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
Jun 27, 2025 • 58min
430: Sue Moorcroft - The Skye Sisters Trilogy
Today we travel to the Isle of Skye with Sue Moorcroft as the third volume of her best selling Skye Sisters Trilogy is released. Plus we find some new books entering the RNIB Library.
Jun 20, 2025 • 58min
429: Margaret McDonald & Nathanael Lessore - Carnegie Medal for Writing
Our final Carnegie Medal for Writing show with winner of the Shadowing Award Nathanael Lessore for King of Nothing and winner of this year's Medal for Writing, Margaret McDonald on Glasgow Boys.
Plus we take a swift visit to the RNIB Library to find some brand new books.
Jun 13, 2025 • 58min
428: Kelly McCaughrain & Matt Goodfellow - Carnegie Medal for Writing
Today on Read On we're continuing our interviews with authors on the shortlist for the Carnegie Medal for Writing. This week Kelly McCaughrain on Little Bang and Matt Goodfellow on The Final Year, plus we find some new audiobooks out now and available from RNIB Library.
Jun 10, 2025 • 13min
Frederick Forsyth at the RNIB Studios
Frederick Forsyth, the author of The Day Of The Jackal, has died at the age of 86 after a brief illness.
He was a great supporter of RNIB Talking Books, visiting the studios many times to record messages and raise awareness, and even to record a small non-fiction tale he wrote for us as part of a fundraising effort to re-archive our old tape recordings to a digital format.
On one visit, Robert Kirkwood grabbed him for a chat about his books and his dangerous research trips and to ask why he supported RNIB.
Jun 6, 2025 • 58min
427: Brian Conaghan & Luke Palmer - Carnegie Medal for Writing
In today's episode, we talk to two more authors on the Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist, Luke Palmer on his book Play and Brian Conaghan on Treacle Town, plus we find some new books out now and available from the RNIB Library.
May 30, 2025 • 58min
426: Blessing Musariri & Clare Furniss - Carnegie Medal for Writing
In today's episode, we talk to two authors on the Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist, Blessing Musariri on her book All That It Ever Meant and Clare Furniss on The Things We Leave Behind, plus we find some new books out now and available from the RNIB Library.
May 23, 2025 • 58min
425: Becky C Brynolf and Daniel Tammet
A mix of fiction and non-fiction in today's show as Becky C Brynolf tells us about her debut I Found A Body in which an influencer gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
We also hear from writer and savant Daniel Tammet about Nine Minds: Inner Lives on the Spectrum, delving into the extraordinary lives of nine neurodivergent men and women from around the globe, including blind academic Amanda in Australia.
All that plus some new books in the RNIB Library.
May 16, 2025 • 58min
424: Percival Everett on James - Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction
Winner of the National Book Award and now the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, James is a subversive reimagining of “Huckleberry Finn” told from the perspective of Jim, Huck's enslaved companion on the raft ride. Percival Everett tells Robert Kirkwood about the book and reveals he read Huck Finn too many times in the research!
We also hear about the science behind James Bond's gadgets and Agatha Christie's poisons with Kathryn Harkup and find some new books in the RNIB Library.
May 9, 2025 • 58min
423: Boswell Book Festival Interview Special
As I'm off recording at Dumfries House at the moment, here's selection of interviews from past Boswell Book Festival events including Lady Anne Glenconner, founder of Private Eye Richard Ingrams, biographer Ben McIntyre, Winston Churchill's granddaughter Emma Soames, Andrew Cotter with Olive and Mabel, and we're Cloistered with Catherine Coldstream.
May 2, 2025 • 58min
422: Celia Silvani - Baby Teeth
On this week's Read On, Robert Kirkwood chats to Celia Silvani about her debut novel Baby Teeth, a cautionary tale about how vulnerable, isolated people can be lured into toxic communities and the catastrophic consequences this can have.
Trigger Warning: This interview contains discussions and references to pregnancy and infertility. There is also a scene of pregnancy loss in the book.
