize for her memoir, ‘Reckoning’, which describes her journey of self-discovery from a suburban childhood that was haunted[...]

Life for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is often stalked by violence, heightened by the events following 7 October. When US journalist Nathan Thrall decided to write about their experience, he wanted to unveil the sheer catastrophe that they live through daily. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book, ‘A Day in the Life of Abed Salama’,[...]

Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is a Zimbabwe-born writer who spent her time writing instead of studying at university during one of the most turbulent times in the country’s history. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her childhood, the start of her writing career and her latest novel, “Digging Stars”, which probes the emotional universes of love,[...]

Best-selling author Elif Shafak is the most widely read female author in Turkey and her work has been translated into a staggering 57 languages. Her 2019 novel ‘10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World’ was nominated for the Booker Prize and her novels have been shortlisted in the Costa Award, the British Book Awards[...]

The Australian politician who popularised koalas in the 1980s and created the “throw another shrimp on the barbie” tourism ad joins Georgina Godwin in Sydney to talk about his new book, ‘Brownie: The Minister for Good Times’. John Brown, the first in his family to achieve school qualifications, went on to serve as an MP[...]

For years, author and satirist Gabby Hutchinson Crouch has scoured the week’s news for material to use on the programmes in BBC Radio 4’s Friday-night topical slot, ‘Dead Ringers’ and ‘Newzoids’. She has also written for ‘Horrible Histories’, the Bafta-winning children’s series inspired by ‘Blackadder’ and ‘Monty Python’. Today she discusses her latest book, the[...]

In Microsoft’s pioneering AI For Good Lab, data scientists and researchers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to tackle disinformation, predict wildfires, track whales and even detect leprosy in vulnerable populations. But what are the dangers in AI being used for bad? Chief Scientist and Lab Director Juan M Lavista Ferres has co-authored the[...]

Ever wondered what David Bowie liked to eat for dinner, or how the members of Queen wrote and rehearsed their famous “Galileos”? Tiffany Murray’s new memoir invites us into the lives of 1970s rock nobility. Set at two recording studios, including the legendary Rockfield Studios where she was raised, her mother Joan was a chef[...]

The twentieth-century author Christopher Isherwood, made famous by his 1930s work in Berlin, approached his writing about queerness, politics and religion with frankness and wit. The writer repeatedly fictionalised himself and his friends in his novels. Katherine Bucknell, the editor of four volumes of Isherwood’s diaries and letters, explains that it was his mother’s own[...]

The 2024 UK general election is just days away. Speaking to Georgina Godwin is an expert on many aspects of UK government and politics, in particular, the support systems to ministers and prime ministers. Alun Evans CBE, a civil servant for more than three decades, lifts the lid on what’s happening behind the door of[...]

Today’s guest is perhaps the only playwright and novelist to have been an international athlete, teacher of those on death row at San Quentin prison in California and a tree surgeon – and he only began writing in his thirties. He won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwright’s Award for ‘If You Don’t Let Us Dream,[...]

Taking home this year’s prize is US writer and journalist V V Ganeshananthan for her second novel, ‘Brotherless Night’, which took her almost two decades to complete. Her debut novel, ‘Love Marriage’, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize in 2009. ‘Brotherless Night’ is the story of Sashi, a 16-year-old aspiring doctor, growing up in Jaffna,[...]

The Berlin-based author and playwright was born in the then-USSR and emigrated to Germany in 1995. ‘Glorious People’, their second novel, now translated into English, was longlisted for the German Book Prize and won several others. Salzmann has since been awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize for 2024, the biggest prize for literature in Germany. See omnystudio.com/listener[...]

The British-Cambodian writer and editor initially wrote ‘The Ministry of Time’ – her gripping sci-fi rom-com debut – as a joke for a handful of friends. The genre-bending thriller, which explores themes including immigration and environmentalism, became an instant bestseller. Even before the novel landed on bookshelves last month, the BBC beat Netflix in a[...]

Announced this week is the winner of the International Booker Prize 2024. The recipient of this year’s award is ‘Kairos’ by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck and translated by Michael Hoffman, who each take home half of the £50,000 prize money. Host Georgina Godwin speaks to the winning duo and the administrator of the prize, Fiammetta[...]

Award-winning Scottish author and editor at large at the ‘London Review of Books’, Andrew O’Hagan has spent the past decade working on his state-of-the-nation novel, ‘Caledonian Road’. Employing the traditions of Victorian writing, his research took him to the homes of Russian oligarchs, the Old Bailey and even a ship from Venice to Trieste. Here,[...]

‘For me, beauty and disgust don’t really exist in binary.’ AK Blakemore’s discovery of tales of The Great Tarare, a French showman with an insatiable appetite, was the perfect setting for her to explore her love of the grotesque and abject. Shortlisted for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize, her novel ‘The Glutton’ explores the almost[...]

“We left Iraq as Jews, and we arrived in Israel as Iraqis.” Acclaimed historian Avi Shlaim is a man with a complicated backstory as an Arab Jew. He has a very clear-eyed view of events leading up to the current crisis in the Middle East. He traces the origins of the conflict to antisemitism in[...]

In 1868 writer John William DeForest introduced the idea of the ‘great American novel’ – a work that succeeded in ‘the task of painting the American soul’. Now, the editors of ‘The Atlantic’ have published a list that offers a wider, deeper and weirder take on the idea. Author and senior editor Gal Beckerman talks[...]

“Education for girls is the family business”, says Sudanese-British broadcast journalist Zeinab Badawi. She tells us about her family, career and what it’s like to interview the world’s most notable politicians on ‘BBC Hard Talk’. Badawi explains how her groundbreaking TV series, ‘The History of Africa’, for which she visited 34 African countries over seven[...]

The Melbourne-based author talks about how his life has changed since his multi-award-winning 2008 novel ‘The Slap’ made him one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. Born to immigrant Greek parents, his writing confronts themes ranging from social and cultural tensions in modern Australia to faith, sexuality, class, race and the blights of communism in practice.[...]

Is the near-universal game of “cowboys and Indians” just positive propaganda for genocide? When a Vietnamese-American watches ‘Apocalypse Now’, does he identify with the victim or perpetrator? As the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s book ‘The Sympathizer’ comes to HBO, we explore these themes and discuss his triumphant new memoir, ‘A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir,[...]

Author Tom Baragwanath hails from New Zealand and lives in France. He grew up in the remote farming community of Wainuioru, separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka mountain range. While working for the government on Māori land policy in his mid-twenties, he began reading extensively and writing short stories. After relocating to Paris with his[...]

Nairobi-based nonprofit Book Bunk, the brainchild of Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka, restores existing public libraries and installs new libraries in public spaces. Its flagship project in the Kenyan capital is the McMillan Memorial Library, which opened in 1931 but it was segregated only for the use of white people until 1962. Book Bunk’s founders[...]

UK author and journalist Helen Russell left her job in London as editor of Marie Clare and relocated to Jutland, Denmark, with her husband in 2013. What initially set out to be a year-long trip quickly turned into a decade. Her freelance career had seen her work as Scandinavia correspondent for ‘The Guardian’, write for[...]

US cartoonist and illustrator, Denise Dorrance’s sharp, satirical work appears regularly in magazines and newspapers such as the ‘The Spectator’ and ‘The Sunday Times’. Her debut graphic novel, ‘Polar Vortex’, has been celebrated by the likes of Oprah Winfrey. She is best known for her character Mimi, a self-involved fashionista in dark sunglasses, typically drawn[...]

Jane Cholmeley co-founded and opened the feminist Silver Moon Bookshop in London during the Thatcher era to promote the work of female authors. It quickly came to play a vital role in the second-wave feminist movement. Operating in a male-dominated space, the stop was often subject to threats of arson but maintained a safe space[...]

It was the end of a relationship in London that led Tabitha Lasley to pack her bags, leave her journalism job and move to Aberdeen, Scotland, to pursue a story that she’d been sitting on for years. She grew up on the Wirral in northwest England, a place frequented by the men who worked on[...]

American novelist and screenwriter Michael Cunningham is best known for his 1998 novel ‘The Hours’, which became a ‘New York Times’ bestseller and won both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared in ‘The New Yorker’ and ‘The Best American Short Stories’, and he has worked as a creative writing lecturer[...]

In 2020, Alice Haddon and Ruth Field came together to develop an alternative offering to the traditional 50-minute therapy session, which became a wellness retreat designed for women known as The Heartbreak Hotel. Alice is a licensed counselling psychologist with more than 25 years of experience in private and public practice. Her writing has been[...]

After his mother was killed by a car bomb in 2017, Paul Caruana Galizia became a journalist and has since won several honours and awards for his reporting, including the Orwell Prize special award. The assassination of his mother Daphne Caruana Galizia – a Maltese journalist and anti-corruption activist best known for her investigation of[...]

UK screenwriter, TV producer and novelist, Daisy Goodwin has written the bestsellers ‘My Last Duchess’, ‘The Fortune Hunter’ and ‘Victoria’, as well as eight poetry anthologies, including ‘101 Poems That Could Save Your Life: An Anthology of Emotional First Aid’. During her 25 years working as a TV producer, she created and produced shows such[...]

US journalist, novelist, translator and professor Maureen Freely joins Georgina Godwin in the studio. She is best known as the translator of Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s work. Freely has also written ‘The Life of the Party’, set in Turkey, and ‘The Other Rebecca’, a contemporary take on Daphne du Maurier’s classic 1930s novel. Her latest[...]

American researcher, scholar, writer and poet Cat Bohannon speaks to Georgina Godwin about her debut book, ‘Eve’, a whistle-stop tour of mammalian development that begins in the Jurassic Era and recasts the traditional story of evolutionary biology by placing women at its centre. She completed her PhD in 2022 at Columbia University, where she studied[...]

To welcome in the new year, we look back at one of our favourite conversations from 2023, with Lydia Sandgren. The Swedish psychologist and author spent 10 years writing her debut novel, which won the prestigious August Prize in 2020 and sold more than 100,000 copies. She joins Georgina Godwin to mark the publication in[...]

We listen back to one of our favourite conversations from 2023. Calder Walton, a historian of global security, speaks to Georgina Godwin about what secret archives and interviews with former agents can tell us about the century-long secret intelligence war between Russia and the West.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

English novelist and screenwriter Louise Doughty joins Georgina Godwin in the studio. Doughty is the author of 10 novels, including ‘Platform Seven’, recently filmed for ITV, and the bestseller ‘Apple Tree Yard’, adapted for BBC One. She also wrote and created the hit 2022 BBC drama ‘Crossfire’. Her latest novel, ‘A Bird in Winter’, was[...]

Georgina Godwin is joined by two authors who are both on a quest to find new ways to listen – and they invite you to do the same. Dutch-born writer Michel Faber has written several works of fiction including ‘The Crimson Petal and the White’. His first non-fiction book, ‘Listen: On Music, Sound and Us’[...]

One of India’s best-known writers, Amish Tripathi, speaks to Georgina Godwin at Midori House. The author spent 14 years in the financial sector as a marketing and product manager but changed his direction to realign with his passion for writing, winning multiple awards for his books, largely based on Indian spirituality. He is also the[...]

Georgina Godwin speaks to Paul Lynch, the author of ‘Prophet Song’, winner of this year’s Booker Prize. Limerick-born Lynch is the fifth Irish writer to win the award, given to the best English-language novel of the year published in either the UK or Ireland. His fifth novel, written over four years, is set in an[...]

British director, animator and author Kevin Jon Davies speaks to Georgina Godwin. With a career that has included writing and directing the documentary ‘Doctor Who: Thirty Years in the Tardis’ and working on animation for the TV adaptation of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and the classic film ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, Davies has[...]

Joining Georgina Godwin in today’s episode is American author Sandra Newman, whose sixth novel, ‘Julia’, offers a bold feminist reinterpretation of George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. The book expands upon the protagonist Winston Smith’s narrative to unveil and explore the experiences of women in Oceania. Born in Boston, Newman has lived in many countries, including Germany,[...]

Georgina Godwin sits down with the six authors shortlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2023: Hannah Barnes, Tania Branigan, Christopher Clark, Jeremy Eichler, Jennifer Homans and John Vaillant. From Branigan’s new look into China’s Cultural Revolution, told through the personal stories of those who lived through it, to Vaillant’s deep dive into the[...]

Georgina Godwin speaks to one of the most successful crime-fiction novelists in the UK, Ian Rankin. He is the internationally best-selling author of more than 40 books, including the Inspector Rebus novels, which have been translated into more than 20 languages. He is the recipient of the Edgar Award, four CWA Dagger Awards and last[...]

Award-winning British journalist Ros Atkins joins Georgina Godwin in today’s episode. He is analysis editor and presenter of Outside Source at the BBC but started out at as a news producer on BBC Radio Five Live more than twenty years ago. Ros talks about his book ‘The Art of Explanation: How to Communicate with Clarity[...]

Georgina Godwin interviews former editor in chief of Bloomsbury Publishing, Alexandra Pringle, who held the post for twenty years. Her list of authors includes William Boyd, Margaret Atwood, Richard Ford, Khaled Hosseini and Kamila Shamsie. She joined Virago Press in 1978 and helped to launch their Modern Classics series, which championed out-of-print books by forgotten[...]

In today’s episode, award-winning American author of fiction, memoir and poetry Henry Hoke speaks to Georgina Godwin about his fifth book, ‘Open Throat’. It follows a queer mountain lion, desperate for food and struggling to survive in drought-stricken Los Angeles, who takes us on a tour of the city’s cruel inequalities. Hoke is also the[...]

Journalist, author and broadcaster Polly Toynbee, joins Georgina Godwin on the show this week. She is a Guardian columnist and previously worked as social affairs editor for the BBC, as well as ‘The Independent’. Early on in her career, she spent eight months experiencing manual work ‘undercover’ with stints as a nurse and Army recruit,[...]

Georgina Godwin sits down with bestselling author, journalist and documentary-maker Thomas Harding. They discuss his new book, ‘The Maverick: George Weidenfeld and the Golden Age of Publishing’, which tells the story of the legendary publisher after moving to London just before the Second World War as a penniless Austrian-Jewish refugee, Weidenfeld went on to become[...]

British author Neil Blackmore’s third novel, ‘The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle’, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize for LGBT+ fiction, while his 2021 novel, ‘The Dangerous Kingdom of Love’, was included in ‘The Times’ list of the best historical fiction. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about ‘Radical Love’, published earlier this year, and attitudes to sexual[...]

The award-winning Canadian author, activist and filmmaker Naomi Klein speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World’. Since publishing her debut book, ‘No Logo’, in 1999, she has become one of the world’s foremost public intellectuals, regularly featuring on lists of the most influential people around the globe.[...]

This week, Georgina Godwin meets bestselling British novelist Lisa Jewell. The Londoner started out working in the pattern room at fashion chain Warehouse but, after taking creative-writing classes, she realised that she wanted to be an author. It was a bet with a friend while on holiday in Malta that pushed her to write the[...]

Belgian-American pilot, author and writer, Mark Vanhoenacker, joins Georgina Godwin at Monocle’s studio in London to discuss his third book ‘Imagine a City: a Pilot’s Love Letter to the World’s Greatest Cities’. The book chronicles his journey from dreaming of glittering metropolises as a child in Massachusetts to exploring the world as a pilot. Vanhoenacker[...]

The French novelist, screenwriter, journalist and director Antoine Laurain joins Georgina Godwin at Monocle’s London studios to discuss his tenth novel, ‘An Astronomer in Love’. He takes inspiration from the true story of Louis XV’s astronomer and combines it with a beautiful, modern Parisian love story. Laurain also talks about how his work in the[...]

Sitting down with Georgina Godwin this week is the hugely acclaimed novelist, short-story writer and critic Amanda Craig. She returns to the show with her latest novel, ‘The Three Graces’. Set in contemporary Tuscany, the book examines the current state of Europe and explores difficult themes such as migration, racial discrimination and ageing. Craig opens[...]

Georgina is joined by Calder Walton, a historian of intelligence and global security at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is a world-leading expert in intelligence history, great-power conflict, espionage and grand strategy. He also regularly contributes to the ‘BBC’, ‘Foreign Policy’ and ‘The Washington Post’. His new book ‘Spies: The Epic Intelligence War[...]

Joining Georgina Godwin in the studio this week is author and playwright Damian Lanigan. In his latest book, ‘The Ghost Variations’, protagonist Declan Byrnie’s career as a sought-after concert pianist is brought to a halt when tragedy strikes. Despite Lanigan having never played an instrument, he beautifully translates music to the page and the complexities[...]

Andrew Boyd, the American writer, activist and CEO – or “Chief Existential Officer” of the Climate Clock – joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new book ‘I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope and Gallows Humor’. Described by Brian Eno as “a new and genuinely exciting kind of realism”, it[...]

Shashi Tharoor is a bestselling author, politician, public intellectual and former diplomat. This week he joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new book ‘BR Ambedkar: The Man Who Gave Hope to India’s Dispossessed’ and his long career in public service.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Joy White, an actress, author and gender advisor for the UN, sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her new book, ‘This Thread of Gold: a Celebration of Black Womanhood’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Burston is an acclaimed Welsh writer, journalist, documentarian and activist. He has dedicated his career to creating and promoting LGBTQ+ stories, both in his own work and by lifting up other artists. He joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new memoir, ‘We Can Be Heroes: A Survivor’s Story’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Rachman is a bestselling English-Canadian novelist. After a successful career as a journalist and a foreign correspondent, he published his debut novel in 2010 to wide acclaim. This week Rachman joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new book, ‘The Imposters’ – a darkly funny story about a failed writer trying to finish her final[...]

Farah Karim-Cooper is Globe professor of Shakespeare studies at King’s College London. She is also the co-director of education at Shakespeare’s Globe as well as an executive board member of RaceB4Race, a collective of scholars and institutions that seek racial justice in the field of pre-modern literary studies. Georgina Godwin sits down with Farah to discuss[...]

Award-winning British-Sri Lankan novelist, filmmaker and journalist Guy Gunaratne joins Georgina Godwin to discuss their second book, ‘Mister, Mister’, a devastating story about a young British man who finds himself in a British detention centre after fleeing the war in Syria.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acclaimed British author and creative-writing teacher Tim Lott has published 10 novels and a memoir, ‘The Scent of Dried Roses’, which won the Pen Ackerley Prize for autobiography and is a Penguin Modern Classic. His latest book is ‘Yes! No! But Wait…!: The One Thing You Need to Know to Write a Novel’. He joins[...]

Born in Cornwall in the southwest corner of England, award-winning author, travel writer and academic Tim Hannigan joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest book, ‘The Granite Kingdom’, a probing and lyrical account of an east-west walk across the region where he was raised.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

London-based critic and writer Amber Husain speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Meat Love’, which explores the relationship between capitalist desire and our hunger for meat.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An associate professor of English and comparative literature at Kuwait University, Mai Al-Nakib’s work has explored gender, cosmopolitanism and postcolonial issues and inspired her writing. Her intimate debut novel, ‘An Unlasting Home’, traces Kuwait’s transformation from a pearl-diving backwater to a thriving cosmopolitan state in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgina Godwin speaks to the editor and art director of independent literary magazine ‘Friends on the Shelf’. Inspired by the art of conversation and a belief that we all take pleasure in hearing about each other’s lives, the magazine aims to showcase true stories from ordinary voices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Georgina Godwin is joined by Chicago-based author Toya Wolfe to discuss her debut novel, ‘Last Summer on State Street’, an intimate portrait of family relationships and female friendship.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Octavia Bright is a writer, broadcaster and co-host of popular podcast and NTS Radio show ‘Literary Friction’. Her writing has been featured in publications such as ‘Elle’, ‘The White Review’, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ and ‘The Sunday Times’. She joins Georgina Godwin to talk about her new work, ‘This Ragged Grace: A Memoir of Recovery & Renewal’.See omnystudio.com/listener[...]

The vice-president and executive editor at the publishing house Knopf has worked with renowned authors such as Emily St John Mandel and Kevin Kwan. Now her debut novel, ‘Pineapple Street’, a warm and witty examination of American high society, is a New York Times bestseller. She tells Georgina Godwin about publishing buzzwords, the role of[...]

Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist and former science writer Michael Bond about his latest book, ‘Fans: A Journey into the Psychology of Belonging’. It takes a fascinating look at the history of fandom and how we let ourselves be inspired by our heroes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The British journalist and political commentator on his early role at ‘Erotic Review’, how media is funded and why the British political system is broken. Ian’s latest book, ‘How Westminster Works …And Why It Doesn’t’, features a searing look at UK politics as well as a set of solutions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kieran Yates is a London-based journalist, editor and broadcaster who has written for publications including ‘The Guardian’ and Vice, covering culture, technology and politics. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her new book, ‘All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In’. It is an engaging coming-of-age story that shines a light on the UK’s housing crisis.See[...]

The violinist-turned-historical novelist sits down with Georgina Godwin. Her newest book, ‘Madwoman’, is a historical reimagination of American journalist Nellie Bly, whose extraordinary undercover work helped to uncover the horrors of one of New York’s most notorious asylums.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leon Craig is a Berlin-based, British-born writer whose work has been published in ‘The Times Literary Supplement’, ‘The White Review’ and more. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her debut short-story collection, ‘Parallel Hells’ – an anthology drawing on gothic horror and folklore that explores love, power and identity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The acclaimed Vietnamese author joins Georgina Godwin to discuss growing up in post-war Vietnam, where the country is today and her latest novel, ‘Dust Child’, about four individuals linked forever by decisions made during conflict.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Albert Read is the managing director of Condé Nast Britain where he oversees titles such as British Vogue, GQ, Tatler, Vanity Fair, Wired and Condé Nast Travellers. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘The Imagination Muscle’ which examines the history of ideas and the ways to tap into your own imagination in[...]

Emmy- and Bafta-winning playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan is best known for films such as ‘The Iron Lady’ and ‘Suffragette’. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her first book, ‘This Is Not a Pity Memoir’, which tells the story of how what began as an ordinary weekday changed her and her family’s lives forever.See omnystudio.com/listener[...]

Poet Rishi Dastidar joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest collection, ‘Neptune’s Projects’, a comedic reshaping of mythology that looks at the climate crisis from the point of view of the god Neptune.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born in Equatorial Guinea, Monica Macias grew up in Pyongyang, North Korea, under the guardianship of the communist country’s then-leader Kim Il Sung. Kim was a close friend of her father, who later became the dictator president of a newly independent Equatorial Guinea. ‘Black Girl from Pyongyang’ is Monica’s remarkable memoir about identity, versions of[...]

Mark Hollingsworth is an investigative journalist, historian, and author of 10 books, including ‘Londongrad: From Russia With Cash: The Inside Story of the Oligarchs’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘Agents of Influence’, a journalistic window into Russia’s political warfare and its long history of espionage and disinformation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Swedish psychologist and author spent 10 years writing her debut novel, which won the prestigious August Prize in 2020 and sold more than 100,000 copies. She joins Georgina Godwin to mark the publication in English of ‘Collected Works’, an epic family drama about a man dealing with the tragic aftermath of his wife’s disappearance[...]

Swedish behavioural expert, lecturer and bestselling author Thomas Erikson speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Surrounded by Narcissists: Or, How to Stop Other People’s Egos Ruining Your Life’. The book is an insightful, thought-provoking guide to pursuing a more fulfilling life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam Gopnik is best known for his savvy pieces published in ‘The New Yorker’ but the essayist is a true multi-hyphenate. An author, lyricist and lecturer, you might say Gopnik has mastered the art of literature. His latest book, ‘The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery’, questions the fundamentals of learning and mastering an[...]

Georgina Godwin speaks to poet and essayist Amy Key about her new book ‘Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Love and Making a Life’. This beautiful and vulnerable memoir inspired by Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album ‘Blue’ looks at the different ways in which an absence of romantic love shapes a life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The award-winning UK author tells Georgina Godwin about a childhood family road trip through south Asia, the US and Australia, working in a tea factory and her new book ‘Humanly Possible: 700 years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JM Varese is a US novelist and literary historian. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his new gothic thriller ‘The Company’, which is based on the true story of arsenic-laced wallpaper. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary Younge is an author, an academic and one of the UK’s most celebrated journalists. He joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his remarkable career in international reporting, his teenage years as a Trotskyist, reporting on the elections of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, and his new book, ‘Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to[...]

Georgina Godwin speaks to Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Jessica J Lee, the editors of a heart-warming anthology of essays about our relationships with dogs, ‘Dog Hearted: Essays on our Fierce and Familiar Companions’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Welsh novelist’s debut, ‘The Water Cure’, a feminist dystopia, received critical acclaim and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Sophie sat down with Georgina Godwin to discuss how speaking Welsh has influenced her writing, writing her first stories as a child on her grandad’s computer and her latest novel ‘Cursed Bread’, a darkly sexual[...]

Award-winning Iranian-American writer Dina Nayeri’s ‘The Ungrateful Refugee’ was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She joins Georgina Godwin to discuss her new book, ‘Who Gets Believed’, which looks at what constitutes believability in our society.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some readers are convinced that this internationally bestselling author has worked as a spy for a British intelligence agency. In fact, her previous work in counterterrorism is where her fascination with espionage began. Ava Glass is a pseudonym for crime writer Christi Daugherty who sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her interactions with spies,[...]

Some readers are convinced that this internationally bestselling author has worked as a spy for a British intelligence agency. In fact, her previous work in counterterrorism is where her fascination with espionage began. Ava Glass is a pseudonym for crime writer Christi Daugherty who sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her interactions with spies,[...]

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad became a journalist after the US invaded his home country, Iraq, in 2003. He has since earned awards for his work including the Orwell Prize and Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, as well as two Emmys. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in[...]

Celebrated New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton sits down with Georgina Godwin. At 28, she became the winner of the Booker Prize for her acclaimed second novel, ‘The Luminaries’. After 10 years she is back with the action-packed psychological thriller ‘Birnam Wood’, about a guerilla gardening group whose ideals and ideologies are about to be tested.See[...]

Julia Hollander is a performer, singing therapist and teacher. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her intriguing new book, ‘Why We Sing’. It is an exploration of the importance of song for our wellbeing, told through stories from Hollander’s life and the latest scientific research. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.