The TLS Podcast

This week, Toby Lichtig and Lucy Dallas talk to the new winner of the Booker prize, M. John Harrison, about his novel The End of Everything and his life in books. They discuss literary criticism, alien invasion, the tyranny of genre and being given "permission" to write at the age of eighty-one.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on the TLS Highlights, we explore literary lives, radical histories, gardens and the arts.Elizabeth Lowry uncovers the untold life of novelist Anita Brookner; Robert Poole introduces a remarkable 19th-century radical; and David E Cooper takes us through the history of the garden. Tristram Fane Saunders considers the distinctive brilliance of Nobel laureate Anne Carson, while Will Eaves joins us to read his poem, The Cat.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Toby Lichtig introduces the pick of new fiction; and Nina Raine on adapting George Eliot's Middlemarch for the stage.'The Rhyl Poster', by Tom McCarthy'Doppelganger', by Sam Riviere'The Brightness', by Chad Harbach'Lords of Serendipity', by Randy Boyagoda'The Death Ship', 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', 'The Bridge in the Jungle', by B Traven'Middlemarch', by Nina Raine, from the novel by George Eliot, Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until January 16 2027Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Frances Wilson plunges into two biographies of the self-mythologising mystery man Edgar Allan Poe; and Will Eaves joins us to read his poem 'The Cat'.'Darkness Becomes Bright: The haunted life (and afterlife) of Edgar Allan Poe', by Emily Ogden'Edgar Allan Poe: A life', by Richard KopleyProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Tristram Fane Saunders praises the form-busting brilliance of new Nobel Laureate Anne Carson; and Lily Herd on shooting stars, shipwrecks and hubris through the ages.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, David E Cooper on a mammoth history of the garden; and Larry Wolff takes in Macbeth at the Met.'The Garden: Our 4,000-year quest for paradise', by Jonathan Bate'Macbeth', by Giuseppe Verdi, Metropolitan Opera, New York, until October 20Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Sophie Oliver on Rebecca West's struggle with her love of clothing; and Robert Poole introduces us to a dashing 19th-century radical.'A Fable for Christians', by Rebecca West'Mad Tom's Rising: The revolutionary mystic Sir William Courtenay and the last battle fought on English soil', by Ian BreckonProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Patrick McGuinness delves into the moving and illuminating notebooks kept by Albert Camus; and Elizabeth Lowry on the untold lives of novelist Anita Brookner.'The Complete Notebooks', by Albert Camus, translated by Ryan Bloom'Anita Brookner: Art and life', by Hermione LeeProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Toby Lichtig on the six Booker hopefuls; and Kathryn Hughes joins us in an exploration of feline mysteries.'Cats: A History', by Rod PhillipsProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rohan Maitzen on Rose Tremain's reimagining of Rebecca, and a new way of seeing the terrifying Mrs Danvers; and Jamie McKendrick reads his poem, 'The Importance of Time'.'The Housekeeper', by Rose Tremain'The Importance of Time', by Jamie McKendrickProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.