Book Shambles

In Part 2 of Stewart Lee's second visit to Book Shambles, Stew, Robin and guest co-host Michael Legge continue their conversation getting into the work of Rosemary Tonks, David Keenan, Dave Graney and Ithell Colquhoun. Also Stew doesn't like Dunkirk and Michael's annoyed on trains. This show wouldn't be possible without the support of our brilliant Patreon supporters. You can pledge to the show and get lots of brilliant rewards at patreon.com/bookshambles

Stewart Lee was our first ever guest on Book Shambles and now he’s back in Season 7 as our first return guest. Unfortunately Josie was ill at the last minute so for this episode the role of Josie was played by Michael Legge. Robin, Michael and Stew chat about Jarret Kobek, Alice Cooper and Mohave Ethnopsychiatry. This was a long chat so we’ve split it into two parts. To hear an extended version of this episode, plus lots of other perks you can support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles

Here are two extracts from two longer conversations on our Patreon channel with children's author Christoper Edge and playwright and director Philip Ridley. Both Robin and Josie will be doing a lot more of these non-studio chats in the coming months and you can hear them all by pledging as little as $1 at patreon.com/bookshambles Without the support of our Patreons we simply couldn't make the show so thank you for your support. Christopher's new book 'The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day' is out now and Philip's series of monologues 'Angry' is playing at the Southwark Playhouse.

Following two highly successful cookbooks after she finished runner up on Great British Bake Off, Ruby Tandoh first ‘book’ book Eat Up! has just been published looking at the fun, pleasure and symbolism of food to fly in the face of fads and bad diet science. She joins Josie and Robin to chat about that plus great cookbooks, Nora Ephron, suffragettes and her mental health zine. To hear an extended version of this episode, plus get behind the scenes access, join the Shambles book club and a lot more why not support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles

Science fiction writer Andy Weir joins Robin to talk about his new novel Artemis and his huge hit The Martian. They chat about the pressure of keeping science fiction scientifically accurate, manned space flight and whether science fiction is actually a genre. Andy is also a massive Doctor Who and Star Trek fan so there’s a lot of chat about that and it gets pretty nerdy. Please note that Andy was only very briefly in the UK which coincided with a brief period when Josie wasn’t. Support The Cosmic Shambles Network and Book Shambles at patreon.com/bookshambles Great rewards including behind the scenes access and your chance to be an actual guest on the show!

We kick of Season 7 with the stand up, writer, director and actor Jeff Garlin, who you may know best as Larry David’s agent Jeff from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Robin and Josie chat with Jeff about comic books, Madame Bovary, great books about trees and making sure you don’t confuse Iain Banks with Iain Rankin. New Patreon rewards tiers have been introduced. Find out how to get involved and maybe even be a guest on the show yourself at patreon.com/bookshambles

Start the New year with the final of of our End of Year Specials. Recorded backstage at the Apollo we chat about best books of the year, science fiction, physics and go through Brian Cox's Kindle. Guests include Jim Al-Khalili, Dr Karl, Jo Brand, Charlotte Church, Chris Hadfield, Terry Virts, Dara O Briain and Brian Cox. We'll back at the end of January with series 7 of Book Shambles. Become a patreon supporter and get bonus guests on this episode, plus all new goodies coming for series 7. Go to patreon.com/bookshambles

It's Part II of our end of year specials, but Part I of those we recorded backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo as part of the Compendium of Reason gigs. Guests on this episode include Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Ben Goldacre, Helen Czerski, Jon Butterworth, Steve Mould, Hannah Fry, Laura Kid and Steve Best with book recommendations from photography collections to graphic novels to expansive novels. Be sure to become a Patreon supporter of the show at patreon.com/bookshambles Lots of new perks and bonus content coming in 2018

In the first instalment of our multi part end of year specials Josie and Robin chat about the best books they've read this year. Josie's got some poetry and short book recommendations and Robin's got some horror books and has finally read a Jean Rhys book. Also Nat Metcalfe pops in to give us his top comics of the year. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles  All new exclusive perks coming in 2018..

The 2017 Royal Institute's Christmas Lectures will be given by our good friend, cognitive neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott. So before they air on Boxing Day Sophie joined Robin and Josie to talk about her favourite psychology books, great thrillers, closed bookshops and the latest research on dreams and communication. Be sure to watch the Christmas Lectures on the BBC and also check out Sophie and Josie as part of Cosmic Superheroes at cosmicshambles.com/superheroes Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles  All new exclusive perks coming in 2018.