Shows
Lit with CharlesTash Aw, author of "The South"My guest today is Tash Aw, the acclaimed author of The South, a moving coming-of-age novel set during the 1997 Southeast Asian financial crisis. The story follows 16-year-old Jay as he spends a summer on his family’s orchard in southern Malaysia, navigating family tension, economic uncertainty, and a tender relationship with another boy. It’s a quiet, potent emotional journey, as both wrestle with identity, desire, and belonging. In addition to The South, Tash is the author of several award-winning novels, including The Harmony Silk Factory and Five Star Billionaire, the latter of which was longlisted for the 2013 Booker Priz...2025-08-1144 minLit with CharlesGethan Dick, author of "Water in the Desert Fire in the Night"My guest today is artist and writer Gethan Dick, an Irish-born author, living in Marseille, who has written a very interesting book about survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Specifically, how pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing interface with a desperate quest for humanity’s continuation. In the episode, we talk about the emotional and philosophical questions that arise when survival becomes the only goal, and Gethan shares her inspirations, her writing process, and how her journey through various creative mediums (film, radio, zines, and eventually visual arts) helped her arrive at the story she wanted to tell.Lit wi...2025-08-0437 minLit with CharlesDamon Galgut, author of "In A Strange Room"In this episode, I sit down with celebrated South African novelist and playwright Damon Galgut, a literary voice I’ve admired for years. Damon Galgut is the acclaimed author of The Promise, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, and has been shortlisted for the prestigious literary award three times over the course of his writing career.We discuss his lifelong relationship with literature, his unique approach to fiction writing, and how his novels grapple with themes of identity, morality, and the political realities of South Africa. Whether you're a passionate reader, a writer yourself, or si...2025-07-281h 00Lit with CharlesEd Park, author of "An Oral History of Atlantis"Sometimes you meet a person who seems to have done it all – and today’s guest is definitely one of those guys. Ed Park is an American writer, journalist and general man of letters, born in New York, of Korean extraction. And, along with writing truly remarkable fiction, over the last few decades, he’s been involved with all sides of the literary sphere. We met on a rainy morning in New York City where we recorded this interview to discuss his latest book An Oral History of Atlantis, which is coming out on July 29th and well worth looking...2025-07-2140 minLit with CharlesSue Prideaux, author of "Wild Thing"It was an incredible honour to interview an author I have been following for a long time, and itching to get on the show. Sue Prideaux is an acclaimed Anglo‑Norwegian biographer and novelist. Her works include I Am Dynamite!, a biography of Friedrich Nietzsche I read and reviewed last year, and more recently Wild Thing, a biography of French artist Paul Gauguin. I Am Dynamite! was named The Times Biography of the Year for 2018, and won the Hawthornden Prize for ‘imaginative literature’, and Wild Thing was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction, longlisted for the Women’s Prize...2025-07-1445 minLit with CharlesAatish Taseer, author of "A Return to Self"My guest today is someone I’m lucky enough to have known personally for many years, so getting the chance to interview him today was a real treat. Aastish Taseer is a writer and thinker who straddles many cultures – Indian, American, British – and this cultural journey infuses his writing with refined and penetrative insights. I first met him in India, when I was living in Delhi and he took me under his wing and introduced me around & gave me some great tips on how to navigate this massive city. In the past, I’ve really a...2025-07-0742 minLit with CharlesLee Cole, author of "Fulfillment"To kick off the new season, I’m joined by the brilliant Lee Cole, whose writing captures the heart, complexity, and contradictions of contemporary America. Raised in rural western Kentucky, Lee’s fiction explores themes of identity, class, and belonging with a rare mix of tenderness and clarity. In this episode, we talk about the power of literature to reveal lives and landscapes we might never otherwise encounter, and why writing about home can be both fraught and freeing.If you love stories that dig deep into the cultural and emotional terrain of modern life, you won’t want...2025-06-3046 minLit with CharlesBest of Season 2Time to close another season of the Lit with Charles podcast! During this second season, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to some truly amazing authors about the books that have influenced them, the books they’ve written, and how they approach their work. For this episode, I've gone through the archive of interviews to shine a spotlight on a few of my favourite moments. It's an eclectic mix of authors sharing their thoughts on a varied list of subjects and books, and I hope you enjoy it!Lit with Charles loves reviews. If y...2025-05-1938 minLit with CharlesFrancesca Wade, author of "Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife"Gertrude Stein is a name that inspires equal amounts of both awe and fear in prospective readers. An absolute icon in her time, she was an unparalleled tastemaker: collecting work from Picasso and Matisse when they were unknown local painters; mentoring Hemingway and Fitzgerald as bright-eyed, unpublished hopefuls; and hosting ‘talk of the town’ salons at her Parisian abode. However, when it comes to her writing, things have always been a bit more complicated.To help me unpack the life, legacy, and ‘afterlife’ of this fascinating figure, today I have the pleasure of speaking with biographer, author and journ...2025-05-0640 minLit with CharlesSarah Maria Griffin, author of “Eat the Ones You Love”In this episode, I’m joined by Irish writer Sarah Maria Griffin to talk about the four books that have most shaped her creative journey – from early influences to enduring literary obsessions. It’s a fantastic conversation, ending with her newest work, Eat The Ones You Love, a bold and visceral work of feminist horror. In the episode we talk about writing as transformation, the power and joy of horror, and what it means to create with teeth.Sarah Maria Griffin’s four books were:Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986...2025-04-2146 minLit with CharlesBook Club Bites: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her latest novel “Dream Count”Today’s episode looks a lot like the last one. Again, I wanted to dive deeper into one of our Book Club selections and in March, we read “Dream Count” by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In this episode, we look at her biography, at this specific novel, and how it fits into her wider work. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and follow me on Instagram (@litwithcharles) to keep the literary conversations going. Let’s get more people listening - and reading!2025-04-0726 minLit with CharlesBook Club Bites: James Baldwin, author of "Giovanni's Room"Today’s episode looks a little different – rather than interviewing a guest about their work, I’m getting to grips with our last Lit With Charles book club pick. We read James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room last month as a community, and I, along with many of you, absolutely loved it. So, I’m using this space to reflect on that experience, share my thoughts and feelings about the book, and take a moment to dive deep into Baldwin’s life and bibliography. I’d love to hear from you what you think about this new fo...2025-03-2413 minLit with CharlesOluwaseun Olayiwola, author of "Strange Beach"Today, I’ve got an absolute treat for you: I sat down with Oluwaseun Olayiwola—poet, choreographer, and all-around creative powerhouse—to talk about his latest collection of poems, Strange Beach.Oluwaseun is one of those rare artists who moves seamlessly between the page and the stage. As a choreographer, his work has graced performance spaces from London to Paris, and as a poet, he’s got a voice that feels like it’s bending language in real time. His collection Strange Beach grapples with Blackness, queerness, intimacy, migration—all through a lens that feels at once deep...2025-03-1041 minLit with CharlesBen Markovits, author of "The Rest of Our Lives"In this episode of Lit with Charles, I sit down with Benjamin Markovits to discuss his latest novel, The Rest of Our Lives. This beautifully reflective book follows Tom, a middle-aged father who, after dropping his youngest daughter at college, keeps driving, embarking on an unplanned journey that forces him to confront the unresolved trauma of an affair, a failing marriage, and a mysterious health condition. Blending the themes of a road trip novel, midlife crisis, and personal reckoning, Markovits crafts a story that is much more than the sum of its parts—meditative, intimate, and profoundly moving....2025-02-2443 minLit with CharlesMaryam Diener, author of "Parallel Lives"The improbable destinies of two Soviet female spies, connected by a modernist building in North London, is an intriguing premise for any spy novel, let alone one that introduces elements of architectural design in its story. But when those destinies reflect a larger literary opus and sources of inspiration, as they do for today’s guest, then the conversation expands significantly. My guest today is Maryam Diener, an Iranian-born author, publisher and poet, whose work has been translated into French, German and English. Her picks are absolutely stellar, and I’m happy to admit that I’ve actually gone out an...2025-02-1047 minLit with CharlesMichael Amherst, author of the "The Boyhood of Cain"Childhood, and specifically adolescence, is a period of life that can be pretty tough and at times traumatic. It’s very fertile ground for literature but it’s not easy to get right.
In this episode, I'm joined by Michael Amherst, the author of the upcoming novel The Boyhood of Cain which deals with the period of adolescence, and themes of moral & sexual turmoil. The book feels timeless, with an eeriness that mirrors the protagonist’s growing confusion about himself and the world around him.
Michael and I sat down for our chat in-person today, in a rec...2025-01-2738 minLit with CharlesRachel Cockerell, author of "Melting Point"In today’s episode I have the pleasure of speaking with Rachel Cockerell, a London-based author, whose first foray into writing began as a family memoir, and evolved into a remarkable and innovative work of historical non-fiction called Melting Point.
Melting Point is a great 2024 release from Headline, and will be coming out in Spring of 2025 in the States. The book was longlisted for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize, and explores the origins of the Zionist movement, and one of its particular, little-known chapters – the Galveston Plan.
Most interestingly, perhaps, is the structure – it’s a polyphonic...2025-01-1350 minLit with CharlesThe Best Books I've Read This YearWell, we’ve made it to the end of 2024. I love putting together this list each December because it forces me to look back on a year of reading, try to create some order out of the chaos, and figure out what it is about the stories that I came across that I did and didn’t appreciate.
Some books were clear losers. But some took me on crazy journeys, which I knew from the first few pages would stay with me long after the story was finished. I don’t want to spoil my picks here, so I’m...2024-12-1635 minLit with CharlesLionel Barber, author of "The Gambling Man"There’s something about the idea of a ‘genius’ that has always captivated us. Whether it’s the artist painting their masterpiece or the entrepreneur betting on the future, we’re captivated by people who seem to see the world differently – and stake everything on that vision. While Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos might be household names, there’s one figure who I’d argue is even more fascinating: the maverick billionaire investor and founder of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son. Equal parts visionary and gambler, Masa as he’s more commonly known has built an empire on being an early investor in compan...2024-12-0242 minLit with CharlesSusanna Crossman, author of "Home is Where We Start"The memoir is a fascinating form to explore. I’m always intrigued as to how an author can adapt their life and fit it into the confines of a page. How does one capture all its complexities, contradictions, and fleeting moments, in a narrative that feels both honest and coherent? My guest today is Susanna Crossman, a British-French writer, essayist, and clinical arts therapist, who has just published Home is Where We Start with Penguin Random House. The book is her own account of growing up in ‘the fallout of the Utopian Dream’ – in a politically revolutionary Community in the late...2024-11-1845 minLit with CharlesArthur Larrue, author of "La Diagonale Alekhine"So this episode is a bit unusual for a variety of reasons. First of all, it’s with a good friend of mine – novelist Arthur Larrue. As you might have guessed from his name, though, Arthur Larrue is French and this entire interview is conducted in French. So unless you speak French, or are trying to test your linguistic abilities, this episode might not be the one for you. However, if you are a fellow Francophone, join me for a lively and insightful chat with an author who has navigated both the clandestine world of anarchist squats in Saint-Petersburg and t...2024-11-0446 minLit with CharlesMid-Season Episode: 10 Questions for CharlesWelcome to this very special episode of the Lit With Charles podcast, where instead of interviewing an interesting guest, I’m actually responding to 10 listeners’ burning questions! Today, you’ll get to hear about my earliest memory of falling in love with reading, and how Stephen King's thrilling tales resonated in my pre-teen years. I’ll be spilling the beans on why Roberto Bolaño's 'The Savage Detectives' didn't click for me, and chatting about my scepticism around 'must-read' lists – like those ones that crop up from Barack Obama and the New York Times.
Also on the menu: the re...2024-10-2146 minLit with CharlesVanessa Beaumont, author of "The Other Side of Paradise"Today I sat down with Vanessa Beaumont, a former literary agent and novelist about her debut novel The Other Side of Paradise which follows Jean Buckman, a young American newspaper heiress, who arrives in London in the glittering 1920s, and evolves throughout the story, through personal tragedy and loss. Over the course of the story, we watch her grapple with the pressures of mid-Century society on a woman, what it means to do one’s duty, and the pull of desire in the face of it all. It’s kind of a Downtown Abbey meets Francis Scott Fitzgerald, with a mo...2024-10-0739 minLit with CharlesEric Chacour, author of "What I Know About You"Today I sat down with Éric Chacour, a Canadian novelist born to Egyptian parents, to discuss his stunning debut novel. What I Know About You has captivated readers in its original French, winning the prestigious Prix Femina des Lycéens, and been translated into numerous languages, and with Pablo Strauss’ 2024 translation, now makes its grand entrance into the English-speaking world.
Eric's novel, which he spent 10 years working on before it was published in 2023, is a richly woven tapestry of family, love, loss, and the queer identity. Set against the backdrop of a changing Egypt, the story shines a li...2024-09-2342 minLit with CharlesFlorence Gaub, author of "The Future"In this week's podcast episode, I sat down with Florence Gaub, the Director of Research at the NATO Defense College in Rome. A World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council member, and Vice-President of the European Forum Alpbach, Florence is a master of strategic foresight and international security. Her latest book, The Future, is a must-read, exploring how humanity's visions of tomorrow have shifted in different historical contexts. Our conversation spanned various domains, from the fascinating work being done at NATO to her new book, which I read and absolutely loved. Although it’s not out in English yet, I ha...2024-09-0950 minLit with CharlesCharlie Higson, author of "On His Majesty's Secret Service"My guest today is the writer Charlie Higson, author of On His Majesty’s Secret Service, the latest Bond continuation novel. Written to coincide with King Charles's coronation and the 60th anniversary of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the book brings Bond into the modern era in a narrative that identifies very real geopolitical threats with some good old Bondian adventure.
For those of you to whom the name Charlie Higson his familiar, that’s because he was one of the writers and performers of The Fast Show, a cult British comedy show from the m...2024-08-2746 minLit with CharlesRobert P. Kolker & Nathan Abrams, authors of "Kubrick: An Odyssey"Stanley Kubrick was a visionary American filmmaker, whose groundbreaking work redefined cinema. Renowned for his meticulous attention to detail, visual innovation and the complexity of his narratives, Kubrick's films crossed many genres. Perhaps most interestingly for Lit With Charles listeners, many of his most famous movies also began their lives as books. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) set new standards in science fiction, while A Clockwork Orange (1971) delved into dystopian violence. His horror masterpiece, The Shining (1980), remains a genre-defining classic. Beyond his creative output, he had a reputation as a complicated somewhat anti-social man, with both foibles and genius aplenty. Kubrick's...2024-08-1241 minLit with CharlesLeïla Slimani, author of "The Country of Others" & "Watch Us Dance"Leila Slimani is a highly acclaimed French-Moroccan author who has written some absolutely fantastic novels over the last few years. She burst into the mainstream consciousness when she won the prestigious Prix Goncourt in France in 2016 for her second novel Chanson Douce, which was translated into English in 2018 as The Perfect Nanny in the US, or Lullaby in the UK.
She followed this up with non-fiction work as well as a fantastic trilogy which is two-thirds finished, called “Le Pays des Autres” (The Country of Others) in which the second novel “Regardez-nous danser” (Watch Us Dance) has just been...2024-07-2948 minLit with CharlesAniefiok Ekpoudom, author of "Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain"The London-based writer and journalist, Aniefiok Ekpoudom, joins me today to discuss his recent debut book, Where We Come From, which is a ‘history of rap, home and hope in modern Britain’, recently published by Faber & Faber in the UK.
When grime music emerged in the early 2000s, born on the streets of East London, it fused elements of UK garage, drum and bass, and dancehall into a dynamic, fast-paced sound. With raw authenticity and sharp lyrical narratives, grime quickly made its mark, both changing the shape of contemporary British music influencing global trends with its undeniable flair...2024-07-1545 minLit with CharlesIlaria Bernardini, author of "We Will Be Forest"Italian literature is widely known for its rich tradition of passion, intellect and innovation, and it has always been a standard-bearer for imaginative & emotive literature.
This week I'm speaking with the Italian author, screenwriter and BAFTA Award nominee, Ilaria Bernardini. One of Italy’s leading contemporary novelists, Ilaria has penned nine novels, one graphic novel, and two collections of short stories, as well as being a screenwriter collaborating with the legendary director Bernardo Bertolucci. Two of her novels, including We Will Be Forest – her most recent book, which we’re discussing today – have been longlisted for the Strega Pr...2024-07-0143 minLit with CharlesPeter Singer, philosopher and author of "Animal Liberation Now"This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Peter Singer, one of the world’s leading moral philosophers, known for his work in building the philosophical foundations of the modern animal rights movement, which he helped develop with his landmark book “Animal Liberation” published in 1975 which was one of the first to highlight hideous conditions of animal suffering and the vacuity of “speciesism”.
He is a prominent advocate of Utilitarianism, and over the years, he’s written about euthanasia, infanticide, and global poverty, amongst many other issues, and his scholarship continues to influence public discourse and ethical poli...2024-06-1746 minLit with CharlesKatie Gee Salisbury, author of "Not Your China Doll"The 1930s Hollywood star Anna May Wong was a trailblazer in the Golden Age of Hollywood. While navigating the treacherous waters of racial prejudice, she carved a path to international fame, becoming the first Chinese-American bona fide Hollywood movie star.
This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with author Katie Gee Salisbury, who’s written a biography of Anna May Wong called Not Your China Doll, published earlier this year to huge acclaim.
In today’s episode, Katie and I discuss, as always, the four books which have most shaped her as a writer, as w...2024-06-0346 minLit with CharlesIngrid Persaud, author of The Lost Love Songs of Boysie SinghThe Caribbean is a region with an incredible history of vibrant cultures blending into each other, which is reflected in so many elements from the food, the local traditions, the music and of course, the literature. Today’s guest hails from the nation of Trinidad and Tobago, and the region has clearly left an indelible mark on her writing, infusing it with the rhythms, flavors, and complexities that define the Caribbean experience.
Based on the new format of the show, Costa Prize winning author Ingrid Persaud will share four books that have left an indelible mark on he...2024-05-2051 minLit with CharlesBest of Season 1Welcome to a special episode that marks a whole year of Lit with Charles. As we wrap up a full year of podcasting, it's time to reflect on the journey we've embarked on together. From the very beginning, the goal was clear – to create a space for the curious souls eager to explore the world of literature, authors, and the intricate process of writing.
In today's episode, we take a trip down memory lane, revisiting some of the most captivating questions and answers that have lingered in my mind. This special highlight reel is divided into two pa...2024-02-121h 01Lit with CharlesTania Branigan, author of "Red Memory"The Chinese Cultural Revolution was launched by Chairman Mao in 1966 and lasted a whole decade until his death. It aimed to purify China of perceived bourgeois elements and reinforce hardline communist ideology. The era left a huge impact on China's socio-political landscape, but despite its seismic impact, it’s not that well understood by many Westerners.
Today, I’m speaking with Tania Branigan. Tania spent 7 years as the Guardian’s China correspondent, and is also the author of a recent non-fiction book called Red Memory, which explores stories that have emerged about the Cultural Revolu...2024-02-0551 minLit with CharlesLauren Collins, author of "When in French"There’s little more universally enticing than a story about someone setting off on a great voyage: an intrepid adventurer protagonist. This week, the book I’m discussing is just that – a journey into unknown frontiers, both geographically and linguistically.
Today I’m speaking with author and journalist Lauren Collins. Lauren, a staff writer with the New Yorker since 2008, published her incredible debut novel, When In French: Love in a Second Language, to huge acclaim in 2016. In this episode, Lauren and I get into the idea of language – the experience of being a person who lives b...2024-01-2936 minLit with CharlesViolaine Huisman, author of "The Book of Mother"Our relationship with our parents and, more widely, with our ancestors’ stories are some of the most formative & influential connections in many people’s lives, both for good and bad. The impact of this relationship can be felt in so many different ways, not least of which in artistic expression.
With me today is Violaine Huisman, a French author based in New York who recently became the Director of Cultural Affairs at the Alliance Française. She’s the author of a trilogy of novels about her and her family. The first is called The Book of Mother p...2024-01-2244 minLit with CharlesKate Slotover of The Book Club Review podcastCowboys, golden dust-plains, and wide open spaces. This is the stuff of the Far West, a setting that has been visited & re-visited in literature & film, often pitting good versus evil in stark terms. And today I’m talking about one of the greatest novels of the American West: Lonesome Dove, by the Texan author Larry McMurtry, published in 1985.
In this episode, I speak to Kate Slotover, co-founder of The Book Club Review – a book club in podcast form, which loves debate and discussion – about a work we’re both huge fans of. We’re going to really narrow in on...2024-01-2041 minLit with CharlesMy top books of 2023In this episode, I highlight the top 5 five books that I read last year. It’s a great way to remember what I’ve read and what I value in my reading experiences. I dive deeper than I usually would into what makes these books especially great and what they meant to me.Sometimes I’ll enjoy something quite linear and - gasp! - commercial whilst, at other times, I’ll prefer something quite experimental & different. In today’s list, those eclectic choices shine through meaning that there’s a bit of everything for everyone. I also throw in a couple...2024-01-0728 minLit with CharlesNandini Das, author of "Courting India" & Winner of British Academy PrizeMy guest today is Nandini Das, a Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture at Exeter College at Oxford University, and author of the book “Courting India” which is an account of England’s first ambassador to the Mughal court, Sir Thomas Roe, who was tasked with building a relationship with the emperor Jahangir in order to build English trade with India.
It’s a fascinating book because it takes everything you thought you knew about the historic relationship between the two countries and completely turns it on its head. The English are poor and humble su...2023-12-1845 minLit with CharlesLauren Easum, founder of Ex-LibrisToday I had the pleasure of speaking to Lauren Easum, co-founder of the Parisian bookplate company Ex-Libris. Along with her business partner, Igor Telinge, Lauren has opened Ex-Libris Paris with the intention of bringing tradition back to life, and offering bibliophiles a way to imprint their books with their names & heritage.
In today’s episode, Lauren and I cover a wide range of topics – the history of bookplates, or ex-libris stamps as we sometimes refer to them, what makes a good bookplate, how they got the idea from a centuries-old discovery in the cellar of a Parisian town...2023-12-1129 minLit with CharlesBlindboy Boatclub, author of “Topographia Hibernica”Today I spoke to Blindboy Boatclub – a multi-disciplinary Irish artist and author of the recently published short story collection Topographia Hibernica, a tongue-in-cheek update to the original. Blindboy exploded onto the international scene in late 2010 with his band The Rubberbandits and segued into a weekly podcast which is a cultural phenomenon, with over 1.2 million monthly listeners. He has released three critically acclaimed short story collections and this is his latest one.
I thoroughly enjoyed Topographia Hibernica and its absurd, empathetic depictions of contemporary Irish society, flora and fauna. If you’re a fan of dynamic short stories with...2023-12-0649 minLit with CharlesIrene Vallejo, author of "Papyrus"Part of what I try to do on this channel is to, in some small way, examine the history of literature. But for today’s guest, Spanish writer and Philologist Irene Vallejo, it’s the history of the book itself – from early beginnings as delicate cuneiform tablets, scrolls, and reeds on the banks of the Nile – that truly excites. Papyrus is a stunning introduction to (and explanation of!) philology, and is definitely an accessible read for any lover of books or history. In this episode, we dive into 6000 years of history – connecting ancient episodes with anachronistic references to the modern day –...2023-11-2740 minLit with CharlesFarah Nayeri, author of "Takedown"Famously undefinable, in many ways art is an ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ kind of thing. It’s a giant sociological concept whose tendrils snake into all our lives. In today’s episode, I speak to Farah Nayeri: journalist and author of Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age, a fascinating overview of some of the most difficult questions currently being asked in the contemporary art world. What should we be doing about culturally valuable works from problematic artists? Are the demographics of the industry (historically a hotbed of old, straight white men) changing fast enough? Ho...2023-11-2043 minLit with CharlesTom Williams, film producerIt’s the age-old question: was the book really better than the movie? For the last however many millennia, the book has been the unrivalled compendium of human knowledge. However, since the turn of the last century, there’s been a new kid on the proverbial block: the movie.
Today I got to speak to Tom Williams, a film producer based out of LA, whose 25 year film industry tenure has given us a brief window into the glitz, glamour, and (perhaps) practical realities of working in the biz. In this episode we cover a wide...2023-11-1345 minLit with CharlesShrayana Bhattacharya, author of "Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh"At first glance, the book I’m talking about today seems like the ultimate odd-couple pairing – a insightful analysis of the condition & economic prospects of women in India, combined with the adoration of a national movie icon. However, as it turns out, these two subjects might not be so disparate after all.
Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Shrayana Bhattacharya, an Indian economist about her 2021 book, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh. The book follows Shrayana’s time spent collecting data on women’s ambiguously defined and chronically undervalued employment across India. Over time, she star...2023-11-0652 minLit with CharlesAvery Carpenter, author of "Social Engagement"In today’s episode, I speak to the writer Avery Carpenter Forrey, who wrote the fun & enjoyable debut novel “Social Engagement”. It’s a young woman’s journey to getting married that is full of obstacles & revelations. At first glance, this may seem like standard chick-lit fare but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a darker undertone to this work that gave it an interesting shape. Aside from struggling with the aftermath of a past relationship as well as family trauma, the young woman at the heart of this novel deals with an eating disorder, and there’s a...2023-10-3037 minLit with CharlesMatthew Roby, professor on Icelandic sagasThere are classic books from a few centuries ago, and then there are classic classic books from distant and remote regions covering events that are long-lost to the sands of time. Today’s episode is about this kind of book: the Icelandic sagas written in the 1300s and covering events from the start of the second millennium.
The saga I read for this week’s episode is called Njal’s Saga and it is written anonymously, as many of the texts at the time were, probably through a long oral tradition and it is a fict...2023-10-2344 minLit with CharlesRose Cleary, author of "How To Be a French Girl"One of the best propulsive forces in literature, the force that keeps me turning pages as I read a novel is the question “Where on earth is this going?”
And that question kept coming back to me as I read a very exciting debut novel called “How To Be A French Girl” by Rose Cleary, a young British writer. In the book, a twentysomething young girl who’s given up on a promising art education to work a boring temp job in London in order to survive starts to develop an unhealthy obsession in an elegant French colleague...2023-10-1636 minLit with CharlesChloe Aridjis, author of "Asunder"Sometimes a single act can resonate across the ages, its impact felt through generations, both politically and personally. In 1914, the feminist suffragette Mary Richardson slashed a painting called “The Rokeby Venus” by Diego Velasquez in the National Gallery in London, to raise awareness for the feminist cause.
This event is the central trauma driving the great novel “Asunder”, written by my guest today, the Mexican & American novelist Chloe Aridjis and published 10 years ago. Her main protagonist, Marie, is a museum guard at the National Gallery, for whom the slashing has a very personal aspect, as her great-grandfather was the...2023-10-0931 minLit with CharlesCharles Glass, author of "Soldiers Don't Go Mad"The impact of war on art - specifically on literature - is a subject that I find pretty fascinating. The First World War is maybe one of the first conflicts to incubate some brilliant writers. Some of the most prominent literary figures of the First World War were two British war poets called Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. I didn’t know much about their story until I read an excellent book called “Soldiers Don’t Go Mad” by Charles Glass which was published this year.
In this book, the journalist Charles Glass who was the Middle East corr...2023-10-0231 minLit with CharlesYascha Mounk, author of "The Identity Trap"We live in a changing world with geopolitical forces and academic ideas that are challenging our democratic norms. Extreme politics, both on the right and the left, are very much on the rise in many different countries.
Both of these extreme forms of politics are undermining our classic democratic norms of universalism, principles that originated with and were enshrined by the American and French Revolutions.
Today’s guest is Yascha Mounk, a German-American political scientist who teaches at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He is the author of numerous boo...2023-09-2556 minLit with CharlesChuck Marohn, host of "The Strong Towns" podcastToday’s episode follows an interesting literary path. The first stop in that path is a book written in 1974 by Robert Caro, called The Power Broker. It’s one of the most brilliant biographies of all time. If you’re looking for a magnificently researched, and totally gripping book on the life of one of the most influential men of the 20th century, then this the one. It’s the story of Robert Moses.
That name may not mean much to a lot of people but in short, he’s basically the man who built New York City from t...2023-09-1851 minLit with CharlesJames MacManus, author of "Love in a Lost Land" and Managing Director of the Times Literary SupplementIf ever there was a need for a single definition of the novel’s function, it may well be to establish an architecture around characters that leads them directly to unique moral quandaries. These shorts of choices are ultimately what drives some of the greatest novels.
And what better framework than war to create situations that lead characters towards real perplexity? After all, it consists of two sides fighting for what both believe to be right, with outcomes involving ruin, destruction and death.
Now throw in the fact that the novel may or may not be b...2023-09-1129 minLit with CharlesOlivia Sudjic, author of "Asylum Road"How do we, as readers, detect new and emerging talent in writing? We can look at book sales or book prizes but young writers don’t necessarily gain huge commercial success or awards early on in their careers. One list that has proved almost oracular in the last 40 years has been established by the venerable literary magazine Granta and that's the list of Best Young British Novelists.
My guest today, Olivia Sudjic, is a young British writer, who was included on the latest lists published this year. She has now published two novels as we...2023-09-0447 minLit with CharlesRobert Samuels, author of "His Name is George Floyd"On May 25th 2020, in Minneapolis, a black man named George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer named Derek Chauvin who put his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, thus asphyxiating him. That tragic event had an immediate global impact, sparking off demonstrations and riots, not just in the US but across the world.
But who was George Floyd? Where did he come from? What was he like? What was his life?
These questions are all addressed in the book co-authored by my guest to...2023-08-2846 minLit with CharlesJunot Díaz, author of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and "This Is How You Lose Her"The British writer LP Hartley opened his novel “The Go-Between” with an unforgettable line “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” There’s a long-standing idea of literature being a vehicle to explore these “foreign countries”, be they temporal or geographical or cultural.
My guest today has been one of the most innovative voices with regard to the immigrant experience, especially through his 2007 novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”. Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for that novel, thanks to its incredibly modern story-telling. The prose was insane, wi...2023-08-2146 minLit with CharlesIona Lee, poetToday's guest is a poet named Iona Lee, who I was lucky enough to meet at Glastonbury a few months ago. One night I was in a queue for an event, and Iona mentioned that she was about to publish her first collection of poems. Obviously, that peaked my interest and when I asked her if she would be willing to recite a poem, she delivered a really authentic, amazing performance, right there in the queue.
Iona generously shared with me a copy of her book, a collection of poems with the title “Anamnesis” whic...2023-08-1442 minLit with CharlesAngela Rodel, translator of "Time Shelter" by Georgi GospodinovEvoking the past and how it shapes the present has been the hallmark of some of the greatest writers in history. This year’s winner of the International Booker Prize is “Time Shelter” by the Bulgarian novelist Georgi Gospodinov and it’s been hugely successful not just in its Bulgarian homeland but also abroad. The character at the center of the book is a mysterious crypto-philosophical doctor who opens a clinic for Alzheimer’s patients which allows them to immerse themselves in a replicated era which they best remember, a way for them to reconnect with their memories.
One reaso...2023-08-0742 minLit with CharlesMartin Panchaud, author of the graphic novel "La Couleur des Choses"My guest today is the latest recipient of the prestigious Fauve d’Or award for a graphic novel whose innovative instincts will likely impact the publishing industry for years to come. Martin Panchaud is a Swiss graphic novelist, which is an interesting coincidence given the origins of the form I mentioned earlier, and his latest work is called “La Couleur des Choses” (The Color of Things). It’s a stunning achievement in that it presents all visual information not in the traditional form of pictures within panels but as somewhat abstract symbols, driven by data to reflect our technological era. The...2023-07-3141 minLit with CharlesJoseph O'Neill, author of "Netherland" and "The Dog"Joseph O’Neill published a beautiful novel “Netherland” in 2008 which was rapidly applauded for capturing the zeitgeist of a post-9/11 world, not in a figurative or literal way, but, as its title suggests, in an ethereal, otherworldly way. It is an excellent novel which, if you haven’t read yet, I strongly suggest adding to your reading list.
In 2014, Joseph O’Neill followed up with an equally absorbing, if somewhat funnier novel, called “The Dog” about a lawyer who accepts an almost comically servile job as an “advisor?” to an ultra-wealthy Lebanese family based in Dubai. To me, that novel is a...2023-07-2446 minLit with CharlesMarva Barnett, academic specialist on Victor HugoMy guest today is one the leading academics on the life and work of Victor Hugo and his work. Marva Barnett is a Professor Emerita at the University of Virginia, where she taught French and drama. Her great passion and academic specialty is Victor Hugo on whom she’s written extensively, including two books "To Love Is to Act: Les Misérables and Victor Hugo's Vision for Leading Lives of Conscience", as well as "Victor Hugo on Things That Matter".
In this episode, we discuss the political and social context in which he wrote this...2023-07-1748 minLit with CharlesOrfeo Tagiuri, artist and author of "Little Passing Thoughts"I received a book from this week’s guest, the London-based American artist Orfeo Tagiuri called “Little Passing Thoughts”. It reminded me of that fine tradition of cartoons, mixed with a dose of surreal humour, and a dash of poetic perspective, and above all, a very profound, touching, sincerity.
In today’s episode, Orfeo and I talk about what it takes to come up with great ideas, where they come from, and about the fact that he dislikes the term artist and might prefer “visual poet” which seems apt after giving one glance at his work.
2023-07-1046 minLit with CharlesAJ Bermudez, author of "Stories No One Hopes Are About Them"I love a good collection of short stories, especially when there’s a great balance between overall thematic consistency and some diversity of genre & setting. And this is what I found in the book written by this weeks’ guest AJ Bermudez, who is an author and screenwriter who wrote the very fun (and occasionally quite dark) collection of short stories called “Stories No One Hopes Are About Them” which won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize in 2022.
AJ Bermudez is based between Los Angeles & New York and her work has appeared in a number of prestigi...2023-07-0337 minLit with CharlesAnn-Helen Laestadius, author of "Stolen"In today’s episode, I talk with the Swedish novel Ann-Helen Laestadius about her novel “Stolen” which was released in an English translation several months ago. It’s part of an ongoing trilogy of thrillers exploring the lives of the Sami people who are an indigenous group living in the northern regions of Scandinavian countries. Ann-Helen is a member of the Sami community and in her book, we follow the adventures of a young girl Elsa and the challenges that she and her people face, especially when the reindeer which the Sami people herd start getting tortured and murdered.
An...2023-06-2638 minLit with CharlesDT Max, biographer of David Foster Wallace - Part 2Last week, I released the first half and this week’s release is the second part of the wonderful interview with DT Max, who wrote an excellent biography of David Foster Wallace in 2012 called “Every Love Story is a Ghost Story”. If you haven’t listened to the first part, I suggest you start with that to make sure you understand the context.
List of books mentioned:
Favourite book that I’d never heard of: Harold Brodkey’s: “First Love and Other Sorrows”.
Favourite book of last 12 months: “The Netanyahus”, by Joshua Cohen
2023-06-1930 minLit with CharlesDT Max, biographer of David Foster Wallace - Part 1One of my favourite authors of all time is the American novelist (and essayist) David Foster Wallace. That name can evoke a variety of things to different people and in this episode, I’ll try and unpack these different facets with the writer DT Max who wrote an excellent biography of David Foster Wallace in 2012 called “Every Love Story is a Ghost Story”.
DT Max’s book is amazing as it tells the story of this great artist, his evolution & inspirations, while also recalling some of the more problematic aspects of his life including accounts of domestic...2023-06-1240 minLit with CharlesAndrew Pettegree & Arthur der Weduwen, authors of "The Library: A Fragile History"Libraries are historically the greatest transmitters of knowledge and culture for any civilization. From the appearance of the very first collection of manuscripts to the building of the greatest temples of books, libraries have risen – and invariably fallen – through the ages and throughout time, they’ve played many different roles and fulfilled a variety of functions, and continue to evolve as we speak.
What is the history of libraries, what is their role and how has that been changing? This is what my two guests today have written about. Professor Andrew Pettegree is a historian at Saint Andrews...2023-06-0549 minLit with CharlesJessica Ewing, CEO of LiteratiThe mission of getting children to read more is – in my mind – probably one of the noblest ones out there.
That is exactly what my guest today does. Jessica Ewing is the founder & CEO of Literati, which she founded in 2016, after working at the White House and Google. Literati is based in Austin, Texas and it is a curated book subscription service which sends monthly book boxes to their members, depending on their age (from newborn to 12) & reading level. They also have Literati Book Fairs where schools can set up a curated physical library, easy to set up...2023-05-2937 minLit with CharlesThomas Chatterton Williams, author of "Self-Portrait in Black & White"Issues of race & race relations – in real life and in literature – are a difficult subject to broach. Depending on perspective, it can evoke trauma, pain, shame, embarrassment. But is race even the right angle with which to discuss some of these burning questions?
My guest today belongs to a new generation of thinkers on the subject and has been an active contributor in the public debate. Thomas Chatterton Williams is an American author and cultural critic and visiting professor at Bard University. He’s written extensively - and some might say provocatively - on the subject of race...2023-05-2259 minLit with CharlesGary Wigglesworth, quizmasterToday’s episode is about quizzes, especially those that have a literary dimension to them. Today’s guest is Gary Wigglesworth who by day works as Sales and Marketing manager for British Library Publishing. But by night, once a month, he hosts London’s only monthly book quiz for literature lovers, on the first floor of the Betsy Trotwood pub, a charming Victorian establishment in Farringdon. You would not believe the lengths that Gary goes to in order to provide an extensive, detailed, and elaborate quiz that draws on literary knowledge, lateral thinking and above all, teamwork. His first book...2023-05-1543 minLit with CharlesTarajia Morell, author of "Savor"The book “Savor: A Chef’s Hunger for More” is the story of Fatima Ali, a young Pakistani-American chef working in the US who was featured on the TV show Top Chef and who was set to become an influential voice in the world of gastronomy when she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.
My guest today is Fatima Ali’s collaborator Tarajia Morrell who is a New York-based food writer, who’s written numerous food-related pieces for publications like the WSJ Magazine and Departures who was brought in to help Fatima express her story. ...2023-05-0832 minLit with CharlesBill Sherman, Director of the Warburg InstituteMy guest today is Bill Sherman, who is the director of the Warburg Institute since 2017, following a distinguished career in academia and museums, most recently at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where he was director of Research and Collections and head of the V&A Research Institute. In today's episode, we explore how one man's true passion for books and deep sense of curiosity led to the creation of one of the world's most unique and influential libraries. In the late 1870s in Hamburg, Germany, a young boy named Aby Warburg was the heir of a wealthy and influential...2023-05-0148 minLit with CharlesDimitry Leger, author of "God Loves Haiti"In today’s episode, we discuss the nation of Haiti, a small country in the Caribbean with a history that is equal parts heroic and tragic. It was the first country in the world to be established by a successful slave revolt, following a 12-year war of independence from France in 1804. But it has in recent years been in the news more for its political instability & economic struggles, not to mention a cataclysmic earthquake in 2010 which killed anywhere between 100,000 to 300,000 people.
My guest today is the Haitian author Dimitry Leger who wrote a novel based in the co...2023-04-2445 minLit with CharlesEd Hawkins, author of "The Men on Magic Carpets"Sports writing is a genre that I find particularly thrilling because sports is the ultimate form of non-violent competition, and there’s always something at stake. But as many people will tell you, it’s not all about winning, it’s about taking part. My guest today has written a book which might even argue that it’s not about taking part, but that it’s all about the preparation and the extreme lengths some people go to, in order to gain an edge.
Ed Hawkins is a sports writer who’s published numerous books including “The Lost Boys” a no...2023-04-1751 minLit with CharlesTom Ayling, a bookseller for Jonkers Rare BooksMy guest today is Tom Ayling, a rare and antiquarian bookseller and cataloguer at Jonkers Rare Books. Jonkers was founded in 1994 and is currently located in Henley on Thames, an idyllic town in England. Their mission has been to source and locate rare and unique books for their clients, some of whom are foremost collectors and institutions in the world. So what makes a book rare? What factors might influence its value? How does one find a rare book? Those were all questions that I wanted to ask Tom and dive a bit deeper into this fascinating business which...2023-04-1045 minLit with CharlesMatthew Campbell, author of "Dead in the Water"In today's episode, I'm speaking to Matthew Campbell, the author of a book called Dead in the Water, which was published in 2022. It's a riveting true story investigation, weaving an unbelievable tale between Yemen, the city of London and Athens. It's a page turner which has the added bonus of making the world of oil shipping completely mesmerizing. For those of you that are yet to read the book, quickly provide you with some context.
In July 2011, an oil tanker called The Brilliant Virtuoso was attacked by a group of Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen...2023-04-0337 min
Lit with CharlesElizabeth Semmelhack, Director of the Bata Shoe MuseumToday’s guest is Elizabeth Semmhack, the director of a Museum, and not just any Museum but one that I hold particularly close to my heart: The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada.
The reason it’s close to my heart is because it was founded by my late grandmother Sonja Bata. In 1946, she married my grandfather who was rebuilding his family’s footwear business. Together, they travelled the world and through these travels, she developed a passion for collecting historic shoes that best represented their cultures and environments. After decades of travelling, she’d accumulated a collectio...2023-03-2747 minLit with CharlesNina Freudenberger, author of "Bibliostyle: How We Live at Home With Books"Today's guest is Nina Freudenberger, a Los Angeles-based interior designer and the author of a superb coffee table book called Bibliostyle: How We Live at Home With Books, where she has documented and photographed some of the most gorgeous home libraries in the world, including those of major writers. Many book lovers have a strong desire to house their books in a way that cherishes and highlights them. On my Instagram account, I occasionally post content featuring beautiful libraries from around the world, and the reaction is immediate: people love a good library, and I’m definitely no exception.
...2023-03-2028 minLit with CharlesLaura Potter and Kate Slotover, the hosts of The Book Club Review PodcastToday's episode was actually the first one I recorded a little while ago. I first came across the Book Club Review podcast hosted by Kate and Laura about a year ago, and I was always really impressed by the books they were discussing and the friendly, approachable tone they adopted during those discussions. Last year they contacted me to do an interview on the anniversary of the publication of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and we recorded the interview in Tavistock Square, where Virginia Woolf used to live and where she is commemorated with a statue. The interview was...2023-03-1346 minLit with CharlesAlice Sherwood, author of "Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture"On today's episode I am joined by author, Alice Sherwood about her book "Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture". We live in a world where it is increasingly difficult to make the difference between what’s authentic and what’s fake. Whether we are talking about counterfeit fashion or Tinder swindlers making up identities, inauthenticity is a force that seems to be taking over. Alice's book is thought-provoking – and an often humorous look at the concept of realness and fakeness across many topics, ranging from 17th century forgers to contemporary technology, and how the challenges to authenticity have evolved ov...2023-03-0647 minLit with CharlesJames Crabtree, author of "The Billionaire Raj"On today's episode, I am interviewing James Crabtree, who is currently the executive director of the Asia branch of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Asia. James was previously the bureau chief for the Financial Times in Mumbai and it was in that capacity that he wrote the fantastic book The Billionaire Raj, which I read and reviewed last year. India is very much at a political and economic crossroads at the moment, and the level of analysis that James Crabtree provides in his book is very enlightening. I was super excited to speak to James about the...2023-02-2737 minLit with CharlesBenjamin Moser, author of "Sontag: Her Life and Work"Today's guest is the author, Benjamin Moser, who is the biographer of not one, but two larger than life writers, one of them being the Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector and the other being the American public intellectual, Susan Sontag. I came across Clarice Lispector when I read her last novel, The Hour of the Star, published in 1977, shortly before her death. It's got a really unusual style and a bit of a weird structure, but there was something quite fascinating about it.
Benjamin Moser has not only written an excellent biography about Clarice called Why This World, b...2023-02-2049 minLit with CharlesDavid Edmonds, author of "Wittgenstein's Poker”This week's episode is with the British philosopher David Edmonds. Six months ago, I came across his book about Wittgenstein called Wittgenstein's Poker and I absolutely loved this book because it deals with an episode later in the life of Wittgenstein, which I found absolutely fascinating in 1946. Wittgenstein, who was by then a professor at Cambridge University, found himself in a room at the Moral Sciences Club Philosophy Club at Cambridge, where they had invited a young upcoming philosopher called Karl Popper. The conversation deteriorated very rapidly until the point where Ludwig Wittgenstein was seen as threatening Karl Popper...2023-02-1342 minLit with CharlesCaitlin Macy, author of "A Blind Corner"For the very first episode of my brand new podcast Lit with Charles, I wanted to interview an author whose work I’ve really enjoyed and admired. Caitlin Macy is a New York based author, she’s published two novels and two collections of short stories. Her first novel, The Fundamentals of Play, was published in 2000, which was followed by the short story collection Spoiled in 2009. Her second novel, Mrs., was published in 2018, and I connected with Caitlin when she published her second collection of short stories called A Blind Corner.
Caitlin’s stories inhabit a world where d...2023-02-0637 min
Lit with CharlesTrailerWelcome to my brand new podcast, Lit with Charles - a podcast on all things literary where I interview people who have either written books or have interesting things to say about them. Upcoming guests include:
- Caitlin Macy, an American novelist and the author of A Blind Corner
- David Edmonds, a British philosopher and author of Wittgenstein's Poker
-James Crabtree, author of The Billionaire Raj
- Benjamin Moser, Clarissa Lispector, Susan Sontag and many more.
I hope you're as excited as I am to listen to my ex...2023-02-0202 min
The Book Club ReviewMrs Dalloway, with Charles Pignal • #123Dull account of one woman’s day or rich and resonant masterpiece? Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf has divided readers since it was published and continues to spark debate today. In London, one day in June, 1923, society hostess Clarissa Dalloway sets out to buy flowers for a party she is giving that evening. Returning home later she is visited by an old friend, Peter Walsh, who rekindles memories and feelings from her youth. Meanwhile making his own path through London traumatised soldier, Septimus Smith, is finding everyday life a torment and his young Italian wife cannot help hi...2022-07-0445 min