The Hatchards Podcast

In this episode, we're joined by Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, author of Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes.Fitzharris takes us back to Edinburgh in the 1870s — perhaps the most medically advanced city in the world at the time — where Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, begins his medical studies under Joseph Bell, whose ability to combine medical diagnosis with detective work helped inspire the iconic literary character. But Bell’s work extends far beyond the operating theatre or lecture hall. He’s also working with the city’s chief of police to investigate some of the most high-profile murder cases of the century, from Jack the Ripper to Burke and Hare. Ultimately, he becomes haunted by what he describes as his “double,” who contained many of his professional talents but very little of his true self. Now, Fitzharris makes a forceful case for this remarkable person, whose influence on the development of medicine and criminology changed the course of history. Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods and Matt Hennessey. 

In this episode, we’re joined by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Argentine author Hernan Diaz to discuss his new novel, Ply, which is set in a distant future, where humankind is on the verge of an evolutionary transformation.At the centre of the story is an orphan known only as a ‘Pincher’, who steals electricity from the grid and sells it on the black market, helping to power underground gigs for artists across the city.The book marks a striking departure for Diaz, whose previous novel, Trust, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In our conversation, he explains why he refuses to compromise as a writer, his inexorable pull towards 19th-century British fiction, and the circumstances that led him to write at least part of the book at the desk of the legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman.Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods and Matt Hennessey. 

On this episode, we’re joined by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead to discuss his latest novel, Cool Machine, the final entry in his epic crime series, The Harlem Trilogy. Charting four decades in the life of a furniture salesman who moonlights in the buying and selling of stolen goods, Whitehead draws inspiration from the stylised worlds of James Ellroy and Donald Westlake, but suffuses them with the New York social history of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker. It’s also a masterclass in the history of 20th-century African American pop culture: we visit the set of a 1970s Blaxploitation film; hang out with the downtown art kids in the era of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the rise of street art; and gain insights into the lives and careers of black figures from the pre-Civil Rights era, like Jesse Owens, Lena Horne, and Sidney Poitier. Hosted by Ryan Edgington and Matt Hennessey. Produced by Lily Woods. Special thanks to Thuliswa Magwaza for production support. 

On this episode, we’re joined by David Sedaris, one of the most celebrated modern essayists, to discuss his latest collection, The Land and Its People, which has been chosen as our Hatchards Nonfiction Book of the Month for July. It continues his decades long exploration of life's absurdities—both the comic and the painful—transforming them into essays about everything from generative AI, to having a priest's cassock tailor-made for him in Vatican City.He also reflects on being a godparent, outliving old friends, and the unlikely path that took him from dead-end jobs and substance abuse to becoming one of America's best-loved comic voices.Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods. 

On this episode, we're joined by author Kathryn Stockett to discuss her new novel, The Calamity Club, which follows a group of remarkable women as they confront the reactionary social, cultural, and economic forces that defined much of the American South during the Great Depression.It has been 17 years since Stockett published The Help, one of the defining publishing successes of its era, and she shares with us the anxiety she felt returning to this world after writing a wildly successful, albeit controversial, literary phenomenon. She explains why, this time around, she attempted—and failed—to write a follow-up book that was less likely to become a cultural lightning rod.For all of The Calamity Club's stifling Mississippi heat and small-town prejudice, the predominant feeling readers are left with is joy. That's because this sweeping story is leavened by the voices of two of the funniest and most fully realised characters you're likely to encounter in any book this year. Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods and Matt Hennessey.

On this episode, we are joined by Edward Chisholm, author of our Non-Fiction Book of the Month for May, Murder in Paris ’68. This gripping French crime saga uncovers a vast criminal conspiracy surrounding cinema icon Alain Delon, who was once accused of murdering his friend and bodyguard, Stevan Marković.The so-called 'Marković Affair' entangled figures ranging from organised crime to President Georges Pompidou, and Chisholm draws on still-classified material and the defining films of the era to revisit a moment of glamour, corruption, and cultural change.Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods and Matthew Hennessey.

On this episode, we’re joined by the author of our Fiction Book of the Month for April, Jean-Noël Orengo, whose novel, intriguingly titled You Are the Führer’s Unrequited Love, is an imagined portrait of the life and lies of Albert Speer, Hitler’s closest confidant and chosen architect for Nazi Germany. Speer, who was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity at Nuremberg, successfully transformed his public image from that of a war criminal into that of the prototypical “Good Nazi,” becoming an international celebrity and one of the most prominent historical chroniclers of the Third Reich. Now, as we approach a time when almost no living witnesses remain, Orengo’s novel asks vital questions about who gets to write history and whether it can be relied upon.Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods. 

On this episode, we're joined by Sir Antony Beevor, the bestselling military historian behind true classics of the genre like Stalingrad and The Second World War.His new book, Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs, is a deeply researched portrait of Russia’s notorious “mad monk,” and how a barely literate peasant rose to exert extraordinary influence over the Imperial family.In our conversation, Beevor describes a social order on the verge of extinction, with Rasputin acting as its key accelerant. Tensions mount to the point where collapse feels inevitable—not a matter of if, but when. And it’s how each of the figures in this remarkable story responds to that sense of inevitability that ultimately seals their fate.Hosted by Ryan Edgington. Produced by Lily Woods. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Julian Sancton, the investigative journalist and author of Neptune’s Fortune, which brings us into the world of 20th-century treasure hunting and the search for a Spanish galleon containing over a billion pounds’ worth of gold and silver. At the center of this story is Roger Dooley, a larger-than-life Cuban American archaeologist who dedicated his life to finding it.Julian tells us how he gained access to this world of colourful characters, why stories of the sea continue to motivate his writing life, and how he shaped a story that combines adventure, geopolitics, and centuries of maritime history.Hosted by Ryan Edgington.

On this episode, we’re joined by an art world institution –– the American sculptor, Tom Sachs.He joins us to discuss The Tom Sachs Guide, a visual retrospective of his work which aims to both contextualise and demystify his unique way of seeing the world, as well as the creative inspirations and working methods that drive his famous studio.What motivates Tom’s work, and indeed this conversation, is the idea of contradiction.By turning iconic brands into bricolage sculptures like ‘Prada Toilet’ or ‘Chanel Guillotine,’ he shows us how the aesthetic beauty of luxury objects can sit alongside their effects on consumer culture, without one idea essentially neutralising the other. It’s a refreshing perspective in today’s world of increased polarisation, and one that makes Tom a uniquely compelling guest.His enormous body of work, which includes everything from sought-after Nike trainers to a full-scale replica of an Apollo spacecraft, has attracted both significant praise and some controversy throughout his near-40-year career.Hosted by Ryan Edgington.