The TLS Podcast

The comedian and writer Helen Lederer joins us to discuss gender and comedy and the new Comedy Women In Print Prize; Lucy Dallas considers a clutch of novels in which animals might offer a little respite from human company; the TLS’s philosophy editor Tim Crane guides us through the riches of this week’s philosophy issue, including how the advent of biological immortality might augur “the greatest inequality experienced in all human history” and what happened when Michel Foucault took LSD in Death Valley To Leave with the Reindeer by Olivia Rosenthal, translated by Sophie LewisAnimalia by Jean-Baptiste del Amo, translated by Frank WynneThe Animal Gazer by Edgardo Franzosini, translated by Michael F. Moore“The last mortals: why we are especially unfortunate to die, when our near-descendants could be immortal", by Regini Rini – see this week’s TLS (in print and online)Foucault in California: A true story, wherein the great French philosopher drops acid in the Valley of Death by Simeon Wade Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Macfarlane joins us to discuss our "peculiar times", the memory of ice, and the world beneath out feet; Margie Orford brings our attention to South Africa at a crucial moment in its history, twenty-five years since the first democratic election and as another makes its mark; Nicola Shulman offers a new theory about race in Disney's original Dumbo, from 1941Underland: A deep time journey by Robert MacfarlaneThe Café de Move-on Blues: In search of the new South Africa by Christopher Hope Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Avengers: Endgame is released, Roz Kaveney sweeps us through the shifting cast of superheroes and, latterly, heroines that populate the Marvel Universe, considers the evolving politics of the comic-book film, and answers the question on (some) people's lips: "but why...?"; Imogen Russell Williams's introduces some of the best writing on LGBTQ themes for children and young adultsAvengers: Endgame Spiderman: Into the SpiderverseJulian Is a Mermaid by Jessica LoveAalfred and Aalbert by Morag Hood Death in the Spotlight by Robin Stevens Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by L. C. RosenProud: Stories, poetry and art on the theme of pride, compiled by Juno Dawson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ruth Scurr on the master biographer Robert A. Caro, whose subjects include Robert Moses, Lyndon B. Johnson and, now, himself; Dmitri Levitin talks us through Diogenes Laertius' Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, an eccentric and often inaccurate guide to early thinkers; Why bother with literary criticism? Whither this generation's Lionel Trilling? Michael LaPointe joins us to discussWorking: Researching, interviewing, writing by Robert A. CaroAmerican Audacity: In defense of literary daring by William GiraldiHater: On the virtues of utter disagreeability by John SemleyLives of the Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laertius, translated by Pamela Mensch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is only one author to whom the TLS devotes an issue every year: William Shakespeare. Michael Caines talks us through the latest theories, research and reviews; Ian McEwan discusses his new novel, Machines Like Me  ‘Still a giddy neighbour’ – Shakespeare’s parish in the 1590s, by Geoffrey Marsh, the TLSThe Bible on the Shakespearean Stage: Cultures of interpretation in Renaissance England, edited by Thomas Fulton and Kristen PooleBelieving in Shakespeare: Studies in longing, by Claire McEachernReligious Conversion in Early Modern English Drama, by Lieke StellingWhat Blest Genius?: The Jubilee that made Shakespeare, by Andrew McConnell StottShakespeare’s Rise to Cultural Prominence: Politics, print and alteration, 1642–1700, by Emma DepledgeShakespeare: The theatre of our world, by Peter ConradMachines Like Me by Ian McEwan (Cape) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The novelist discusses his new book Machines Like Me with the TLS's fiction editor Toby Lichtig Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shauneen Lambe on ephibiphobia, fear of the teenager, and why we get youth justice wrong; Alice Bloch considers new possibilities at the frontiers of sex and robotics; George Berridge explains why now is the time to take out shares in the novelist Max Porter Why Children Follow Rules: Legal socialization and the development of legitimacy by Tom R. Tyler and Rick TrinknerJames GarbarinoMiller’s Children: Why giving teenage killers a second chance matters for all of us by James GarbarinoTurned On: Science, sex and robots by Kate DevlinGrief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, adapted by Enda Walsh (Barbican Theatre, before heading to New York)Lanny by Max Porter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Picard discusses the problems of subject matter and sensationalism in the new opera Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel; Anna Vaux talks us through the Bauhaus school and its global influence, as well as Lucian Freud's compulsion to create and controlBooksJack the Ripper:The Women of Whitechapel by Iain Bell, ENO, until April 12Walter Gropius: Visionary founder of the Bauhaus by Fiona MacCarthyJosef Albers: Life and work by Charles DarwentLucian Freud by Martin Gayford Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Fortey takes us on an energetic sprint through 65 million years of Europe's complex biological history; David Robey introduces the life and work of Emilio Salgari, the Italian Rider Haggard; Ella Baron, the TLS's regular cartoonist, discusses her work, including this week's European cover.BooksEurope: A natural history by Tim FlanneryEmilio Salgari: Una mitologia moderna tra letteratura, politica, società (volumes I and II) by Ann Lawson LucasElla Baron's work will be exhibited at Christie's in London, from April 5 to 10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carol Tavris considers new approaches to the old problem of old age (and the newer problem of old old age); as secularism wanes on the global scale, Rupert Shortt considers whether religion does more harm than good BooksBolder: Making the most of our longer lives by Carl HonoréBorrowed Time: The science of how and why we age by Sue ArmstrongRetirement and Its Discontents: Why we won’t stop working, even if we can by Michelle Pannor SilverWomen Rowing North: Navigating life’s currents and flourishing as we age by Mary PipherOn the Brink of Everything: Grace, gravity and getting old by Parker J. PalmerThis Chair Rocks: A manifesto against ageism by Ashton ApplewhiteDoes Religion do More Harm than Good? by Rupert Shortt Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.