Shows
From Our Own CorrespondentThe story of a Russian deserterKate Adie introduces dispatches on Russia, Germany, Hong Kong, India and Sweden.A Russian soldier who once responsible for guarding Russia's nuclear weapons reveals why he fled the army. In a secret meeting, at an undisclosed location, he tells Will Vernon what he makes of President Vladimir Putin's threats towards the West.Earlier this month German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s argumentative three-way governing coalition collapsed, triggering snap elections in February. Damien McGuinness ponders what Berlin's Christmas lights can tell us about the political mood in the country.In Hong Kong, Danny Vincent reports fr...2024-11-3028 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentIsrael undeterredKate Adie presents stories from Israel, Sudan, the US, Bali and CanadaIt’s nearly a year since the Hamas launched its attacks in southern Israel, to which Israel responded with a major aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza. This fifth Gaza war is the longest ever, and shortly after it began, Lyse Doucet had a prescient encounter that presaged Israel's response over the past 12 months.Sudan’s civil war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises – with nine million people forced from their homes. Barbara Plett Usher reflects on a powerful...2024-10-0528 min
Writers' Guild of Alberta PodcastControversy at Noon: Genre and Style BiasMarty Chan (Moderator): Marty Chan writes books for kids, theatre for adults, and social media posts for fun. The 2024 recipient of the WGA’s Golden Pen Award, Marty has written dramas, comedies, fantasy, and suspense. He works and lives in Edmonton with his wife Michelle and their two cats, Minnie and Hugo. For more information about Marty, visit martychan.com.
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Julie Sedivy (Panelist): Julie Sedivy is a writer and linguist whose love of language extends to many literary genres and wh...2024-07-2953 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentFears of a wider war between Hezbollah and IsraelKate Adie presents stories from Lebanon, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bali and SpainIn Lebanon, the risk of a wider war between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah remains an ever-present danger. Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel since the Hamas attacks last October, devastating communities on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. Orla Guerin reports from southern Lebanon.Drone warfare has transformed the frontline in Ukraine’s east, making it more dangerous for those fighting. Russians have also used these to target civilians in the city of Kharkiv. Yana Lyushnevskaya fled Ukraine ea...2024-07-2729 min
The Wandering Book CollectorJessi Jezewska Stevens on Geneva, Gettysburg, Krakow, Tuscany, Siberia, Indiana; on writing for two days and editing for a year; on honeymoons; on precise descriptions and hope; on landing in JFK; and on dwelling in the past — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Jessi Jezewska Stevens, to discuss her book, Ghost Pains. Please consider supporting your local bookshop.If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscri...2024-06-2743 minThe Wandering Book CollectorHilary Bradt on getting lost; on the Galapagos and Inca Trail in the 1970s; on aerograms v social media; on hitch-hiking at 82; on her guidebooks to Burma, Iraq, Iran and N Korea; on public footpaths and bluebells; and on feeling homesick — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Hilary Bradt to discuss Taking the Risk: My Adventures in Travel & Publishing. Please consider supporting your local bookshop.If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To lear...2024-04-2435 min
The Wandering Book CollectorGinanne Brownell on hearing clarinets and trombones by a Nairobi city dump; on a fairytale morphing; on big skies; on searching for a cemetery by Lake Michigan; on her next book: a global surrogacy journey — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Ginanne Brownell, to discuss her book, GHETTO CLASSICS: How a youth orchestra changed a Nairobi slum Please consider supporting your local bookshop.If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review...2024-03-2828 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentPutin: Russia’s modern-day TsarKate Adie introduces stories from Russia, Germany, Timor Leste and OmanAt a recent gathering in a gilded hall in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin thanked VIP supporters for his re-election. As he commenced his fifth term in office, he has reminded his voters that the annexation of Crimea is just the beginning of Moscow's ambitions. Steve Rosenberg reflects on how this latest election has emboldened the President but there are voices of opposition willing to take a stand in spite of the consequences.When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged the country was seeing a paradigm...2024-03-2328 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentReporting GazaKate Adie presents stories from Israel and Gaza, Guyana, Finland and the USA.International media have been campaigning to gain access to Gaza in the months since the Israeli bombardment began - with only occasional access granted, which is closely supervised by the Israeli military. More often, news organisations have relied on Palestinian journalists already living and working in Gaza, who
continue to operate under dangerous conditions. Jeremy Bowen reflects on the difficulties of telling the story of the Israel-Gaza war.After Guyana discovered it had substantial oil reserves almost ten years ago, its economy...2024-02-1728 min
The Wandering Book CollectorNastassja Martin on her near-death encounter with a Kamchatka bear; on the boundaries between humankind and nature; on linear v spiral storytelling; on being in between worlds; on dreams, and on waking from them — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Nastassja Martin to discuss her book, IN THE EYE OF THE WILD. Please consider supporting your local bookshop.If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about f...2024-01-1849 minThe Wandering Book CollectorAyọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ on life in Lagos and Norwich; on how family pressure shapes you; on hope as something active; on walking to get out of one’s head; on random news items; and on writing a story, leaving out all the politics — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ to discuss her new book, A Spell of Good Things. Please consider supporting your local bookshop.If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn...2023-11-1742 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentShocked To The Core: Kate Adie presents stories from Israel, Turkey, Switzerland, DRC and IndonesiaFour weeks on from Hamas' deadly attack in Israel, details continue to emerge about the killing spree. Israelis are wrestling with the impact and the consequences - and the release by Hamas of a hostage video this week has added pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to secure their release. Paul Adams finds there’s a pervasive sense of insecurity in the streets of Jerusalem, with violent incidents puncturing any veneer of calm.Victoria Craig spoke to people at a rally in Istanbul's Ataturk airport, where th...2023-11-0428 min
The Wandering Book CollectorDaljit Nagra on his sense of mischief; on abandoning 30 line poems; on his first language Punjabi; on listening to Miles Davis; on fully expecting to fail; on the nine-metre man and snake gods; and on straight bananas — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Daljit Nagra to discuss his latest collection of poetry, Indiom.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cult...2023-08-3036 min
The Wandering Book CollectorKhashayar J Khabushani on hyphenated identity; on Dodgers jerseys and drinking beer; on memoir v fiction; on belonging where we are born; on hopefulness and youthfulness; on the myth of LA; and on missing hearing Farsi — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Khashayar J Khabushani to discuss his debut, I Will Greet the Sun Again.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:Cox & Kings — Arranging captivating travel experiences for...2023-08-0245 min
The Wandering Book CollectorHanne Ørstavik on love, love and more love; on travelling with her books; on openness and vulnerability as two sides of the same thing; on 16 books written as one big novel; on the power of silence in Mexico; and on embarrassing notebooks — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Hanne Ørstavik to discuss her book, Ti Amo. It is her 16th novel.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast: Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard...2023-07-1747 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentGhana's healthcare brain drainKate Adie introduces stories from Ghana's hospitals, the Chinese-Russian border, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, a research station on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the streets of Limerick in Ireland. Ghana is one of several African countries which say their health services are being sapped by a slow bleed of doctors and nurses going abroad - to earn vastly better salaries in the UK and elsewhere. Naomi Grimley spoke to medical staff in rural Kwaso and in the city of Accra about the push and pull factors on their minds.After a drastic contraction during the...2023-06-2428 min
The Wandering Book CollectorDamian Le Bas on rambunctious families; on van life; on slag heaps and rubbish tips; on lecturing kids; on the only seasons of summer and winter; on the question “where are you from?”; and on looking like a Division 4 Swedish footballer — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Damian Le Bas to discuss his debut, The Stopping Places. Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d lo...2023-06-1147 min
The Wandering Book CollectorSophie Ward on experimental education; on flaws and frailties and guilt; on saying “my wife”; on child acting; on the US-Vietnam War; on her superpower; on writing more about Detective Sergeant Carter; on outliers; on travelling to Mars — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Sophie Ward to discuss her novels, The Schoolhouse, and her debut Love and Other Thought Experiments, long listed for the Booker. Before that, a work of non-fiction, A Marriage Proposal: The Importance of Equal Marriage and What it Means for All of Us. Please consider supporting your lo...2023-05-1739 min
The Wandering Book CollectorNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o on riding matatus in Kenya; on the community he misses most; on torture and imagination; on the fun of writing a book on toilet paper; on birds, bees and butterflies; on which book is next; on where he wants to retire — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer and scholar Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o to discuss his life's works including Wrestling with the Devil, which reflects on his imprisonment back in 1978. Also, his first novel Caitaani Mũtharabainĩ, in English, Devil on the Cross, which he wrote in prison. And Weep Not, Child; The Rive...2023-04-2952 min
The Wandering Book CollectorDoreen Cunningham on Arctic ice; on bullying; on community as hope; on the fact there are whales singing in the sea still, in spite of it all; on Amtrak trains; on bank loans and luck; on mothering; on the gray whales of the Puget Sound— with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer Doreen Cunningham to discuss her debut, SOUNDINGS: Journeys in the company of whales. From the lagoons of Mexico to Arctic glaciers, Doreen followed the route of the gray whale on one of the longest mammalian migrations — with Max, her little boy, by her side. Her...2023-03-2947 minThe Wandering Book CollectorKylie Moore-Gilbert on her most treasured possession in prison; on training herself to memorise everything in a room, and on recall; on solitary confinement, hope and freedom; on how it feels to be in an airport immigration queue — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I’m joined by the writer and scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert to discuss her book, THE UNCAGED SKY: My 804 days in an Iranian prison. Kylie was arrested at Tehran Airport in September 2018 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and convicted of espionage. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but released early in...2023-02-2234 minThe Wandering Book CollectorOsman Yousefzada on writing about a community that didn’t want to be documented; on illiteracy; on being polite; on his photographic memory and eye for detail; on being on an eternal road; on the right passport and the wrong passport — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Osman Yousefzada to discuss his debut The Go-Between: A portrait of growing up between different worlds. It’s a coming-of-age memoir, reflecting on his early life in Birmingham, a childhood within the embrace of an ultra-conservative community of immigrants from Pakistani Pashtun.Please co...2023-02-0737 minThe Wandering Book CollectorFrances Stonor Saunders on stamp-collecting; on Alzheimer’s and collective amnesia; on folding maps the wrong way; on what you would take if you were fleeing; on subversive humour; on inanimate objects; on never writing another book again — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Frances Stonor Saunders to discuss her book The Suitcase, Six Attempts to Cross a Border.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously pl...2023-01-1245 minThe Wandering Book CollectorJustin Marozzi on what makes a city great; on wanting to live in Istanbul, but not Jerusalem; on finding your bearings in time and space; on pilgrimages; on feeling like an outsider more than ever; on waking up in an unknown city alone — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Justin Marozzi to discuss his book Islamic Empires: Fifteen cities that define a civilisation.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned jo...2022-12-1842 minFrom Our Own Correspondent‘Everything that is good has been taken’Kate Adie presents stories from Ukraine, Iran, Niger, Bhutan and Lithuania.Russian troops captured Irpin, north-west of Kyiv, early on in the invasion. When the satellite town was liberated, the atrocities of Russian soldiers were laid bare. Nick Redmayne spoke to the residents who returned home about how they are trying to rebuild their lives.Following the protests which began in mid-September, after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, news of the first public execution of a protestor in Iran drew international condemnation this week - though protests show no sign of abating. Azadeh...2022-12-1029 minThe Wandering Book CollectorRoger Robinson on roadtripping around Britain's coastline; on the white light of Trinidad; on Black Joy; on what he sees looking at the sea; on moving to Marseille, or anywhere; on police knees on throats; on creative citizenship — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Roger Robinson to discuss his book, Home Is Not A Place, a collaboration with photographer and writer Johny Pitts — it’s a free-form composition of Roger’s words with Johny’s images, reflecting on Black Britishness and its resilience.Please consider supporting your local bo...2022-12-0144 minThe Wandering Book CollectorAnthony Sattin on nomadic thinking; on whether one plus one really does equal two; on the survival of the hunter-gatherer; on assabiyah; on digital nomads; on Bruce Chatwin’s unpublished writing; on telling stories around campfires — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Anthony Sattin to discuss his book, NOMADS: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World. It documents the history of people who’ve lived their lives on the move, beyond walls and beyond borders — exploring how and how much nomads have contributed to human progress and development.2022-11-1140 minThe Wandering Book CollectorAriana Neumann on inherited memory; on getting angry in Spanish; on wanting to speak Czech and have a little house on the Vltava; on the migrant crisis in Venezuela; on betrayal and hope; on travelling and feeling the wind on your face — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Ariana Neumann to discuss her book, When Time Stopped: A memoir of my father’s war and what remains. It documents Ariana’s journey to discovering her family’s Jewish roots and their efforts to survive World War II in their homeland of Czechoslovakia, yet as so...2022-10-2346 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentNigeria’s Flood-hit StateNigeria is suffering its worst flooding in a decade with 1.4 million people displaced and more than 600 killed. There are now concerns that the country may face catastrophic levels of hunger. The BBC’s West Africa correspondent, Mayeni Jones, visited flood-hit Kogi state and reflects on what her journey revealed about the state of the country. The Netherlands is currently lurching from crisis to crisis - including a tense debate over how to accommodate thousands of asylum seekers. In recent weeks, judges ordered the Dutch government to raise the standards in the reception of refugees in line with th...2022-10-2229 min
Travel Writing WorldMichelle Jana Chan and Bill ColegraveAs you’ll remember from the announcement in episode 94, we’re publishing four of Bill Colegrave’s interviews here on Travel Writing World.
This is his third interview, this one with Michelle Jana Chan. Michelle is an award-winning journalist and Travel Editor of Vanity Fair. She is the author of Song, a novel about a boy who leaves his impoverished family in rural China to seek his fortune.
Purchase Song by Michelle Jana Chan
If you decide to purchase your books from Amazon, please use our links on this page. If you use our links to make a purchase, we will re...2022-10-1728 minThe Wandering Book CollectorMother & daughter Karen Joy Fowler and Shannon Leone Fowler on historical fact, the imagination and the revision of memory; on childhood freedoms and unstructured time; on keeping a journal; on the heroics of librarians — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I talk to the mother and daughter pairing Karen Joy Fowler and Shannon Leone Fowler, to discuss their books: Booth, and Travelling with Ghosts, respectively.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:...2022-10-0249 minThe Wandering Book CollectorTim Mackintosh-Smith on the settled v the wanderer; on capital letters and capital cities; on his hometown San’a; on mesmerising language, the heft of translation and sonorous tripe; on libraries, scud missiles and alabaster window panes — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Tim Mackintosh-Smith to discuss his latest book, Arabs: A 3,000-year history of peoples, tribes and empires.His body of work includes: Yemen, Travels in Dictionary Land; a trilogy on the 14th-century traveller Ibn Baṭṭūṭah who, in his words, may well be the most wi...2022-09-1846 minTravel Writing WorldBill Colegrave and “Scraps of Wool”Bill Colegrave joins me today to talk about his book Scraps of Wool: A Journey Through the Golden Age of Travel Literature, which is a collection of passages from some of the world’s best-known works of travel literature.
As you’ll hear in the interview, Bill recorded interviews with Tony Wheeler, the late Alexander Frater, Sara Wheeler, and Michelle Jana Chan a few years back. And Bill has kindly agreed to broadcast these interviews on Travel Writing World. So, for the next four episodes, we’ll publish Bill’s interviews.
Purchase Scraps of Wool by Bill Colegrave
If you decide t...2022-09-0532 minThe Wandering Book CollectorMona Arshi on transitioning from lawyer to poet to novelist; on silence; on the energy of adolescence; on not wanting to be persuasive; on listening to birdsong and hearing Punjabi; on writing on trains; on “tornado poems” — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Mona Arshi to discuss her debut novel: Somebody Loves You, a coming-of-age story about a British girl, born to Indian parents, growing up in the suburbs of London. Mona’s novel follows a body of work in poetry, including Dear Big Gods, and before that Sm...2022-09-0337 minThe Wandering Book CollectorWinnie M Li on the author as activist; on sexual assault and consent and #metoo; on writing both perspectives — of perpetrator and victim; on the memories we can choose, and those foisted upon us; and on getting back on the road — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Winnie M Li to discuss her books: Complicit, a novel exploring sexual assault and consent in the US filmmaking industry, at the time of the #MeToo movement. It follows her first novel, Dark Chapter, a fictionalised retelling of her own experience of rape....2022-08-0736 minThe Wandering Book CollectorJennifer Steil on unexpected connections between places; on "in between-ness"; on friendship in Yemen; on the Jewish diaspora in Bolivia; on the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan; on living in a permanent state of nostalgia; and on gallons of gin — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Jennifer Steil to discuss her book, Exile Music, a historical novel written from the perspective of a young Jewish girl, who flees Austria in the 1930s for La Paz, Bolivia — a country that offers her family refuge, as the Nazis rise up in Europe....2022-07-2436 minThe Wandering Book Collector"War Child" Emmanuel Jal on a special edition of The Wandering Book Collector, including the title track of his new album ShangahWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this special edition, I speak with Emmanuel Jal to discuss War Child, a memoir of his years growing up in Sudan, when his country was being rocked by civil war. Emmanuel was separated from his family and forced to become a child soldier. Up to two million people were killed in this...2022-07-1031 minThe Wandering Book CollectorKathryn D. Sullivan on our oceans; on an adventurous childhood; on maps and plotting journeys; on moving in microgravity; on time travel; on a ticket to Mars; on Moscow during the Cold War; and on losing sight of Planet Earth, literally — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Kathryn D. Sullivan to discuss her book, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention, about deploying the revolutionary telescope, and about the people who made it work.Please consider supporting your local bookshop.The Wandering Book Collector would like to...2022-06-0833 minThe Wandering Book CollectorPreti Taneja on finding the words; on collective grief; on Partition; on the question of home and how prison is never home; on the inevitability of political writing; on anguish; on the necessary fiction that is trust — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer Preti Taneja to discuss her book, AFTERMATH, which has just been published. It’s a work of fragmented non-fiction, of life after the terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London in 2019. Preti knew one the victims of the attack and the perpetrator of the crime.2022-05-2230 minThe Wandering Book CollectorRebecca Mead on the to-ing and fro-ing between New York and London; on being mis/understood; on migration in your 20s v your 50s; on Trieste; on eavesdropping on buses — with TWBCWelcome to The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the journalist and writer Rebecca Mead to discuss her latest book — Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return. It recounts her personal to and fro, leaving her childhood home in England, moving to New York, and then returning 30 years later to London, this time with her husband and son....2022-05-0437 min
The Wandering Book CollectorHoratio Clare on madness, mania and healing; on migrating swallows; on keeping a diary; on being the other in othering; on "the love of many things" and Van Gogh — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the inimitable travel writer Horatio Clare to discuss his latest book — Heavy Light: A Journey through Madness, Mania and Healing. It recounts Horatio’s personal breakdown, his sectioning, his psychiatric treatment, and his recovery. His body of work includes memoir, stories of nature and children’s literature, such a...2022-04-2037 minThe Wandering Book CollectorBrigid Delaney on restlessness, on the mania around wellness, on Seneca and stoicism, on Australia's tough lockdown and where she is choosing to go first (Bali), not forgetting cockatoos — with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the travel writer and columnist Brigid Delaney to discuss her latest book Wellmania: Misadventures in the search for wellness, which is currently being turned into a Netflix comedy-drama series airing worldwide later this year. This follows her novel Wild Things, and her debut This Restless Life: Churning...2022-04-0733 minThe Wandering Book CollectorGeoffrey Kent on a special SAFARI edition of The Wandering Book CollectorWelcome to this special SAFARI edition of The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This podcast is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with Geoffrey Kent to discuss his memoir, Safari, a book which opens in Nairobi, Kenya, and follows him on his travels all over the world… from the Nile to Nepal, Brazil to Botswana, Papua New Guinea to the Polar regions, as he built up his business Ab...2022-03-2717 minThe Wandering Book CollectorSara Wheeler on Russia and its writers of the Golden Age: Pushkin, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and on language, translation, etymology and bathmats across nine time zones -- with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the travel writer and biographer Sara Wheeler to discuss her book — Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin and Other Geniuses of the Golden Age. Among Sara’s body of work are O My America!: Six Women and their Second Acts in a New World, and book...2022-03-1346 minThe Wandering Book CollectorKapka Kassabova on the Balkans, on growing up behind the Iron Curtain, on the inheritance of pain, on writing by water, on alchemistry, on healing -- with TWBCHalf-way into the first season, welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the writer and poet Kapka Kassabova whose body of work on the Balkans becomes even more critical and urgent at this time. TO THE LAKE: A Journey of War and Peace explore the shadowlands of the triple border between Albania, the Republic...2022-03-0236 minThe Wandering Book CollectorMaaza Mengiste on Ethiopia, on women in war, on pulling the trigger, on photography, on writing in Rome, on standing before monuments to fascism, on Project 3541 -- with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the most lyrical of writers Maaza Mengiste discussing her latest book The Shadow King, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as well as looking back to her debut Beneath the Lion’s Gaze. Please consider supporting your local bookshop. And learn more about Maaza’s Project3541, focusing on the...2022-02-1536 minThe Wandering Book CollectorCarla Power on how to deradicalise your town, on the journey back from extremism, on a childhood across Afghanistan, India, Iran and Egypt, as well as St Louis, Missouri, and on the Islamic feminist theologian Amina Wadud -- with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.In this edition, I speak with the dauntless journalist and writer Carla Power discussing her latest book Home, Land, Security: Deradicalization and the Journey Back from Extremism. I also look back to her debut If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran, a National...2022-02-0332 minThe Wandering Book CollectorAfua Hirsch on London, Senegal, Ghana, on imperial nostalgia, on the African diaspora, on plane journeys, and on choosing a name for her daughter -- with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, longing and belonging, and home.In this edition, I speak with the media multi-hyphenate Afua Hirsch whose book Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging takes the reader on an emotional personal journey as she grapples with her own sense of belonging “to find the place where my identity could become whole”, while exploring the contemporary cris...2022-01-1928 minThe Wandering Book CollectorBernardine Evaristo on London, Nigeria, Brazil, the Royal Society of Literature, on travelling as a Black woman in Estonia, on the Booker, on marble bathrooms, and on Never Giving Up -- with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, longing and belonging, and home.In this second edition, I speak with writer and journalist Bernardine Evaristo discussing her latest book Manifesto: On Never Giving Up, as well as looking back to her body of work, particularly Lara, a semi-autobiographical novel in verse, and her Booker-winning Girl, Woman, Other.Also note, in 2021 Bernardine curated a new series...2021-12-2925 minThe Wandering Book CollectorJanine di Giovanni on covering conflicts in Syria, Gaza and Bosnia, on vanishing Christian communities in the Middle East, and on nesting, on loneliness, on risk, and on not going home -- with TWBCWelcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, longing and belonging, and home.In this first edition, I speak with writer and journalist Janine di Giovanni discussing her latest book, The Vanishing: The Twilight of Christianity in the Middle East, as well as looking back to her The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria and Ghosts By Daylight: A Memoir of War and Love.2021-12-1431 minThe Wandering Book CollectorThe Trailer - The Wandering Book CollectorThis travel/literary podcast welcomes some of the world's great writers and thinkers and risk-takers, from Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Janine di Giovanni to Carla Power. Hosted by award-winning journalist and author Michelle Jana Chan.https://linktr.ee/thewanderingbookcollectorSupported by:Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.If you enjoy the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a rev...2021-12-0401 min
Condé Nast Traveller PodcastEscape Routes: SvalbardThis episode of the Condé Nast Traveller podcast Escape Routes is presented by contributing editor Michelle Jana Chan 2021-10-0116 min
How to Build a VillageTravel writer Michelle Jana Chan tells Jill Martin Wrenn what inspires her debut novel, SongMichelle Jana Chan, award-winning journalist and Travel Editor of Vanity Fair, shares how her global travels helped to inspire her debut novel, Song. Bernardine Evaristo calls Song, "A wonderfully lush and atmospheric odyssey of survival against all odds."2021-09-1625 min
Dear Literature021: Being Multigenre WritersVanessa and Alyssa discuss what it's like writing across multiple genres including fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and journalism.
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Z Brewer (Penguin Random House)
Project VOICE (Phil Kaye and Sarah Kay)
"The Man in the Mirror? by Alison Kinney (Longreads) - CN: Rape, gaslighting
"Paul Tran vs. The Past"
"Shira Erlichman vs. The Unknown"
Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing...2021-09-0745 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentThe price of dissent in BelarusThe repressive tactics of the Belarusian state have been back in the news this week – and all over the map. The Olympic Games in Tokyo were shaken by sprinter Krystina Timonovskaya’s row with her coaches – she ended up seeking asylum in Poland. In Ukraine, the head of a group helping Belarusian emigres was found hanged in a park in Kyiv; his death is still being investigated. In Belarus itself, it’s nearly a year since the disputed election of August 2020 - which sparked mass protests over the result. Since then the government of Aleksandr Lukashenko has been going after pe...2021-08-0923 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentAmerica's Border Camps for ChildrenOn the United States Mexico border, the dilemmas of how to treat migrant families arriving without papers are still acute. A BBC investigation has found hundreds of undocumented children were being detained in a camp in the Texan desert that's been ridden with disease, overcrowded, and plagued by a shortage of clean clothes and medical care. Hilary Andersson has been investigating the conditions inside Fort Bliss, El Paso.Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez took a momentous decision this week: to pardon nine Catalan pro-independence leaders who were jailed for their role in a bid to break aw...2021-06-2628 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentLebanon’s LockdownSix months ago, an explosion, caused by improperly stored ammonium nitrate, ripped through the city of Beirut. As the country struggles to rebuild amid a devastating economic crisis, a stringent lockdown has been imposed. In Tripoli, people are taking to the streets in protest. Leila Molana-Allen reports.
San Francisco’s District Attorney is pioneering a new approach to tackling crime, focusing on the root causes with social care and drug therapy, rather than prison. Police unions are not convinced, and it’s not clear whether this novel approach to tackling crime, adopted in other liberal cities, will prove effective, says...2021-02-0428 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentUnited States: Presidential transitionsIn the United States, President Trump still hasn’t conceded that he has lost the election. His campaign is doubling down making claims of voter fraud. But without evidence. Meanwhile, the election winner, Joe Biden, is preparing to become president while being denied access to the briefings he is entitled to as President-elect, as Anthony Zurcher reports from Washington.
Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been dubbed the Trump of the Tropics. Despite widespread criticism of his handling of the pandemic, he has been gaining support from an unexpected place recently – in the country's northeast, known as a left-wing strong...2020-11-2129 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentMaking peace with IsraelThe United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed agreements to normalise relations with Israel, this week, motivated by a desire to build a united front against Iran. Palestinians have condemned the move as a betrayal. Yolande Knell reports on out how the deal has gone down with young Emiratis and Israelis.
Wildfires continue to rage across the West Coast region of the United States. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes as over four and a half million acres of land have now been scorched. President Trump visited this week and blamed “poor forest management” for...2020-09-1928 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentNew lockdowns in GermanyGermany had eased its lockdown, but after a spike in cases at a meat-packing factory the authorities have re-imposed lockdown restrictions in two districts, affecting over half a million people. Is this the start of a second wave or just something to be expected asks Damien McGuinness?
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has operated in north-east Nigeria for years, despite the Nigerian army's efforts to defeat them. Recently there has been a new spate of attacks, in the garrison town of Monguno, and two more nearby. And now, they are targeting aid workers, as Colin Freeman reports.
There...2020-06-2528 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentMumbai struggles with Covid-19India's commercial capital, Mumbai, is now the city worst-hit by the coronavirus. Hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of patients in need. Even money can't buy you treatment. As a result, many are dying before they can receive medical care, as Yogita Limaye has found.
It's a time of re-examining slavery and colonial history. Andrew Harding's grandfather was a young entomologist who moved from England to what was then Tanganyika to study termites to prevent them destroying crops. Have stories like his helped Britain to maintain a nostalgic, unquestioning attitude towards its former Empire?
In the former...2020-06-1329 min
CatalyzeEpisode 22: Michelle Jana Chan ’96This episode features Michelle Jana Chan ’96, an award-winning journalist based in London. Michelle began her career with Newsweek magazine in New York, Beijing, and London, before she moved into radio and then television as a news producer for CNN.
She is now travel editor of Vanity Fair, contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveller, and the BBC’s presenter of Global Guide. She also writes for the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Travel & Leisure, and Tatler.
Michelle has been the Travel Media Awards’ Travel Writer of the Year, the AITO Travel Writer of the Year, and La...2019-05-2924 minFrom Our Own CorrespondentLosing hope in VenezuelaVenezuelans are divided on what caused the crisis in their country and on whether the foreign governments offering help are potential saviours or invaders. In Caracas, Katy Watson hears how people on all sides are losing hope. Kate Adie introduces this and other stories from around the world:Colin Freeman meets Yasin Abu Bakr the man behind what was probably the only Islamist coup ever to have been attempted in the Western hemisphere. In 1990 Jamaat al Muslimeen took the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago hostage. Alastair Leithead discovers why the protection of...2019-03-0227 min
TribeInterview with Michelle Jana ChanYou know when you discover a great travel spot, the hidden gem, restaurant or face cream and you can’t wait to share it with absolutely everyone you know?! Well, this is how we at Tribe feel about the lovely Michelle Jana Chan and her debut novel, Song. We had the good fortune of meeting the Editor of Vanity Fair On Travel through our dear friend Brooks. We just love her bad ass way of exploring life with a pioneering spirit. We were so honored to have spent time with her.
-Jaimi, Amy & Nicki2018-12-1000 min