Art and Culture Podcasts
Series 14 Eps 18
60 mins
Vanity Fair’s Lili Anolik – Joan Didion v. Eve Babitz
It’s sixties Hollywood. The relationship between two literary titans is about to explode. Vanity Fair’s Lili Anolik reveals glittering insights into the literary rivalry of its age. This is Joan Didion v. Eve Babitz.
Series 14, Eps 17
1hr
Lucy Hughes-Hallett – The Brief & Brilliant Life of the Duke of Buckingham
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize Lucy Hughes-Hallett reveals the stunning life of the dazzling young Englishman at the heart of seventeenth-century court politics.
Series 14, Eps 14
1hr 5mins
Rory Stewart Meets Saad Mohseni – The Fight for a Free Press in Kabul
Saad Mohseni joins Rory Stewart to share his journey of building a free press in Afghanistan – and reveals a stunning portrait of the resilience of the Afghan people.
Series 14, Eps 10
1hr
Alan Moore – Twenty Six Letters, Infinite Worlds
Legendary magician and author of Watchmen Alan Moore joins Robin Ince for a spellbinding exploration of everyday magic and the enduring power of prose in our new technological age.
Series 14, Episode 9
22 mins
Robyn Davidson – Journeys of a Lifetime
Acclaimed author of Tracks, Robyn Davidson, shares a deeply moving journey into the past as she traces her extraordinary life and the love and loss that shaped it.
Series 14, Eps 8
1hr 31mins
Yuval Noah Harari – Humanity in the Age of AI
Humanity has always evolved with its technology, but now a new threat looms. Yuval Noah Harari joins us to explore how the rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping humanity as we know it.
Series 14, Eps 7
1hr 8mins
Rebecca Kuang – Yellowface
The award-winning novelist Rebecca Kuang shares the inside story of Yellowface, the satire of the literary world that became a global sensation.
Series 14, Eps 6
1 hr 1 min
Yale Historian Sunil Amrith – How Humanity Reshaped the Planet
Yale historian and MacArthur ‘genius’ Sunil Amrith shares a paradigm-shifting survey of human history’s imprint on the earth, and where we go from here.
Series 14, Eps 4
32mins
Historian of Science Natalie Lawrence – Why Monsters Matter
Since the dawn of humanity monsters have loomed large in our collective imagination. But why do frightening beasts hold such a powerful grip on us?
Series 14, Episode 1
42mins
Anthropologist Webb Keane – Animals, Robots, Gods
What can animals, robots, and gods teach us about what it means to be human? In this episode, anthropologist Webb Keane investigates how our morality entwines with the non-human world.
Series 13, Eps 29
1hr 12mins
Sam Leith and Amy Jeffs – Tales of Wonder, Myth and Magic
Artist and folklorist Amy Jeffs and author and critic Sam Leith come together for a rich and wide-roaming investigation into the nature of magic, wonder, imagination, and storytelling.
Series 13, Eps 23
55mins
Senior Jewellery Curator at the V&A Helen Molesworth – The Dazzling History of Gems
For as long as humans have known gems, human history has been closely intertwined with these rare finds. Senior Jewellery Curator at the V&A Museum Helen Molesworth joined us to reveal a new history of our world as shaped by gems, and the dazzling human stories within.
Series 13, Eps 22
51 mins
Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith – How Animal Minds Transformed Planet Earth
Peter Godfrey-Smith’s Other Minds introduced the world to the wonders of the octopus. Now he turns his attention to an animal closer to home: us.
Series 13, Eps 21
1hr 14mins
Yuval Noah Harari Meets Katherine Rundell – Unstoppable Us (Summer Repeat)
In a special podcast for children and families, the author of the multi-million bestselling Sapiens tells the incredible story of the human race to Katherine Rundell.
Series 13, Eps 20
1hr 18mins
Fern Academy Prize winner Gabriela Denise Frank – Fear and Loathing in White Collar America
The inaugural winner of How To Academy’s essay prize, Gabriela Denise Frank is a literary artist whose essay A Self She Can Continue Living With is both a deeply personal and highly relatable account of the profound awfulness of modern corporate working life.
Series 13, Eps 18
1hr 9 mins
William Dalrymple and Sathnam Sanghera – British Imperialism in India (Summer Repeat)
A story of powerful empires, covert political machinations and bloody resistance, Sathnam Sanghera and William Dalrymple join us with the history of the world’s first corporate power.
Series 13, Eps 16
27 mins
World Record Breaking Mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa and Filmmaker Lucy Walker
Lhakpa Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to summit and descend Everest, joined filmmaker Lucy Walker to reveal her lifelong dream of empowering women and her own extraordinary journey against all odds.
Series 13, Eps 13
55 mins
New York Times Bestseller Paolo Bacigalupi – Money and Power in the Fantasy Renaissance
Award-winning speculative novelist Paolo Baccigalupi’s Navola is a bloodthirsty literary fantasy inspired by the Medici family and Renaissance Florence.
Series 13, Eps 12
40mins
Neuroscientist Kelly Clancy – How Games Change Reality
We might think of games as trivial fun, but, as neuroscientist Kelly Clancy reveals, they are deeply intertwined with human history.
Series 13, Eps 11
1hr 1 min
Conservationists Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell – When the Wild Things Returned
Conservationists Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell share their inspiring story of rewilding a failing farm – and reveal how you can help bring wildness back into your corner of the world.
Series 13, Eps 10
36 mins
Bestselling Sociologist Sarah Thornton – Why Breasts Matter
Bestselling sociologist Sarah Thornton shares the findings of her innovative investigation in the cultural and social significance of breasts.
Series 13, Episode 3
49 mins
Anna Funder – Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life
Eileen O’Shaughnessy’s literary brilliance shaped George Orwell’s work, but like the undesirable citizens of Airstrip One she was erased from the history books. Why – and how – was she written out of the story?
Series 13, Episode 2
1hr 7mins
Clover Stroud – On Home, Belonging, and Letting Go
What makes a home? And what does it mean to leave that home behind? Clover Stroud joins us to investigate community, country, and connection.
Series 13, Episode 1
42mins
Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan – On Love, Memory, and History
With a cast including HG Wells, Rebecca West, and Leo Szilard, Richard Flanagan’s Question 7 fuses memoir, history, and philosophical meditation in a singular investigation into the power of the human spirit.
Series 12, Eps 31
1hr 12mins
George the Poet – Me Music and the War on Blackness
The ground-breaking rapper, poet, and podcaster George the Poet joins Gary Younge to share life lessons on education, politics and feeling at home.
Series 12, Eps 24
1hr 9 mins
Mary Beard and Jo Quinn – Who Made The West?
Forget what you think you know about the Roman Empire and the story of the West. Two renowned classicists join us to debunk myths and reveal new and thrilling histories of power.
Series 12, Eps 17
33mins
Novelist Kiley Reid – Come and Get It
The author of the New York Times bestseller Such a Fun Age returns with a tale of campus politics, desire, and bad behaviour.
Series 12, Eps 15
32mins
Novelist and Macarthur ‘genius’ Kelly Link — The Book of Love
Macarthur Grant winning short story writer Kelly Link joins us to explore her very, very long awaited debut novel.
Series 12, Eps 13
45 mins
Novelist and Diplomat Ray Nayler – The Tusks of Extinction
Award-winning novelist and US diplomat Ray Nayler returns to the podcast to explore his philosophical thriller, The Tusks of Extinction.
Series 12, Eps 11
36 mins
Amitav Ghosh – How The Opium Trade Shaped Capitalism
Novelist Amitav Ghosh reveals the rarely told true history of opium, from the Enlightenment all the way to the present day.
Series 12, Eps. 10
1hr 20mins
Musician James Blunt – Not Safe for Work
One of the best-selling recording artists of the Noughties joined us to tell his NSFW life story.
Series 12, Episode 8
1hr 10 mins
Physicist Carlo Rovelli Meets Theatre-Maker Simon McBurney
What happens at the bottom of a black hole? Join the superstar physicist and founder of Complicite for an Alice in Wonderland trip to the edge of space and time, science and imagination.
Series 12, Episode 7
30minutes
Psychotherapist Adam Phillips – What We Must Give Up To Feel More Alive
Both a renowned psychotherapist and the ‘best living essayist writing in English’ (John Gray), Adam Phillips joins us to reflect upon what we must give up in order to feel more alive.
Series 11, Eps 30
1hr 10 mins
Mary Beard and David Mitchell – On Rulers and Power
Cambridge classicist Mary Beard and beloved comedian David Mitchell share the histories of Roman and English rulers like you’ve never heard them before.
Series 11, Eps 23
1hr 20mins
Marina Abramović Meets Tim Marlow
Join us for a journey into the mind of the world’s greatest living performance artist.
Series 11, Eps 20
1hr 30minutes
Astronaut Chris Hadfield Meets Robin Ince
Astronaut, fighter pilot, bestselling author, commander of the International Space Station, and the first man to sing Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ in zero G: is there anything Chris Hadfield can’t do?
Series 11, Eps 19
1hr 10mins
Iain McGilchrist – The Divided Brain and the Meaning of Life
A neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and philosopher, Iain McGilchrist joins us with a compelling argument for a new philosophy of living.
Series 11, Eps 18
1hr5mins
Philippa Gregory – 900 Years of Women’s History
The beloved historical novelist tells the epic story of ordinary British women doing extraordinary things, from 1066 to modern times.
Series 11, Eps 17
1hr 20mins
Albert Read Meets Will Gompertz – Where Good Ideas Come From (and How to Have More of Them)
Imagination is our most powerful muscle and our greatest source of fulfilment. Find out how to exercise yours with two of the country’s most influential and creative people.
Series 11, Eps 16
1hr
Werner Herzog Meets Mark Kermode – A Life in Cinema
The undisputed master of world cinema reveals the story of his extraordinary life to Mark Kermode.
Series 11, Episode 8
50mins
Michel Faber – Why Music Matters
Why do humans love music? The author of wildly acclaimed novels including Under the Skin and The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber joins us to explore his lifelong obsession with the heard world.
Series 11, Episode 6
40mins
John Higgs – The KLF, the Band that Burned a Million Pounds
At the height of their fame, the electronic music pioneers The KLF burned a million pounds and disappeared. John Higgs tries to understand why.
Series 11, Episode 1
50mins
Emma Southon – Women of the Roman Empire
Forget generals, battles, and consuls. Emma Southon tells the story of Rome through its women, from sex workers to Vestal Virgins, empresses to saints.
Series 10, Eps 28
45mins
Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché – Nostalgia is a Weapon
Described by its authors as ‘Barbie meets Oppenheimer’, Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché’s surrealistic speculative thriller Prophet interrogates our relationship with nostalgia and its stranglehold over our politics.
Series 10, Eps 26
40mins
Victoria Belim – The Resilience of Art in Times of War
Victoria Belim is a Financial Times columnist and translator whose new memoir The Rooster House is both a detective story and a paean to her lost land.
Series 10, Eps 19
1hr
Shehan Karunatilaka – The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
A major new voice in the tradition of Rushdie, Bulgakov and Marquez, Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka joins us to share an unforgettable vision of Sri Lanka’s civil wars.
Series 10, Ep. 16
52 mins
Viorica Marian – How the Language We Speak Changes How We Think
How do languages change our experience of the world? Psycholinguist Viorica Marian has dedicated her life to finding the answer.
Series 10, Ep. 15
50 mins
Peter Heather – Will the West Fall Like Rome?
Is the West doomed to be the next Roman Empire? Can we learn something from its fall? Medieval historian Peter Heather thinks we can – and must.
Series 10, Ep. 12
1hr 10mins
James Comey – The Pursuit of Justice in a Divided America
The former FBI director turned novelist joins us to share his insights into power and justice in a dangerous and divided America.
