The TLS Podcast

This week, Ben Hutchinson on the making of Franz Kafka, a century after the writer's death; and an interview with Roz Dineen about her vision of climate catastrophe and societal collapse.'Kafka: Making of an icon', Weston Library, Bodleian, Oxford, until October 27Accompanying book edited by Ritchie Robertson'Briefly Very Beautiful', by Roz DineenProduced by Charlotte Pardy

Join us for at the Hay Festival for a conversation encompassing portals to other worlds, rock bands, improbable giraffes and the travails of the M4.'Impossible Creatures', by Katherine Rundell'One Ukrainian Summer: A Memoir About Falling in Love and Coming of Age in the Former USSR', by Viv GroskopProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, we hear from two international prize-winning authors, Jenny Erpenbeck and Mircea Cărtărescu.'Kairos' by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann'Solenoid' by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean CotterProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, we look at the busy afterlives of two canonical characters: Nathalie Olah on Tom Ripley and Emelyne Godfrey on Sherlock Holmes.'Ripley', on Netflix'The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes: The inspiration behind the world’s greatest detective', by Andrew LycettProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Susan Owens explores the surreal and vivid life of the artist Eileen Agar; and Rosie Goldsmith, curator of the European Writers' Festival, joins us to explain what's on the bill.'A Look at My Life', by Eileen AgarThe European Writers' Festival, the British Library, London, 18-19 May 2024Produced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Oxford Professor of Poetry AE Stallings explores the elliptical brilliance of Anne Carson; and an interview with writer, filmmaker and artist Miranda July about her forthcoming novel.'Anne Carson: The Glass Essayist', by Elizabeth Sarah Coles'Wrong Norma', by Anne Carson'All Fours', by Miranda JulyProduced by Charlotte Pardy

This week, Kathryn Hughes introduces her new book on the cat craze that swept Edwardian England; and she also tells us about an exhibition of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesca Woodman. Plus a review of Sunjeev Sahota's The Spoiled Heart.'Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World', by Kathryn Hughes'Portraits to Dream In', at the National Portrait Gallery, London, until 16 June, 2024'The Spoiled Heart', by Sunjeev SahotaProduced by Charlotte Pardy

As the TLS celebrates all things Shakespeare, Emma Smith goes to see Ian McKellen's larger-than-life Falstaff; plus Rana Mitter on the immense impact and lasting legacy of the Tokyo Trial.'Player Kings: Henry IV Parts 1 and 2', by William Shakespeare, adapted by Robert Icke, Noël Coward Theatre, London, until June 22, then touring 'Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia' by Gary J. Bass.Produced by Charlotte Pardy