Karan Mahajan, The Granta Podcast

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Karan Mahajan, author of Family Planning, The Association of Small Bombs and the forthcoming The Complex. Mahajan’s essay ‘The Killing of a Canadian Sikh’, on an extrajudicial killing in Surrey, Canada, appeared in Granta 173: India.We discuss his forthcoming novel, the Khalistani separatist movement, Salman Rushdie’s influence and the relationship between India and the US.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. He is the author of The Boys (2025).Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Zoe Dubno, author of Happiness and Love (2025), whose short story ‘The Full Package’ appeared in Granta 166: Generations.We discuss her novel, Happiness and Love, its relationship to Thomas Bernhard’s Woodcutters, and the differences between homage and appropriation.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. He is the author of The Boys (2025).Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Guadalupe Nettel, author of four novels and three collections of short stories, including the most recent collection The Accidentals.We discuss her novel, Still Born, as well as her stories, ‘The Wanderers’, ‘Divination’ and ‘Bonsai’, as well as her approach to the politics of motherhood, realism and exile in her writing.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. He is the author of The Boys (2025).Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Diane Williams, author of eleven books of fiction, including the short story collection I Hear You’re Rich.We discuss the four short stories Diane Williams contributed to the summer issue, Granta 172: Badlands, as well as her various collections, her love of surprise in fiction and the porosity between her identity as a writer and an editor.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. He is the author of The Boys (2025).Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Tao Lin, the author of ten books, including Leave Society and Taipei.We discuss two of Tao Lin’s recent essays, ‘My Spiritual Evolution’, and ‘Gian’, which appeared in Granta 171: Dead Friends, as well as the effects of psychedelics and the possibilities of reincarnation.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. He is the author of The Boys (2025).Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Susie Boyt, the author of seven novels, most recently Loved and Missed, and the memoir My Judy Garland Life.We discuss Susie Boyt’s short story, ‘All Being Well’, from Granta 171: Dead Friends, and consider the function of ghosts, Henry James, and how to be mourned.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. He is the author of The Boys (2025).Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to Nico Walker, author of the novel Cherry. We discuss Nico Walker’s essay ‘Mucker Play’, published in Granta 170: Winners, which considers American football as a reflection of the country’s violence, the intimate relationship between the military and sport, and how athletes cultivate their public image, from Deion Sanders to Jim Thorpe.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. His first novel will be published in 2025. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. Thomas Meaney is the editor of Granta. 

Granta 170: Winners is out this week. In this episode, we speak to Declan Ryan about his essay on the British heavyweight boxing today, ‘The Hurt Business’, which appears in the magazine's new sports issue. You can read the essay discussed in this episode here. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Declan Ryan is the author of Crisis Actor, a poetry collection published with Faber in 2023. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the film director Wang Xiaoshuai, known for the films Beijing Bicycle (2001) and So Long, My Son (2019). We discuss Wang Xiaoshuai’s thoughts on the porosity between literature and cinema, and the challenges facing independent filmmakers today. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to Allen Bratton, whose short stories Barbarism and Honeymoon have been published online at granta.com. His debut novel Henry Henry was published in 2024.We discuss Shakespearean adaptations, the fine line between humour and cruelty and the legacy of the British aristocracy.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. His first novel will be published in 2025.Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta.