The TLS Podcast

This week, Mary C Flannery explores the spells and potions of medieval magic; and Jean Wilson on the trail of the ever elusive Anne Boleyn.‘Love spells and lost treasure: Service magic in England from the later Middle Ages to the early modern era’, by Tabitha Stanmore ‘Textual magic: Charm and written amulets in medieval England’, by Katherine Storm Hindley‘Hunting the falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the marriage that shook Europe’, by John Guy and Julia Fox Produced by Charlotte Pardy

On this week's show, TLS contributors on the best books of 2023; and David Horspool explores the crucial part sport has played in the evolution of Britain and Britishness.'More than a game: A history of how sport made Britain', by David HorspoolProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Samantha Harvey joins us to talk about her voyage around the earth; and Miranda France on a fascinating tour of the British archipelago.‘Orbital’, by Samantha Harvey‘The Britannias: An island quest’, by Alice AlbiniaProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, James Marcus goes partying with Susan Sontag and George Steiner; and Laura Beers sheds a light on Eileen O'Shaughnessy, George Orwell's first wife.'Maestros and monsters: Days and nights with Susan Sontag and GeorgeSteiner', by Robert Boyers'Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's invisible life', by Anna FunderProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Colin Jones explores the streets of Paris as the French Revolution grew pace; and an extract from a very special event at the British Library in celebration of Hilary Mantel.'The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1789', by Robert Darnton'A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing', by Hilary MantelProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Ruth Scurr on a magnificent biography of Claude Monet; and Fiona Stafford explores how vital trees were to Wordsworth's work.'Monet: the restless vision', by Jackie Wullschläger'Versed in living nature: Wordsworth's trees', by Peter Dale and Brandon C YenProduced by Charlotte Pardy