London Review Podcasts

Patricia Lockwood talks to Joanne O’Leary about being possessed by Vladimir Nabokov, reading Lolita as a teenage girl, the diagnostic value of Bend Sinister, and her anxiety about writing after having Covid-19.Read Patricia Lockwood on Nabokov and more in the LRB: https://lrb.me/lockwoodnabokovpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Adam Shatz talks to Mike Davis about some of the underlying and long-term political shifts at play in next week’s US elections. They discuss both traditional and emerging swing voters, the obstacles to majority rule, the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett as the latest move in an ongoing civil war within the Catholic Church in the United States, the critical failure of the left to challenge the philosophy of the Reagan revolution, the death cult at the core of today’s Republican base, the importance of Bernie Sanders’s presidential run and the Black Lives Matter movement, and why, fifteen years ago, Davis predicted an age of pandemics.Find LRB pieces related to this episode here: https://lrb.me/mikedavispodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alex Abramovich talks to Thomas Jones about the history of country from Jimmie Rodgers to Lil Nas X, by way of Dolly Parton (and Eddie Van Halen), and the problems with the labels that get applied to American vernacular music.Find Alex Abramovich's piece on Ken Burns' series here: https://lrb.me/countrymusicpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

To mark the publication of the latest LRB Collection of essays, about sport, David Runciman, on loan from Talking Politics, talks to Ben Markovits about Michael Jordan, home advantage, how basketball has tackled racial inequality, the difference between writing about sport in fiction and non-fiction, and why it turns out that players really are sometimes hot and sometimes not.Pre-order the LRB's collection of sports writing here: https://lrb.me/sportFind the pieces mentioned in this episode here: https://lrb.me/sportpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Emily Wilson talks to Thomas Jones about three new translations of the Oresteia. They discuss what the texts of the tragedies may tell us about the state of democracy in fifth-century Athens, the difficulties of Aeschylus’ language, why Hamilton may be the best modern analogue to Ancient Greek drama, and how Wilson came to do her own translation of the Odyssey.Find Emily Wilson's piece on Aeschylus and more here: https://lrb.me/emilywilsonpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jenny Turner talks to Joanna Biggs about the history of the Women’s Liberation Movement, the loneliness of feminist work, and the seemingly unavoidable question: How do you think your life compares to your mother’s?Find Jenny Turner’s piece and other related pieces on the episode page for this podcast: https://lrb.me/jennyturnerpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deborah Friedell talks to Thomas Jones about the origins, and origin myths, of the National Rifle Association, how it spends its money, and why it's wary of winning.Read Deborah Friedell on the NRA here: https://lrb.me/friedellnrapodAnd you can find her other pieces for the LRB here: https://lrb.me/friedellpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Katherine Rundell reads her study of the Greenland shark, which can live for 500 years.You can find all the pieces in Katherine Rundell's series of animal studies on her author page on the LRB website: https://lrb.me/rundellpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rupert Beale talks to Thomas Jones about Covid-19 vaccine candidates, and reasons not to rush them; how worried we should be about reported cases of re-infection; possible reasons for the apparent drop in the infection fatality rate; and the prospects for reopening schools.Read more by Rupert Beale in the LRB: https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/lrb-conversations/covidologySubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Patricia Lockwood reads her diary about catching and recovering from Covid-19.Read more by Patricia Lockwood in the LRB here: https://lrb.me/lockwoodpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Adam Shatz talks to Paul Gilroy about his intellectual background and the recent anti-racist protests in the UK and US. They discuss Gilroy’s experience growing up in North London in the 1950s and 1960s, the influence of African-American culture on his understanding of racial ordering, the role of Turner’s painting The Slave Ship in the history of the ‘Black Atlantic’, the shifting use of terms such as ‘racism’ and ‘anti-blackness’, and how the imminent threats of climate change might affect racial identity.Find material related to this podcast on our website: https://lrb.me/paulgilroypodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stefan Collini talks to Thomas Jones about the life and work of Frank Kermode, and Mary-Kay Wilmers remembers him as a contributor to the LRB.Find LRB pieces related to this episode here: lrb.me/frankkermodepodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20bBuy the LRB’s selection of Frank Kermode’s essays from the LRB Store: lrb.me/kermodeselectionpod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Following his piece in the latest issue of the LRB, William Davies talks to Thomas Jones about the new political polarisation, and what it owes to the online culture of instant feedback. What does politics look like, Davies asks, once the provocation of reaction, positive or negative, precedes the slow work of excavation, research, reporting and administration?They discuss the anticipation of this modern politics in the ideas of the Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt, the seductive appeal of referendums as relief from the quagmire of parliamentary liberalism, and the way that demanding people take sides in the ‘culture wars’ inhibits meaningful discussion where it’s most needed.Read William Davies' piece here: https://lrb.me/daviesredbuttonpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pankaj Mishra talks to Adam Shatz about his latest piece for the LRB, which looks at the ways the US and UK have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, and what those botched responses reveal about the broader failures of Anglo-America.Their discussion also touches on the recent ‘open debate’ letter to Harper’s, the lingering prevalence of Cold War thinking among Western intellectuals, and the extent to which a Biden administration may or may not bring change.Read Pankaj Mishra's piece here: https://lrb.me/pnakajmishrapodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Katherine Rundell reads her study of the lemur.You can find all the pieces in Katherine Rundell's series of animal studies on her author page on the LRB website: https://lrb.me/rundellpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amia Srinivasan talks to Thomas Jones about the long search for a third person singular, gender-neutral pronoun, and the resurgence of the pronoun debate in recent years.Read more by Amia Srinivasan in the LRB here: https://lrb.me/amiasrinivasanpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor talks to Adam Shatz about the intellectual and historical background to the Black Lives Matter movement, and why she’s optimistic that the current protests might bring change.Find further reading and a full transcript of this episode on the LRB website: https://lrb.me/howdoyouchangethingsSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Katherine Rundell reads her study of the common swift, which flies about two million kilometres in its lifetime.You can find all Katherine Rundell's pieces on animals for the LRB here: https://lrb.me/rundellpodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gaby Wood reads her diary from the latest issue of the LRB, in which she tries to draw an albatross using a camera lucida.Read the diary and much more in a latest issue: https://lrb.me/latestlrbSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20b  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Susan Pedersen talks to Joanna Biggs about Shelagh Delaney and her landmark 1958 play, A Taste of Honey.Read Susan Pedersen on Shelagh Delaney in the LRB: https://lrb.me/delaneypodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/podcast20bThe first two clips in this episode are from the 1961 film, the third clip is from The White Bus (1967) directed by Lindsay Anderson, and the fourth clip is from a 1959 interview with Delaney for ITN.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.