The LRB Podcast

Katherine Rundell has been writing about endangered animals in the LRB since 2018. Her new book, The Golden Mole, gathers those essays and new pieces into a bestiary of unusual and underappreciated creatures.Katherine was joined by LRB editor Alice Spawls in a discussion touching on Elizabethan celebrity bears, Amelia Earhart’s bones, and the greatest lie we’ve ever told: that the world is ours for the taking.You can read Katherine’s work in the LRB archives: lrb.me/rundellSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Corals have held our fascination for thousands of years, but much of what we know about them has only been discovered recently. Liam Shaw talks to Tom about what corals are and how they form, and their extraordinary variety (over two thousand species have so far been described). They look at some of the milestones in our knowledge of this flower-animal, including Darwin’s account of coral atoll formation, and the importance of the oral history of Indigenous peoples around the coast of Australia in understanding the development of the Great Barrier Reef. As coral reefs now face almost total destruction from climate change, they also consider some of the fixes people have come up with to protect them, and whether it’s possible to put a monetary value on such natural phenomena.Find further reading on the episode page: https://lrb.me/coralpodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The writer and human rights lawyer Raja Shehadeh talks to Adam Shatz about his recent memoir, We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I, which reflects on Shehadeh’s relationship with his father, Aziz, a lawyer who, before his murder in 1985, fought numerous cases for Palestinian rights and was one of the first to advocate a two-state solution.Find pieces by Raja Shehadeh for the LRB on the episode page: https://lrb.me/shehadehpodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Azadeh Moaveni talks to Tom about the demonstrations in Iran following the killingof Mahsa Amini in September. They discuss the degree to which the protesters have a shared purpose, the history and significance of the veil in Iranian state policy, the effects of government oppression in the border areas of the country, and how Iran might change after Ayatollah Khamenei.Find further reading on the episode page: https://lrb.me/iranprotestspodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sheila Fitzpatrick talks to Tom about the perils of doing archive research in the Soviet Union, how she used Moscow telephone directories to investigate Stalin’s purges, and the multiple passports and identities she’s gone through in her academic career.Find further reading in the LRB on the episode page: https://lrb.me/fitzpatrickpodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following Nasa’s Dart mission, which successfully fired a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos last month, Chris Lintott talks to Tom about what asteroids can tell us about the history of our planet, how scared we should be of them, and why you should be grateful if one hits your car (so long as you aren’t inside it at the time).Find further reading, or listen ad-free, on the episode page: https://lrb.me/asteroidpodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspodMore information about the Nine Dots Prize: https://ninedotsprize.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forrest Hylton talks to Tom about the presidential elections in Brazil, where former president Lula faces the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, in the final round of voting. They consider the history of both candidates, their supporters and campaigns, and what’s at stake in the contest.Find further reading, and listen ad-free, on the episode page: https://lrb.me/brazilpodSign up to our Close Readings subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Soar talks to Tom about Ian McEwan’s latest novel, Lessons – how it fits with his earlier fiction, the relationship between world events and private histories, and McEwan’s addiction to ‘moments of maximum thrill’.Find further reading, and listen ad-free, on the episode page: https://lrb.me/mcewanpodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claire Denis and J. Hoberman join Adam Shatz to talk about the work and legacy of Jean-Luc Godard. They discuss Godard’s early fascination with American cinema, his extraordinary run of films in the 1960s from À bout de souffle to Week-end, and subsequent periods of restless experimentation which continued to confound both audiences and critics until his death this month.Find further reading on Godard in the LRB on the episode page: https://lrb.me/godardpodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and filmmaker Jonathan Meades introduces and reads his review of Tina Brown's book about the royal family, The Palace Papers, from April this year.Read the piece here: https://lrb.me/meadespodSign up to our Close Readings podcast subscription: https://lrb.me/closereadingspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.