The LRB Podcast

Tom Crewe, Patricia Lockwood, Deborah Friedell, John Lanchester, and Rosemary Hill discuss their favorite pieces from the LRB archive, including Terry Castle's analysis of Jane Austen's letters and Alan Bennett's nuanced portrayal of Philip Larkin. Topics covered include controversial literature, bestiality in poetry, and mistaken identity at a party.

Byron’s early poems – his so-called ’dark tales’ – have been dismissed by critics as the tawdry, slapdash products of an uninteresting mind, and readers ever since have found it difficult not to see them in light of the poet’s dramatic and public later life. In a recent piece for the LRB, Clare Bucknell looked past the famous biography to observe the youthful Byron’s mind at work in poems such as The Giaour (1813), The Corsair (1814) and Lara (1814), where early versions of the Byronic hero were often characterised by passivity, rumination and choicelessness.Clare discusses the piece with Tom, and talks about her new Close Readings series, On Satire, with Colin Burrow, which features Don Juan alongside works by Jane Austen, Laurence Sterne, John Donne, Muriel Spark and others.Read Clare's piece on Byron: https://lrb.me/byronpodJoin Clare and Colin Burrow for their series on satire next year, and receive all the books under discussion, access to online seminars and the rest of the Close Readings audio, with Close Readings Plus: https://lrb.me/plusytTo subscribe to the audio only, and access all our other Close Readings series:Sign up directly in Apple here: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/byronsc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Renaissance Venice, Aldus Manutius turned his mid-life crisis into a publishing revolution, printing books that permanently changed the way we read. In a recent review, Erin Maglaque celebrates Aldus as the progenitor of the paperback and a model for late bloomers. She tells Tom about Aldus’s achievements, his monumental ego and his part in the creation of one of the most bizarre books in publishing history.Find further reading on the episode page: lrb.me/manutiuspodSubscribe to Close Readings Plus here: https://lrb.me/plusOr just sign up to the Close Readings podcast subscription:In Apple Podcasts: lrb.me/camusappleIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/camussc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feverish, homesick, bored, awed and on rollerskates: Albert Camus’s travel diaries are a fascinating window into an easily mythologised life. Camus visited the New World twice, and a new translation of his journals reveals his struggle to make sense of his experiences. Adam Shatz joins Tom to explain the ways Camus’s ambivalence towards the Americas sheds light on his tumultuous personal life, his conflicted stance on colonialism and where his humanism deviates from his existentialist peers.Find further reading on the episode page: lrb.me/camuspodIf you want to join Adam Shatz, Judith Butler, Pankaj Mishra and Brent Hayes Edwards on revolutionary thinkers next year, and receive all the books under discussion, access to online seminars and the rest of the Close Readings audio, you can sign up to Close Readings Plus here: https://lrb.me/plusOr just sign up to the Close Readings podcast subscription:In Apple Podcasts: lrb.me/camusappleIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/camussc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In June, the pope invited dozens of artists to Rome for the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Museum’s contemporary art collection. Patricia Lockwood, the author of Priestdaddy and a contributing editor at the LRB, was one of them. She tells Tom more about the surreal experience and why irony, in the words of Pope Francis, is ‘a marvellous virtue’.Find further reading on the episode page: lrb.me/popepodRead John Lanchester’s pick from the archive: lrb.me/lanchesterpickSubscribe to the LRB here: lrb.me/nowFind out about the Colour Revolution exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum here:https://www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/colour-revolution-victorian-art-fashion-design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin Burrow, an expert on Orwell's writing and his vision of socialism, joins Tom to explore the cultural conservatism and crackling violence in Orwell's works. They discuss his appeal to teenagers, the allegorical nature of 'Animal Farm,' his powerful imagery, his controversial list of suspected communists, and the portrayal of totalitarian behavior and satire in '1984'.

Emily Wilson, celebrated classicist and translator of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, returns for a second season of Among the Ancients with Thomas Jones. They explore truth and lies in Greek and Roman literature, discussing works by Herodotus, Tacitus, Plato, Apuleius, and Marcus Aurelius. They also highlight the relevance of stoicism in modern life and upcoming series.

Revolutionary thought experts Judith Butler, Pankaj Mishra, and Brent Hayes Edwards discuss arguments against racism and colonialism, artistic expression in oppressive conditions, and politically substantive language in the inner life of the 20th century. They explore works by Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Arendt, Naipaul, Nandy, Lessing, Mandelstam, Du Bois, Césaire, Baraka, and Lorde.

In this podcast series, the hosts explore satire in English literature, focusing on unruly, vulgar, hilarious works. They discuss the nature of satire, its efficacy, political orientations, and the challenge of following a linear thread in satirical works. Additionally, they delve into the concept of being a radical thinker while living conservatively. Listeners can expect explicit and humorous content in future episodes.

Florence Sutcliffe-Braithewaite, scandal researcher, joins the podcast to discuss the shocking Infected Blood Scandal in the UK. They explore the origins of the scandal, the government's role, and the impact on hemophiliac children. The need for truth, compensation, and accountability is emphasized, drawing lessons from the AIDS epidemic. The speakers also reflect on literary texts and share amusing anecdotes.