The TLS Podcast

We talk to Michael Pollan about his new book How To Change Your Mind: The new science of psychedelics, in which he explores the history and landscape of psychedelic drugs, for therapeutic and personal use. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Stig Abell and Lucy Dallas. On the first anniversary of Grenfell Tower, Terri Apter tells us about how art can respond to tragedy; former New York prosecutor David Pitofsky assesses the judicial heft of James Comey; and hear a bit of our interview with Michael Pollan on the beneficial return of psychedelic drugs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesmyn Ward’s most recent novel Sing, Unburied Sing won the National Book Award in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year. In this bonus episode, Jesmyn Ward talks to Roz Dineen about fiction, her characters, living through Hurricane Katrina, and the enormous burden of empathy. This continues a conversation started earlier in the year - and included in the podcast of April 26 - when Jesmyn discussed The Fire This Time, a collection of essays she had edited about racial politics and experience in America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We explore the complex, brutal, swaggering history of pearls and those who found, traded and wore them, with Kathryn Hughes. Sam Byers talks about the self-authored creation that was Michael Jackson and the public's response to him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philip Roth, who died last week aged eighty-five, has left behind a vast literary canon and a complicated legacy. But is there more to this great American novelist than just sordid sex? Ben Markovits shares his thoughts; TLS Features editor, Roz Dineen interviews Man Booker international prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, and her translator, Jennifer Croft; Eric Ormsby explores the significance of context when translating the seemingly immutable text of the Qur’an.BooksFlights by Olga TokarczukThe Koran in English - A biography by Bruce B. Lawrence The Qur'an - A historical-critical introduction by Nicolai Sinai The Sanaa Palimpsest - The transmission of the Qur'a n in the first centuries by Asma Hilali  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re joined by the novelist Margaret Drabble, whose books have for decades chronicled the difficult path to selfhood, particularly for women, and the actor and writer Robert Webb, whose recent memoir How Not To Be a Boy, focuses on how notions of masculinity shape identity. Recorded in front of a live audience at Bath Festival.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world is being slowly poisoned, the environment destroyed. Why don’t we care about such an apocalypse more? Clare Saxby joins us to discuss; Mary Beard considers the cultural legacy of Caligula, that most reviled of all emperors, via a revisionist work of fiction told from the perspective of the emperor's exiled sister; as Arsène Wenger's twenty-two year tenure as Arsenal manager draws to a close, the TLS's History editor and Arsenal fan David Horspool shares his thoughts on football's modern myth-makingBooks  Mourning Nature: Hope at the heart of ecological loss and grief, edited by Ashlee and Karen Landman CunsoloWalking on Lava: Selected works for uncivilised times, edited by Charlotte Du Cann, Dougald Hine, Nick Hunt and Paul KingsnorthEnergy Humanities: An anthology, edited by Imre Szeman and Dominic BoyerCaligula by Simon Turney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Dallas is joined by Madeline Miller to discuss her new book, Circe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Stig Abell and Lucy DallasReal-life millennial Samuel Earle pops in to consider the status of young people in an unequal society, keeping avocado references to a minimum; Ruth Scurr analyses the role of mothers in life and literature; and Madeline Miller talks about inhabiting the role of Circe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In popular science books, including 'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' and 'Reality Is Not What It Seems', the Italian theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has studied the phenomena – namely time and space – that structure our very existence. In doing so, he has become something of a phenomenon himself, praised for his charm, clarity and humour – things we might not immediately associate with the field of quantum gravity. Here, the TLS's Samuel Graydon asks him about his new book The Order of Time Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.