Read On - The Audiobook Show from RNIB
RNIB Connect Radio
A weekly show all about audiobooks recorded at the RNIB Talking Book studios.
We talk to your favourite authors and narrators, along with reviews and news about new audiobooks.
Presented and produced by Robert Kirkwood, you'll find a new episode here every Friday at 1pm plus bonus content such as longer uncut interviews and episodes of our occasional extra show, The Book Group.
Talking Books is a free service from RNIB giving access to over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. Find out more by searching for RNIB Library.
Get involved and join the conversation by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk or find Robert on Twitter @Talking_Books
Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio
Connect - Our main channel with news, features and articles on sight loss.
Conversations - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.
Tech Talk - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Sport - See sport differently.
The Happy Hour - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.
Tracks of My Life - Take a journey through our guest's life.
Support - Other podcasts from RNIB.
TV Guide - Daily audio TV listings
We talk to your favourite authors and narrators, along with reviews and news about new audiobooks.
Presented and produced by Robert Kirkwood, you'll find a new episode here every Friday at 1pm plus bonus content such as longer uncut interviews and episodes of our occasional extra show, The Book Group.
Talking Books is a free service from RNIB giving access to over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. Find out more by searching for RNIB Library.
Get involved and join the conversation by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk or find Robert on Twitter @Talking_Books
Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio
Connect - Our main channel with news, features and articles on sight loss.
Conversations - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.
Tech Talk - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Sport - See sport differently.
The Happy Hour - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.
Tracks of My Life - Take a journey through our guest's life.
Support - Other podcasts from RNIB.
TV Guide - Daily audio TV listings
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 30, 2026 • 58min
461: Katie Kitamura - Audition
In today's episode Robert Kirkwood chats to Katie Kitamura about her novel Audition, an exhilarating, destabilising novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love.They chat about dimension shifts, narration and why the book was almost called Performance.Plus we find some new books in the RNIB Library.
Jan 23, 2026 • 58min
460: Andrew Miller - The Land in Winter
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller is an atmospheric novel set during a famously freezing 1960s winter, exploring the minutiae of married life through the interior lives of two couples. Robert Kirkwood talks to Andrew about his inspiration for the novel, why it's not based on his parents and about his first time narrating one of his novels.
Jan 16, 2026 • 58min
459: Kiran Desai - The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
A book 19 years in the making, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai is a spellbinding story of two young people whose fates intersect and diverge across continents and years – an epic of love and family, India and America, tradition and modernity. Robert Kirkwood asks Kiran about her writing process, casting the audio version and where to get a good kebab in New York.
Jan 9, 2026 • 58min
458: Best of the Fests
A listen back to the times I was set free at both Boswell and Wigtown Book Festivals featuring Rupert Everett, Louise Minchin, Wayne Sleep, Dom Joly and Andrew O'Hagan.
Jan 2, 2026 • 58min
457: Review of 2025 - Part 2
A listen back to some 2025 highlights from later in last year including Percival Everett, Yael van der Wouden, Nate Lessore, Margaret McDonald, David Szalay and pay tribute to Frederick Forsythe and Dame Stella Rimington.
Dec 26, 2025 • 58min
456: Review of 2025 - Part 1
A listen back to some 2025 highlights from early last year including AJ West, Yael van der Wouden, Rachel Kushner, Clare Mackintosh, Lucy Edwards and pay tribute to narrator Steve Hodson.
Dec 19, 2025 • 58min
455: Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones - Christmas with the Map Men Part 2
In today's Read On, Robert Kirkwood chats to the Map Men, also known as Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones about their debut book This Way Up - When Maps Go Wrong (and why it matters).In the second part of their chat they discuss accessibility, made up mountains, an audiobook co-incidence and even have a feel of a tactile map from RNIB.Plus we'll find some more festive books in the RNIB Library.
Dec 12, 2025 • 58min
454: Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones - Christmas with the Map Men Part 1
In today's Read On, Robert Kirkwood chats to the Map Men, also known as Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones about their debut book This Way Up - When Maps Go Wrong (and why it matters).
In this first part of a two part show Jay and Mark talk about accents, breaking the fourth wall and addressing the listener directly and about turning a very visual book into an audiobook.
Plus we'll find some festive books in the RNIB Library.
Dec 12, 2025 • 2min
Best-selling author Joanna Trollope has died aged 82
Author of many favourites in the RNIB Library, Joanna herself was very aware of the importance of accessibility as she had an eye condition that made her partially sighted. Here she is on the importance of Talking Books
Dec 5, 2025 • 58min
453: E.K. Wise - The Keepers of the Rock Book 1 - The Debilis Rising
From her home in Los Angeles, author E.K. Wise tells Robert Kirkwood about The Keepers of the Rock - Book 1 The Debilis Rising, a thrilling YA fantasy full of secrets, crystals and history. We discuss the science behind the book, about neurodivergent representation and ask why the audio version was recorded in the UK
Plus we find some new books in the RNIB Library
