Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥

Celeste Callen returns to share her insights on how Henri  Bergson's theories of the 'superficial self' and the 'mechanical man' permeate through Dickens' novels such as The Signal-Man,  Bleak House,  Hard Times, The Chimes,  and Master Humphrey's Clock Celeste Callen holds a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from King's College London and an MSc in Enlightenment, Romantic and Victorian Literature from the University of Edinburgh. She is a third year PhD candidate in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. Her PhD research explores subjective temporal experience in Dickens’ fiction,  through the lens of Henri Bergson’s philosophy of time. Her other areas of interest include representations of selfhood, memory, subjectivity and temporality, as well as reflections on the novel and the philosophy of time more broadly. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable James Swanton  who is performing A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and Haunted Man in person this year at the Dickens Museum. And for those of you listening outside the UK you can watch a live stream of his Haunted Man - filmed inside number 48 Doughty Street - on the 11th December.James read English at Selwyn College Cambridge. Since graduating his acting credits include Sikes and Nancy at London’s Trafalgar Studios, Irving Undead and this years’ upcoming BBC Ghost Story for Christmas Lot No.249His inspirations are far ranging, and a brilliant English teacher by the name of Mr Crisp who took James under his wing when he was at secondary school and set him on the path that he still treads today … Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the award-winning author and food historian Pen Vogler who offers insightful reflections on how Charles Dickens used food as complex metaphors in his novels, that reflect the psychological and societal shifts during the Victorian era. The richly detailed food descriptions in works like A Christmas Carol and Little Dorrit reflect not just the era's celebrated dining etiquettes but sometimes Dickens' own discomfort in these settings.From Pen's new book Stuffed  there's also a hearty discussion on the role of food in society, particularly concerning feeding children, an issue highlighted more than ever during the pandemic. With a nod to the inspiring campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford, Pen finds parallels in Dickens' advocacy for children's rights and a nation's duty to nourish its future generations. We take a bite into history with the contentious debates in Parliament over this responsibility and the impact of land Enclosures on the food system.  Get ready also to rediscover the culinary history of forgotten ingredients like caraway seeds and dried broad beans.  Pen also promises a future Christmas episode. So sit back, savour the flavour of history, and let's dig in! Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Host Dominic Gerrard reads Dickens' account of The Gunpowder Plot from his 1851 A Child's History of England ...Dickens transports back us to 1605, the era of King James I, Guy Fawkes and a conspiracy that shook the nation.This compelling narrative is a tribute to November 5th, a date that continues to resonate through the annals of history. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

It is Publication Eve for today’s guest the inimitable Dr. Helena Kelly.  Her latest book The Life & Lies of Charles Dickens  (published by Icon Books) lifts the cover on what we think we know about Dickens from his friend and sanctioned biographer John Forster.In this episode we try to spend some time with Dickens’ wife Catherine, and understand the enormous struggles they both went through: when Charles’ genius sent their lives into the stratosphere, right from the very start of their marriage, at a time when no-one had written the handbook yet on how to cope with global fame … Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Professor John Bowen who returns to this series to explore the hidden depths beneath the pages of one of Dickens' most iconic ghost stories -The Signal-ManWritten only a year after Dickens  survived the Staplehurst Rail Crash, The Signal-Man finds an author grappling with trauma and the conflicted feelings of fear and wonder at the new railways, mixed with a desperate yearning to know in advance where danger lies …Reading excerpts from the haunting tale is the fantastic actor and director Oliver Dimsdale Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Dr. Emily Bell who guides the listener through the rollercoaster that is Charles Dickens & Wilkie Collins' Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices  - a unique blend of travel writing and ghost stories seen through the eyes of the quintessentially British  characters of Francis Goodchild and Thomas Idle, who amusingly mirror their creators, Dickens and CollinsThis eccentric collection contains within its pages two fantastic ghosts stories - The Dead Hand & The Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber - and other dark flights of fancy that crash in on the everyday. It is a work full of both silliness and mystery and (in spite of its title) the action hardly ever gives in to any idleness ...Reading the excerpts in this episode is the fantastic actor Adam Cunis Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Are you an unsung codebreaker? Does your knowledge and feel for Dickens mean that you could be the next person to crack some of the hieroglyphic mystery of the shorthand system that Dickens created for himself. Or are you able to trace the source of the writings that Dickens read from whilst dictating to his pupil Arthur Stone …?A year ago Dominic caught up with Dr. Claire Wood & Prof. Hugo Bowles on their extraordinary Dickens Code project. Since they last spoke,  Claire and Hugo have not only won the Research Project of the Year: Times Higher Education Award but have now - for the very first time - pooled all of Dickens’ surviving shorthand manuscripts into one place in a special online exhibition entitled - Decoding Dickens: The Shorthand Mysteries …  Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Welcome to this  special one-on-one chat with Armando Iannucci - one of the leading comedy writers and political satirists of our time - where we delve into his literary passions and influences. This lively conversation peels back the layers of Armando's lifelong love of Charles Dickens - Martin Chuzzlewit in particular -and his interest in John Milton's masterpiece Paradise Lost and how these literary giants have left an indelible mark on his work. How he would later go on to write, produce and direct his own adaptation of David Copperfield, and whether he agrees that the character of Alan Partridge belongs in Dickens' canon of comic creations!Plus his current work adapting his mock-verse poem Pandemonium for London's West End. With readings from the wonderful Rebecca Tanwen. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

What does it mean to experience time? Is it a linear journey from past to present, or is it a complex and intricate web of memories, feelings, and experiences? Our guest today is the inimitable Céleste Callen, from The University of Edinburgh, who delves into her thesis that explores subjective temporal experience in Dickens’ fiction,  through the lens of Henri Bergson’s philosophy of time.This episode explores Bergson's seminal works: Time and Free Will  & Matter and Memory  and Dickens' Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Haunted Man and his first person narratives David Copperfield & Great Expectations ...Readings in this episode are from the wonderful Sophie Reynolds and Peter Bray Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!