The Hatchards Podcast

In the latest episode of the Hatchards podcast our guest was the historian Sarah Watling, author of Tomorrow Perhaps the Future, an enthralling group biography of a handful of female writers and rebels who aided the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s.Nancy Cunard, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Martha Gellhorn, Gerda Taro and Josephine Herbst – among others – all felt compelled, to varying degrees, to aid the spirited but ultimately doomed defence against Franco’s fascist regime. But what was it about this particular conflict – more so than most others in history – that prompted such widespread and fierce solidarity from the outside? And what kind of legacy did the war leave on these women who travelled to a war zone and risked their lives for a cause they felt morally compelled to support?We spoke to Sarah about the role of the writer in war; explored some of the fascinating personalities featured within her book – most notably the pioneering American journalist Martha Gellhorn; the Spanish Civil War in the popular imagination, and why it is so stubbornly synonymous with just a handful of famous men; parallels between the war in Spain and contemporary causes such as the Ukraine war and Black Lives Matter; and whether or not Nancy Cunard would be an entertaining or insufferable presence on Twitter.Tomorrow Perhaps the Future was published by Vintage on February 9 and is available from Hatchards.co.uk as well as our shops on Piccadilly, at St. Pancras Station and in Cheltenham.

Bret Easton Ellis – one time enfant terrible of American literature, a precociously talented writer who published his first novel when he was barely into his twenties, and author of the classic piece of provocation and perversion American Psycho – is now, at the age of 58, looking back on the era in which he came of age.Set in 1981, his new novel The Shards is a bravura work of auto-fiction steeped in the milieu of Ellis’ seminal early novels, and features many of the hallmarks that first made him famous, notorious and wildly successful: obscenely privileged youth; indulgence and excess; drugs; sex; pop music; and a touch of the old ultra-violence. It is written largely in the same inimitable style (“numbness as feeling”) as those earlier works – including Less Than Zero, which we see the ‘Bret’ of the novel himself trying to perfect.Bret spoke to us about what it was like to revisit this formative period of his youth; the irresistible pull of the music and fashions and sense of freedom he remembers from 1981; blending more traditional “auto-fiction” with the genre trappings of a horror story; his indifference to reviews; and whether he cares about being called “controversial”.California cadres Bret & Ryan also spoke about their respective experiences growing up in the San Fernando Valley while Matt – whose hometown has hitherto not been memorialised in fiction – nodded in silent unrecognition.The Shards was published on January 17 and is available from our three branches in Piccadilly, St. Pancras and Cheltenham, as well as at Hatchards.co.uk.

For our final episode of 2022, one of our most loyal customers dropped in for a festive chat: the sharp-suited national treasure, bookshop-haunter, and newly-Golden Globe-nominated actor, Bill Nighy. Bill kindly took time out for a busy schedule promoting his new film, 'Living,' to talk to us about working with Kazuo Ishiguro; his teenage dreams of literary stardom; his feelings about being known as "Mr. Christmas" following the success of 'Love Actually'; and his enduring affection for Hatchards. Thank you for listening to us throughout the year, happy holidays, and look out for much more from The Hatchards Podcast in 2023.

According to former lorry driver turned Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, Jerry Saltz, art represents "the greatest operating system our species has ever devised to explore consciousness." That is, of course, until they invented the podcast. On this episode, Ryan and Lydia Porter had the distinct pleasure of talking all things visual with America's most famous, and in some corners of the internet, infamous, art critic. In his new book, "Art Is Life", Saltz draws on two decades of work to offer a real-time survey of contemporary art as a barometer of our times. Chronicling a period punctuated by dramatic turning points - from the cultural reset of 9/11 to the rolling social crises of today - Saltz traces how visionary artists have both documented and challenged the culture.Art Is Life offers Saltz's eye-opening appraisals of trailblazers like Kara Walker, Hilma af Klint and Jasper Johns; provocateurs like Jeff Koons, Richard Prince and Marina Abramovic; and visionaries like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. With his signature blend of candour and conviction, Jerry Saltz argues in Art Is Life for the importance of the fearless artist. The result is an openhearted and irresistibly readable appraisal by one of our most important cultural observers.Jerry spoke to us about everything from Tracey Emin to Dolly Parton, to the bankrupt FTX billionaire currently making headlines. We debated the merits of the art market, to whether or not we British are capable of transcending our literary roots to paint what he calls, "the bullsh*t American sublime." While rarely succinct, he is never boring, and full of tremendous curiosity, intelligence, and an enthusiasm for art and artists that cannot be ignored.

The Hatchards Podcast has always been about hard graft. In this episode, resident workaholics Ryan Edgington and Matt Hennessey discuss the life & times of two other (arguably less celebrated) grafters, Charles Dickens and Prince, alongside our special guest, the bestselling novelist and screenwriter, Nick Hornby.Hornby’s excellent new book – Dickens & Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius – uses the example of these two giants to explore the nature of creativity and asks what drove them both to such extremes of productivity. How, exactly, did they get so much done? Is this drive innate or manufactured by experience? Is it better to be perfect or prolific? And is there ever such a thing as ‘wasted talent’?We also asked Nick about his own creative process; the importance of pop culture (especially music) in his work; whether there is a modern equivalent of “the pram in the hall” distracting artists from their toil; and the likelihood of there ever being a Fever Pitch 2.

In this episode we spoke to Melissa Newman – daughter of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward – about her father’s posthumous memoir, 'Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man.'Created from transcripts of recordings originally made by Paul in the 1980s, these candid, reflective and deeply personal reminiscences are interspersed with excerpts of interviews from friends, family and colleagues – among them directors John Huston, Robert Altman and Elia Kazan; fellow actors Tom Cruise, Eva Marie Saint and Robert Wagner; and of course, Joanne Woodward herself – who was married to Newman from 1958 until his death in 2008. The result is a unique insight into one of the most iconic film actors of the twentieth century.In our conversation, Melissa spoke about her father’s complex personality; the sometimes painful, sometimes funny experience of excavating her parents’ past; the knottier truth hidden beneath the ostensibly perfect family exterior; Ethan Hawke’s recent documentary about her parents, The Last Movie Stars; as well as Paul’s insecurities as an actor and his conflicted relationship with fame.She was as open, charming, frank and funny as her father, rightly emphasising his many virtues while also unafraid to acknowledge his flaws.

On the latest episode of The Hatchards Podcast, Ryan and Matt make their (triumphant?) return to interview the illustrious music journalist David Hepworth on the occasion of the release of his new book, "Abbey Road: The Inside Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studio."Many people will recognise the famous zebra crossing. Some visitors may have graffitied their name on its hallowed outer walls. Others might even have managed to penetrate the iron gates. But what draws in these thousands of fans here, year after year? What is it that really happens behind the doors of the most celebrated recording studio in the world? It may have begun life as an affluent suburban house, but it soon became a creative hub renowned around the world as a place where great music, ground-breaking sounds and unforgettable tunes were forged - nothing less than a witness to, and a key participant in, the history of popular music itself. What has been going on there for over ninety years has called for skills that are musical, creative, technical, mechanical, interpersonal, logistical, managerial, chemical and, romantics might be tempted to add, close to magic.David spoke to us about The Beatles' creative relationship with the studio, how its engineers defined the sound of pop music for a generation, and why Ryan is wrong about the legacy of David Bowie.

On this special episode, male-identifying hosts Matt Hennessey and Ryan Edgington have been excommunicated from the programme in favour of guest hosts Lydia Porter and Alessia Arcuri who spoke to Katy Hessel about her new book, "The Story of Art Without Men." How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway?Discover the glittering Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance, the radical work of Harriet Powers in the nineteenth-century USA, and the artist who really invented the Readymade. Explore the Dutch Golden Age, the astonishing work of post-War artists in Latin America, and the women artists defining art in the 2020s. Have your sense of art history overturned, and your eyes opened to many art forms often overlooked or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan this is the history of art as it's never been told before....And lest you had previously considered this show to be too male-dominated, this quasi-tokenistic act of self-immolation on the part of Matt and Ryan now permits us to never again address any future criticisms you may have about this fine programme. Especially if they are warranted.As always, we will continue to accept flattery and well wishes, as well as the occasional pint. This is The Hatchards Podcast... without men.

The latest installment of the Hatchards Podcast is a global affair, recorded variously in Los Angeles, Paris, and North London and featuring our guest Tess Gunty, author of the phenomenal debut novel, The Rabbit Hutch.Set over three sweltering July days in the fictional town of Vacca Vale in the American rust belt, the novel revolves around the residents of ‘The Rabbit Hutch’, a dilapidated housing complex that is home to a motley mix of the Midwest's forgotten and forlorn: damaged teens struggling to deal with the legacy of foster home abuse; an elderly couple besieged by falling rodents; a lonely online obituary editor; and Blandine Watkins, the heroine of the story and its unforgettable central character, upon whom a shocking act of violence is both the beginning and the culmination of this novel.We spoke to Tess about the inspiration for the spellbinding Blandine; the influence of the German mystic, Hildegard of Bingen; the plight of real-life midwestern towns abandoned by the political class; and her own background in the Vacca Vale-esque South Bend, Indiana. Ryan also squeezed in the obligatory film reference in the form of a question about Harmony Korine.

In this episode, we spoke to the inimitable Geoff Dyer, author of books including Out of Sheer Rage, Zona, But Beautiful, The Ongoing Moment, and Broadsword Calling Danny Boy. His new book, The Last Days of Roger Federer and Other Endings, was published by Canongate earlier this month. Ingeniously structured – separated into three sections of sixty chapters, with its 86,400 words representing each second in a day – it is both witty and wise, and examines the late careers of artists as varied as J. M. W. Turner, Nietzsche, D. H. Lawrence, Bob Dylan and the eponymous Federer on its way to asking the question: "Could it be that our deepest desire is for it all to be over?"Less elaborately structured, our freestyle conversation with Geoff is one we reluctantly ended with a reference to a shampoo scam. Before that? The difficulty of retaining what you read; Geoff’s capacity for building atomic weaponry; the case for reading Middlemarch; artist James Turrell's pharaonic Roden Crater project in the Arizona desert; and the genius of Larry McMurtry – all in a mere 2,844 seconds.For initiates and the uninitiated alike, our conversation is a perfect window into the boundlessly curious and original mind of one of Britain's greatest wits.