Share
The TLS Podcast
Stalin, little and large
This week, Thea Lenarduzzi and Toby Lichtig are joined by Stephen Lovell, Professor of Modern History at King’s College London, to discuss two important biographies of Joseph Stalin, covering the opposite ends of the dictator’s life; the debate around the official Home Office history of Britain, a document full of omissions and riddled with errors, rolls on; and can a book make you a better person? Can even the high modernists be mined for lessons in life? Joanna Scutts considers the relationship between 'serious' literature and self-help.
Stalin: Passage to revolution by Ronald Grigor Suny
Late Stalinism: The aesthetics of politics by Evgeny Dobrenko, translated by Jesse M. Savage
The Self-Help Compulsion: Searching for advice in modern literature, by Beth Blum
Reading for Life by Philip Davis
Subscribe to The TLS at https://www.the-tls.co.uk/buy/
More episodes
View all episodes
The Wind/Yikes Dichotomy
43:53|This week, Tristram Fane Saunders praises the form-busting brilliance of new Nobel Laureate Anne Carson; and Lily Herd on shooting stars, shipwrecks and hubris through the ages.Produced by Charlotte Pardy
Cabbages and kings
52:44|This week, David E Cooper on a mammoth history of the garden; and Larry Wolff takes in Macbeth at the Met.'The Garden: Our 4,000-year quest for paradise', by Jonathan Bate'Macbeth', by Giuseppe Verdi, Metropolitan Opera, New York, until October 20Produced by Charlotte Pardy
Costume Dramas
47:49|This week, Sophie Oliver on Rebecca West's struggle with her love of clothing; and Robert Poole introduces us to a dashing 19th-century radical.'A Fable for Christians', by Rebecca West'Mad Tom's Rising: The revolutionary mystic Sir William Courtenay and the last battle fought on English soil', by Ian BreckonProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Outsiders
01:03:16|This week, Patrick McGuinness delves into the moving and illuminating notebooks kept by Albert Camus; and Elizabeth Lowry on the untold lives of novelist Anita Brookner.'The Complete Notebooks', by Albert Camus, translated by Ryan Bloom'Anita Brookner: Art and life', by Hermione LeeProduced by Charlotte Pardy
The Cat's Whiskers
53:49|This week, Toby Lichtig on the six Booker hopefuls; and Kathryn Hughes joins us in an exploration of feline mysteries.'Cats: A History', by Rod PhillipsProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Manderley Revisited
35:15|This week, Rohan Maitzen on Rose Tremain's reimagining of Rebecca, and a new way of seeing the terrifying Mrs Danvers; and Jamie McKendrick reads his poem, 'The Importance of Time'.'The Housekeeper', by Rose Tremain'The Importance of Time', by Jamie McKendrickProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Who's in Charge
47:32|This week, Anchit Sathi asks what an "author" is in the age of AI; and Keggie Carew on the world of symbiotic slime and friendly fungi.'Togetherness: Symbiosis and the hidden story of life's greatest collaboration', by Rowan HooperProduced by Charlotte Pardy
Noses to the grindstone!
51:23|This week, Mary Beard gives us the inside track on what it's like to be a Booker Prize judge; and Russell Williams guides us through the highlights of a new season in French publishing.Produced by Charlotte Pardy
Lines of beauty
28:48|This week, we look back at the poets who've shared their work with us this year.Produced by Charlotte Pardy