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
Nov 29, 2019 • 58min
147: Joely Richardson, Philip Pullman and Danielle McLaughlin
In today's Audiobook Show, we talk to Danielle McLaughlin about winning the UK's richest short story prize – The Sunday Times Audible Award. (Starts at 1.10)
Author of ‘His Dark Materials’ Philip Pullman explores the background to Lyra’s quest. (17.12)
Hollywood actress Joely Richardson reveals how she was profoundly moved by something she saw at The RNIB Talking Books studios. (38.22)
And we return to Danielle McLaughlin for the Books of her Life. (49.23)
Nov 22, 2019 • 58min
146: Book Week Scotland (2019)
The Scottish Book Trust, for Book Week Scotland, distribute a free book of new writing around a chosen theme ... this year's it's "Blether."
RNIB produce the audio version of that book, and today's show is a small selection of 15 short stories and poems, all read by their authors.
We couldn't cram the whole book into an hour, and the stories here are less than half of what's in the whole book which you can listen to here.
Nov 15, 2019 • 58min
145: Chris Lintott, Jane Clarke and Robin Kermode
On this edition of The Audiobook show, Chris Lintott discusses ‘The Sky at Night’ and the astronomical power of The Zooniverse. (Starts at 0.57)
Jane Clarke introduces Red Szell to some awesome egg-speriments! (22.25)
Actor Robin Kermode has some surprising advice for Robert Kirkwood on improving your public speaking (41.52)
And we return to Chris Lintott for the Books of His Life (50.52)
Nov 8, 2019 • 58min
144: Sita Brahmachari, Laura Ellen Anderson, Gary Younge and The Blind Mechanic
On this week's show, Marilyn Davidson Elliot introduces us to ‘The Blind Mechanic: The Amazing Story of Eric Davidson, Survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion’ - NB recorded on the phone from Canada, sorry about the sound quality. (Starts at 1.19)
We go in search of lost yeti treasure with Amelia Fang creator Laura Ellen Anderson. (18.38)
Sita Brahmachari imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which children must pollinate plants. (32.50)
And writer Gary Younge shares the books of his life. (46.56)
Nov 1, 2019 • 58min
143: Benjamin Myers, Lucy Ellmann, Stephanie Ellyne and The Greatcoat
In today's audiobook show, Benjamin Myers discusses his haunting coming-of-age novel ‘The Offing’. (Starts at 0.54)
We eavesdrop on the afternoon an RNIB narrator, Stephanie Ellyne, met Lucy Ellmann, the author of the book she is reading. (22.32)
Red celebrates Halloween by reviewing an atmospheric ghost story by Helen Dunmore. (41.17)
And we return to Ben Myers for the Books of His Life (48.53)
Oct 25, 2019 • 58min
142: Patricia Cornwell, Lynne Truss and narrating Ducks, Newburyport
Lynne Truss tackles crime and bad grammar in 1950s Brighton. (Starts at 1.03)
Patricia Cornwall launches her new cyber crime series after conducting her own investigations at NASA. (19.26)
Stephanie Ellyne talks about narrating a thousand page novel with just eight sentences. (35.22)
And we return to Lynne Truss for the books of her life. (48.22)
Oct 18, 2019 • 58min
141: The Booker Prize 2019 and more from the Wigtown Book Festival
In today's show we listen to the Booker winning audiobooks, 'Girl, Woman Other' by Bernardine Evaristo and 'The Testaments' by Margaret Atwood (Starts at 1.07)
Salman Rushdie tells us about the joint narratives of 'Quichotte' (13.02)
We return to the Wigtown Book Festival where founder of The Big Issue, Lord Bird, reveals how learning to read saved him from a life of crime. (28.02)
Journalist Melanie Reid discusses coming to terms with disability and recording her memoir as a Talking Book. (37.00)
And Professor Steve Jones shares some fascinating facts about the vital role the sun plays in our lives. (45.42)
Oct 11, 2019 • 58min
140: Chigozie Obioma, Elif Shafak and Margaret Atwood
In our second Booker Prize special,
Elif Shafak discusses her sensual novel ’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’. (Starts at 1.52)
Chigoze Obioma reveals the real-life tragedy that inspired his novel ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’. (19.43)
Margaret Atwood unveils her sequel to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. (30.14)
And we return to Elif Shafak for the Books of her Life (50.10)
Oct 4, 2019 • 58min
139: Live at the Wigtown Book Festival (2019)
In a packed show Red Szell and Robert Kirkwood report from the Wigtown Book Festival with ...
Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson on his book, 'In My Life: A Musical Memoir' (Starts at 1.34)
Kerry Hudson on Lowborn (Down the Chipper) (7.00)
Shaun Bythell has some 'Confessions of a Bookseller' (13.41)
Sarah Jane Douglas treats illness and grief as 'Just Another Mountain' (21.08)
Chair of RNIB Scotland Sandra Wilson on sponsoring a Talking Book (25.03)
Music from, and chat with, The Bookshop Band (27.08)
We go 'Under the Wig' with William Clegg QC (36.00)
Richard Frazer describes his 'Travels with a Stick' (41.04)
Jon Day races pigeons and combines memoir, philosophy and culture in 'Homing' (44.49)
And we get the Books of Your Life from stand up classicist Natalie Haynes. (51.03)
Thanks to @MarkMcKie1 for the cover picture depicting fireworks over Wigtown.
Sep 27, 2019 • 58min
138: Bernardine Evaristo, Lucy Ellmann and Joanna MacGregor
We’re checking out some of the titles short-listed for this year’s Booker Prize.
Bernardine Evaristo reflects on the vibrant lives of 12 black, British women in her novel ‘Girl Woman Other’ (Starts at 1.00)
Joanna MacGregor tells us about the tsunami of books she had to read as a Booker judge. (26.39)
Lucy Ellmann takes us into the strange world of her eight sentence novel ‘Ducks Newburyport’ (36.30)
And we return to Bernardine Evaristo for the books of her life. (43.30)
