Book Shambles

After a couple of years, Richard Holloway, award winning author and former Bishop of Edinburgh, returns to Book Shambles, albeit remotely. He chats to Robin and Josie about his new book, The Stories We Tell Ourselves which looks at the power, both good and bad, of stories. They look at today's political landscape, grappling with our past and Josie is shocked to learn Richard's never read a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Get an extended version of this, and every, episode of Book Shambles by becoming a Patreon subscriber at patreon.com/bookshambles

Today Josie and Robin are joined by two brilliant authors, Curdella Forbes and Clare Mackintosh. First up they chat to Curdella about her new book, A Tall History of Sugar, and the blending of fact and fiction in that latest, acclaimed novel. In the second interview they are joined by multiple Sunday Times bestseller Clare Mackintosh and chat about the real life tragedy behind her latest novel After the End. To hear the full version of both of these interviews, become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles. Subscribers get extended versions of each and every episode. This week there's a bonus 45 mins of content

Two guests on today's episode. Comedian and novelist Nick Revell joined Robin and Josie in the studio earlier this year to talk about how comedy has changed and reading for research for routines. Then in isolation Robin chats with Ian Stone about his new book To Be Someone about his relationship with The Jam and the violence of the 70s music scene. To hear the full version of both of these interviews, become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles. Subscribers get extended versions of each and every episode. This week there's a bonus 45 mins of content.

On today's episode we have two guests whose books look at two different angles of human evolution. Dave Coplin's Rise of the Humans looks at our evolving and changing relationship with technology while Gaia Vince's Transcendence looks at human evolution as it relates to culture and the objects we create. They both chat to Robin and Josie about their books, the state of humans right now, and why Robin is bad at video games... To hear the full version of both of these interviews, become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles. Subscribers get extended versions of each and every episode. This week there's a bonus 45 mins of content.

On this week's episode Robin and Josie chat with author Dina Nayeri about her new book The Ungrateful Refugee in which she looks back at her journey from leaving Iran as an 8 year old and arriving in the United States as a refugee with her family. They talk about the refugee experience, finding creativity during lockdown, the power of short stories and the challenges of teaching children about difficult subjects. As always Book Shambles Patreon supporters get an extended edition of this week's episode plus, those at the behind the scenes tier, this week also get to watch the episode! Support us at patreon.com/bookshambles

On our first 'remotely recorded' episode of Book Shambles, Robin and Josie are joined by music icon Tori Amos. They chat about Tori's new book, Resistance and playing piano for the Speaker of the House, the current protests in America, being visited by the 'muses' and how Carl Sagan helped her write a song. Sort of... Extended edition, and all sorts of other bonus shows and the like, available as always for our Patreon supporters at patreon.com/bookshambles

Previous winner of the Costa Book of the Year prize Nathan Filer joins Robin Ince in a hotel room back in January to chat about his new book, This Book Will Change Your Mind About Mental Health. They talk about the inspiration behind the book and Nathan's time working as a psychiatric nurse and in mental health research. To hear an extended version of this, and every, episode of Book Shambles, become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles

Brian Greene is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Columbia University and one of the best selling science authors of all time. His latest book, Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe, is a personal look at some of the fundamental questions of existence through the lens of physics. He chats to Robin about the book, why he became a vegetarian, and then vegan, at age 9, and whether alien lifeforms care about maths... Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each episode exclusive to Patreon pledgers.

Geneticist, author and broadcaster Dr Adam Rutherford returned to the Book Shambles studio just weeks before lockdown to talk about his latest book How to Argue with a Racist with Robin Ince. They chat about the history of race and racism, the science of race and whether race should be viewed as biological or social construct. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each episode exclusive to Patreon pledgers. There's bonus tales of bears and otters for you this week...

Oliver Double is a comedian, lecturer and comedy historian and his latest book Alternative Comedy: 1979 and the Reinvention of British Stand-Up is the definitive guide to the legacy of Alternative Comedy in Britain. Oliver interviewed Robin and Josie for the book so it seemed only right Robin and Josie interview Oliver about the book. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each episode exclusive to Patreon pledgers.