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Sam Graydon grapples with quantum physics and the subatomic world; Elaine Showalter considers the 'startlingly racy, contradictory, emblematic' E. Nesbit, the 'first modern writer for children'; Which out-of-print books should be back in circulation and why? Roz Dineen presents the results of a TLS symposium
Books
Six Impossible Things: The ‘quanta of solace’ and the mysteries of the subatomic world, by John Gribbin
Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution: The search for what lies beyond the quantum, by Lee Smolin
The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit: Author of ‘The Railway Children’, by Eleanor Fitzsimons
The Extraordinary Life of E. Nesbit: Author of ‘Five Children and It’ and ‘The Railway Children’, by Elisabeth Galvin
More episodes
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Making Waves
46:20|This week, Larry Wolff immerses himself in a bold operatic vision of Melville's classic; and Travis Elborough on a boosterish attempt to rescue Croydon from its knockers.'Moby-Dick', composed by Jake Heggie, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, until March 29'Croydonopolis: A Journey to the Greatest City that Never Was', by Will NobleProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Once Upon a Time
56:18|This week, Toby Lichtig chats to Sam Leith about formative literature at Jewish Book Week; and David Horspool meets Sue Prideaux, winner of this year's Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize.'The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading', by Sam Leith'Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin', by Sue PrideauxProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Hidden Realms
50:49|This week, Michael Caines interviews the men behind the Royal Shakespeare Company's thrilling new production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II; and Nat Segnit finds Pico Iyer's journeys to a Californian monastery a welcome retreat from the world.'Edward II', by Christopher Marlowe, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until April 5 2025'Learning from Silence: Lessons from More Than 100 Retreats', by Pico IyerProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Hubris and Nemesis
49:06|This week, Edith Hall finds herself mesmerised, entranced and perplexed by Sophocles; and Barnaby Phillips on a bizarre imperial incursion in 19th-century Africa.'Oedipus', by Sophocles, Old Vic until March 29'Electra', by Sophocles, Duke of York's Theatre until April 12'A Training School for Elephants', by Sophy Roberts
Elegant Variations
44:29|This week, we're joined by Eimear McBride as she publishes a compelling new novel; and Anne Fuchs celebrates WG Sebald's illuminating and idiosyncratic essays.'The City Changes Its Face', by Eimear McBride'Silent Catastrophes: Essays in Austrian Literature', by WG Sebald, translated by Jo CatlingProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Close Encounters
48:59|This week, Kevin Brazil on the revealing tour d'horizontal of a great writer; and Keith Miller goes down a rabbit-hole in search of Richard Ayoade.'The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir', by Edmund White'The Unfinished Harauld Hughes', 'Plays, Prose, Pieces, Poetry', 'The Models Trilogy', 'Four Films', by Harauld Hughes/Richard AyoadeProduced by Charlotte Pardy
His Back Pages
53:55|This week, Toby Lichtig assesses the latest recreation of Bob Dylan, man and myth; and David Gallagher on an academic and spy who inspired the work of Javier Marias.'A Complete Unknown', a film by James Mangold'Scholar-Spy: The Worlds of Professor Sir Peter Russell', by Bruce TaylorProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Tales of the City
42:13|This week, Boris Dralyuk on a compelling portrait of the Black Sea port of Odesa, past and present; and Russell Williams is put in mind of the rumpled TV detective Columbo by a pacy French novel.'Undefeatable: Odesa in Love and War', by Julian Evans'Bristol', by Jean EchenozProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Picture This
46:05|This week, Vanessa Curtis is entranced by the candour of the Bloomsbury set's photograph albums; and Emma Greensmith on the mythical creatures that fascinated the ancient world.'The Bloomsbury Photographs", by Maggie Humm'Centaurs and Snake-Kings: Hybrids and the Greek Imagination', by Jeremy McInerneyProduced by Charlotte Pardy