Shows
WodehousekeepingSomething Fresh with Tania AgnihotriIan is joined by Tania Agnihotri to look at Something Fresh, AKA Something New, the first Blandings novel, published 1915. The book introduces the immortal Lord Emsworth, Freddie Threepwood, Beach the butler and the Efficient Baxter, though much of the focus is on this month's imposters at the castle. Content note: bad American accents.You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.commake a donation at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeepingor follow or contact me on Bluesky or FacebookOther works by Wodehouse mentioned:The Mr Mulliner Stories2025-08-012h 03
WodehousekeepingThe Man Upstairs and Other Stories (Part Two) with Gwen SheldonI am rejoined by Gwen Sheldon to peruse the first collection of Wodehouse short stories for a general audience, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories (1914), a bumper crop of nineteen stories and a favourite of both of us. Because there is so much to discuss, we have split it into two parts. In the second part we look at the remaining eleven stories, including the two stories whose success persuaded Wodehouse to move to America, "Archibald's Benefit" (his first golf short story) and "The Good Angel" (the first Keggs story, and first mention of a Lord Emsworth). Also in...2025-07-091h 36
WodehousekeepingThe Man Upstairs and Other Stories (Part One) with Gwen SheldonI am rejoined by Gwen Sheldon to peruse the first collection of Wodehouse short stories for a general audience, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories (1914), a bumper crop of nineteen stories and a favourite of both of us. Because there is so much to discuss, we have split the episode into two parts. In the first part we look at the background of the book and Wodehouse's life when he wrote them (living cheaply in New York), and discuss the first eight stories. There will be spoilers.Content note: mention in "Rough-Hew Them How We Will"...2025-07-091h 26
WodehousekeepingThe Little Nugget with Nigel TownshendIan Cockburn is joined by his old friend Nigel Townshend to dissect Agatha Christie's favourite Wodehouse novel The Little Nugget (1913). A tale of kipnapping at an English private preparatory school, presumably inspired by Wodehouse's time as a guest at Emsworth House school. There will be spoilers.Other Wodehouse works mentionedPiccadilly JimFull MoonThank You, JeevesThe Luck StoneThe Eighteen-Carat Kid (variant version of The Little Nugget)The Indiscretions of ArchieMuch Obliged, JeevesPsmith Journalist2025-05-011h 09
WodehousekeepingThe Prince and Betty (UK Version) with Alexander RennieIan is joined by Alexander Rennie once more to look at the UK version of the novel The Prince and Betty (1912). The US version has a very different plot closely based on the earlier novel Psmith, Journalist (serialised 1909-1910, book version 1915). We touch lightly on the US version but the main discussion of it will follow in the episode on Psmith, Journalist.Alexander's own podcast is Forgotten TownsOther Wodehouse works mentionedPsmith, JournalistThe Swoop"The Good Angel" (AKA "The Matrimonial Sweepstakes")A Gentleman...2025-04-011h 42
The Sports AgentsBONUS: Were Man United 'going bust' & who's really paying for the new stadium?A special bonus episode as Manchester United announce their new £2bn, 100,000-seater stadium, the day after Sir Jim Ratcliffe said they were on track to be bust by Christmas! So, how on earth are the club going to afford it? And were they really going bust? We ask Professor of Football Finance at the University of Liverpool, Kieran Maguire. And we hear thoughts on the design and whether the five-year timescale is feasible from Marcel Ridyard, Associate Director at Manchester-based architects AFL, who built the stadium for the Qatar World Cup final and the Etihad, j...2025-03-1236 min
Ajedrez de geopolíticaEEUU advierte a los belicistas europeos, mientras Macron quiere 'hacerle de niñera' a ZelenskiEl director de la CIA, John Ratcliffe, confirmó que EEUU puso en pausa su intercambio de información de inteligencia con Ucrania, en una entrevista que concedió a la cadena 'Fox News'. En este sentido, enfatizó que esta pausa es para hacer que todos rindan cuentas de la paz a nivel global.EEUU tira de las riendas a Europa
"Hay una pausa en el frente militar, en el frente de inteligencia, para hacer que todos rindan cuentas de la paz en todo el mundo", respondió Ratcliffe a una consulta sobre el tema...2025-03-0720 min
WodehousekeepingPsmith in the City with Josh CockburnIan is rejoined by his brother Josh to scrutinise "Psmith in the City" AKA "The New Fold", the second Psmith novel, serialised in 1908-9 and collected in book form in 1910. It is a highly autobiographical account of reluctantly working in a London bank. Mike and Psmith's schooldays are behind them, but Mike is still fixated on cricket and Psmith is still out to cause disruption wherever possible. There will be spoilers and a soupçon of politics. Special thanks to the website Madam Eulalie's Rare Plums.Article mentioned in the show that helped explain the reference t...2025-02-0158 min
WodehousekeepingThe Luck StoneIan looks at the final public school novel by Wodehouse, a lurid adventure story called The Luck Stone, first published in Chums magazine from 1908 to 1909 under the pseudonym "Basil Windham". It was first published in book form posthumously in 1997. There will be spoilers.The story can be read hereContent note: national stereotyping, imperialism, racism.Other Wodehouse works mentioned:Performing FleaMike at WrykynMike and PsmithThe Head of KaysLittle NuggetPsmith Journalist"The...2024-12-2454 minThe Sports AgentsAshworth's shock Man United exit & Verstappen's latest feudGabby and Mark are with you one day earlier than usual this week, following yet more off-field drama at Manchester United as Sporting Director, Dan Ashworth, leaves after just five months in the job.... What went wrong, and can Sir Jim Ratcliffe recover from this? We speak to The Athletic’s Adam Crafton for the inside story (08:28). The Formula One season is over so it’s time for a debrief with BBC F1 presenter and voice of Drive to Survive, Jennie Gow (19:26). Is the big argument between champion Max Verstappen and George Russell just for the cameras? How...2024-12-0952 minThe Sports AgentsAre Man United fans already turning on Sir Jim Ratcliffe?Man United may have lifted the FA Cup last summer and just got their first Premier League win under new manager Ruben Amorim but the biggest victory for their co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe this year... was probably in the sailing.He helped Ben Ainslie's team reach the Americas Cup final for the first time in 60 years and the four-time Olympic champion joined Gabby & Mark in studio to talk about what’s it like to work with Ratcliffe and how a 'multi-sport ownership model' can speed up progress. The Athletic's Adam Crafton explains how Ratcliffe has ma...2024-12-0340 min
BBC Inside ScienceCould coal shut-down mark new era for energy?“That’s the end of coal in the UK for electricity.” The UK’s last coal-fired power station has closed, ending Britain's 142-year reliance on coal. But what difference will the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar make – and could it mark a new dawn for clean energy? After 20 years of research into microplastics and headline upon headline on their potential harms, how much do we really know about these tiny particles? Also this week, Marnie turns lab rat for a navigation experiment, and why are we all so obsessed with Moo Deng? Presente...2024-10-3128 min
WodehousekeepingMike At Wrykyn with Alexander RennieIan is rejoined by Alexander Rennie of the "Forgotten Towns" podcast to discuss Mike at Wrykyn, the first half of the double novel Mike, published in 1909. It's a public school story focused on cricket and introduces a new series character. Other Wodehouse books mentionedMike and PsmithPsmith in the CityPsmith JournalistLeave it to PsmithVery Good JeevesRing For Jeeves (the novel where Jeeves appears without Bertie Wooster)Laughing GasThe Mating SeasonA Gentleman...2024-10-011h 56
BacklistedAutumn Journal by Louis MacNeice - RerunA classic episode from 2018 with a new introduction.This week John and Andy are joined by actor and director Sam West and writer and academic Sophie Ratcliffe to talk about Louis MacNeice's Autumn Journal. The poem was composed in the autumn of 1938 while Britain awaited the declaration of the Second World War. Other books under discussion are Katharine Kilalea's OK, Mr Field and Francis Plug: Writer in Residence by Paul Ewen.*For £100 off any Serious Readers HD Light and free UK delivery use the discount code: BACK at seriousreaders.com/backlisted...2024-09-101h 17The Sports AgentsDo Jim Ratcliffe's Man United care about women's football?Players moved in to cabins to accommodate the men's team, genuine superstars like Mary Earps leaving the club and disparaging comments in the media - So, do Manchester United's new owners actually care about women's football? The Sports Agents speak to Kelly Simmons - the former Director of Women’s Pro game at the FA, Polly Bancroft - former Head of Women's football at Man United, and Tom Garry - the football writer who broke the 'portacabin' exclusive, to find out. Plus, was Novak Djokovic wrong to turn on Wimbledon fans & why Lewis Hamilton's Silverstone wi...2024-07-0940 min
WodehousekeepingNot George Washington with MoraIan Cockburn talks to Mora about the first of two collaborations with Herbert Westbrook, Not George Washington (1907), a semi-autobiographical novel about life in Edwardian London as a struggling writer. There will be spoilers.Free eBook of Not George Washington at Project GutenbergNot George Washington public domain audiobook at LibriVox(NB the book is not public domain in all countries)Also mentioned in the podcast:Reference books and resources:Norman Murphy's A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe's P.G. Wodehouse: A Life...2024-07-081h 19
Kaleidoscience: Conversations on Cognitive Science#19 How does the world shape our emotions? Brain-to-brain with Prof. Dr. phil. Achim Stephan.References:
Jacobs, Kerrin, Achim Stephan, Asena Paskaleva & Wendy Wilutzky (2014). Existential and Atmospheric Feelings in Depressive Comportment. Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology 21(2), 89-110 (erschienen im März 2015).
Ratcliffe, M. 2008. Feelings of being. Phenomenology, psychiatry and the sense of reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scherer, Klaus (2005). What are emotions? Social Science Information, 44, 695–729.
Slaby, J. (2016). Mind invasion: Situated affectivity and the corporate life hack. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 266. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg. 2016.00266
Stephan, Achim (2017). Moods in Layers. Philosophia 45, 1481-1495. doi: 10.1007/s11406-017-9841-0
Stephan, A., & Walter, S. (2020). Situated affectivity. In T. Szanto, & H...2024-07-011h 08
The History of Literature606 Love, Loss, and Literature (with Sophie Ratcliffe)Why do we fall in love? Why do we fall out of love? And how can literature shape the way we travel these emotional and romantic landscapes? In this episode, Jacke talks to University of Oxford professor Sophie Ratcliffe about her work of creative criticism, Loss, A Love Story: Imagined Histories and Brief Encounters. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad c...2024-05-0659 min.jpg)
AWKWARD BRUNCHThe struggle is not real.Erika war in Frankfurt und war starstruck von den Junkies, weil sie sie von TikTok kennt. Wir besprechen die McDonald's Aussage von Nehammer. Nicht jeder struggelt gleich viel, auch wenn viele Influencer das denken. Und wir gönnen Sophie Passmann ihre Gucci-Taschen.
2023-10-071h 00
Bedside ReadingThe Lost Properties of LoveSend us a textThe Lost Properties of Love by Sophie Ratcliffe defies classification. This is a gorgeous book, part memoir, part journey with links and musings on many other books, themes and ideas. GP Sue Potter joined me to talk about it.We talk about heroes, being a fangirl, journeys, reflections on life, motherhood, success and so much more.Follow the author of the book, Sophie Ratcliffe here https://twitter.com/soratcli2023-08-1538 min