The TLS Podcast

This week, Sara Lodge counts the ways that mathematics influenced writers from Byron to Trollope; and Russell Williams on the transformative power of rites and rituals.'The Number Sense of Nineteenth-Century British Literature', by Stefanie Markovits'The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic', by Alan Moore and Steve MooreProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, a special podcast from the Hay Festival ranges from the ancient world to the 16th-century, taking in the art of criticism, the centrality of religion and eco-catastrophe. With Stephanie Merritt, Edith Hall, Toby Lichtig and a guest appearance from TLS crossword compiler Praxiteles.'Traitor's Legacy', by SJ Parris'Epic of the Earth: Reading Homer's "Iliad" in the Fight for a Dying World', by Edith HallProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Magna Carta experts David Carpenter and Nicholas Vincent tell us how they discovered a rare original of the document; and Michael Caines on a spritely new staging of a Shaw play starring mother and daughter Imelda Staunton and Bessie Carter.'Mrs Warren's Profession', by George Bernard Shaw, Garrick Theatre, London, until August 16Produced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Eimear McBride is captivated by the life and work of Joyce's biographer; and Mark Nayler is hot on the trail of the wolf who walked alone.'Ellmann's Joyce: the biography of a masterpiece and its maker', by Zachary Leader'Lone wolf: walking the faultlines of Europe', by Adam WeymouthProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Vanessa Curtis celebrates a century of Mrs Dalloway; and Claire Lowdon on the capacious diaries of Helen Garner.'Mrs Dalloway', by Virginia Woolf'Monkey grip', 'The children's Bach', 'This house of grief', 'How to end a story: collected diaries', by Helen GarnerProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Toby Lichtig travels to Oslo to interview Nobel laureate Jon Fosse; meanwhile, Natasha Lehrer heads to Zurich for a compelling new play by Deborah Levy.Jon Fosse is published in English by Fitzcarraldo Editions'50 Minutes', by Deborah Levy, Neumarkt Theatre, Zurich, until May 7Produced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, David Gallagher remembers Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa; and Laurent Binet whisks us to 16th-century Florence to explore the world of his novel Perspectives.'Perspectives', by Laurent Binet, translated by Sam TaylorProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Peter Holland treads the boards in Elizabethan London in search of Shakespeare before the Globe; and Muriel Zagha on a captivating tale of cheese-making in the Jura.'The dream factory: London’s first playhouse and the making of William Shakespeare', by Daniel Swift'Holy Cow', a film by Louise CourvoisierProduced by Charlotte Pardy