Share

cover art for The Miraculous Mundane

The TLS Podcast

The Miraculous Mundane

•

This week, Thea Lenarduzzi and Lucy Dallas are joined by Nick Groom, Professor of Literature in English at the University of Macau, to discuss William Blake, who saw wonders everywhere (including a tree on Peckham Rye), and communicated them urgently in art and poetry – what does he have to tell us now?; the critic and writer Michael Kerrigan guides us through the ‘improbably enthralling mundanities’ of the Uruguayan novelist Mario Levrero; plus, a dazzling history of Sicily, the demise of local journalism, and ‘bald’ philosophy.


William Blake Vs the World by John Higgs

The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero, translated by Annie McDermott

Panic as Man Burns Crumpets: The vanishing world of the local journalist by Roger Lytollis

Bald: 35 philosophical short cuts by Simon Critchley

The Invention of Sicily: A Mediterranean history by Jamie Mackay


A special subscription offer for TLS podcast listeners: www.the-tls.co.uk/buy/pod


Producer: Ben Mitchell

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