Biteback Chats Books

Pete Carvill is a reporter, writer, and editor for the UK’s trade press. He first put on boxing gloves twenty years ago and has only recently taken them off. His book Death of a Boxer explores the psychology of those who choose to fight and what draws them towards this most dangerous of pursuits. It also delves into the lives of fighters, from amateurs to professionals. Death of a Boxer is a deep and powerful meditation on the nature of boxing, asking why people do it, what it does for them and, ultimately, what it does to them. In this episode, Pete reflects on some of the fights mentioned in the book, including Brian Rose vs Sergio Martinez. He also comments on the broader societal characteristics of the boxing community and considers the future of the sport. Get your copy of Death of a Boxer here: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/death-of-a-boxer Music Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Alex Grant is a writer, researcher and lecturer specialising in politics, biography and modern history. Having been a journalist in Parliament and a Labour councillor in Greenwich for sixteen years, he writes with great insight into the British establishment.   He is the author of the new John Vassall biography, Sex, Spies and Scandal. Vassall’s story is one of intrigue: in the 1960s while working in Moscow, he was blackmailed into espionage after Soviet spies trapped him in compromising positions. For seven years, Vassall traded secrets. In 1962, he was arrested and imprisoned. In this episode, we discuss Vassall’s character and suitability for espionage, plus some more contemporary reflections on the LGBTQ+ element of the story. Also, catch who Alex thinks would make a good Vassall in a biopic!   Get your copy of Sex, Spies and Scandal here: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/sex-spies-and-scandal Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Linda McDougall is a journalist, television producer and author of Cherie: The Perfect Life of Mrs Blair and Westminster Women. She is also known as the wife of the late Austin Mitchell, who was a journalist and the Labour Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby from 1977 until 2015. Linda’s latest book, Marcia Williams: The Life and Times of Baroness Falkender, seeks to realign Marcia’s reputation away from previously dismissive and misogynistic verdicts. This pioneering biography of Harold Wilson’s political adviser puts forward a more nuanced understanding of Marcia, centred around her unbreakable partnership with Wilson – asserting that they were in fact politically wedded to each other and equal contributors to his success. In this episode, Linda shares what made Marcia such a remarkable force and how she propelled Wilson’s career, as well as drawing comparisons with today’s political scene. Get your copy of Marcia Williams here: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/marcia-williams Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dr Nigel Fletcher is a political historian and has taught at King’s College London since 2017. He is the co-founder of the Centre for Opposition Studies and has previously worked as a political adviser and a councillor in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. His book, The Not Quite Prime Ministers: Leaders of the Opposition 1783–2020 brings together profiles of the opposition leaders who didn’t quite make it to No. 10. In this episode, Nigel shares some of the outrageous stories in the book, including a James Bond-esque tale about Hugh Gaitskell. He also reflects on parallels between different leaders and explains why opposition is so important.   Get your copy of The Not Quite Prime Ministers here: www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-not-quite-prime-ministers Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Lord Ashcroft is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. He is also the former treasurer and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. To date, Lord Ashcroft has written celebrated biographies of David Cameron, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Sir Keir Starmer. Last year he also published a biography of Boris Johnson's wife, Carrie, which provided a vivid account of how she influenced the government during their time in 10 Downing Street. His latest biography All to Play For: The Advance of Rishi Sunak charts the life and ambition of the current UK Prime Minister. On this episode, Lord Ashcroft tells us why he wrote this biography. He also shares his discoveries and revelations about Sunak and speculates about his capability to lead the Conservatives to victory at the next election. Get your copy of All to Play For here: www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/all-to-play-for Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Kathleen Wyatt is a speechwriter, journalist and editor. She spent sixteen years as a columnist and reviewer at The Times and speaks six languages! Her book, The Social Superpower: The Big Truth About Little Lies, includes interviews with spies, psychologists and a former al-Qaeda bombmaker in the hope of uncovering why it is that we lie, often innately. In this episode, we discuss why Kathleen felt compelled to write a book about lies, her professional opinion on Boris Johnson’s lying to Parliament and which person she would like to perform a lie detector test on.   Get your copy of The Social Superpower here: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-social-superpower   Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jesse Norman is the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire and the author of acclaimed biographies of Edmund Burke and Adam Smith. His novel, The Winding Stair, is an epic tale of jealousy and intrigue in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, which holds a darkened mirror to our own contemporary politics. The Winding Stair whirls around two founders of our modern world – the scholar Francis Bacon and the attorney Edward Coke – and their struggle for power and the favour of the monarch. In this episode, we chat about how Jesse navigated the historical fiction genre, and we unpack some of the main characters, whilst reflecting on the novel’s parallels with modern-day British politics. Get your copy of The Winding Stair here: www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-winding-stair Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Andy McSmith is a lobby journalist who worked for many years for national newspapers including the Daily Mirror, Observer, Daily Telegraph and Independent and was political editor of the Independent on Sunday. He is also the author of three volumes of political biographies; a novel set in Parliament; a history of Britain in the 1980s; and a history of the great Russian artists who lived and worked during Stalin’s time. His new book, Strange People I Have Known, is filled with vivid portraits of those at the heart of British politics over the past forty years: a memoir of a life well lived and an insider’s account of the inner workings of government. In this episode, we discuss what it’s like to have been a lobby journalist, Andy’s encounters with titans such as Robert Maxwell and Margaret Thatcher, and which three giants he would like to have lunch with. Get your copy of Strange People I Have Known here: www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/strange-people-i-have-known Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tom Clark is a journalist, a contributing editor at Prospect and a fellow at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and was previously a leading writer at The Guardian for ten years. His new book, Broke, is a collection of essays from today’s masters of social reportage on Britain’s accelerating poverty crisis. Broke ventures deep into the communities so often ignored by politicians and introduces us to those at the hardest end of the breadline, combining human stories and analysis for a practical and hopeful solution. On this episode, we discuss some of the sobering stories at the heart of Broke, how poverty has changed in recent years and which three people he would give the book to in order to effect change. Get your copy of Broke here: www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/broke Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dr Sarah-Louise Miller is an experienced historian, researcher, author, educator and media consultant, specialising in Second World War history. Her book, The Women Behind the Few, explores the Second World War from the perspective of the WAAFs working behind the scenes to collect and disseminate vital intelligence – intelligence that resulted in Allied victory. In this episode, Sarah shares the story of what first piqued her interest in this period and delves into a couple of the heroic tales featured in the book, ultimately picking one encounter she would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall at! Get your copy of The Women Behind the Few here: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-women-behind-the-few Music Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/