Book Shambles

Robin Ince's brand new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity is out TODAY! Go grab a signed copy from our bookshop now at cosmicshambles.com/bookshop. To celebrate we did a livestream launch event early this week with Robin talking about the book with our Shambles chum, musician, composer and comedian Tim Minchin. So we've made that conversation available on the podcast this week complete with bonus introduction from Robin and his Science Shambles co-host Dr Helen Czerski. You can watch the full livestream on our YouTube channel. Robin and Tim chat about what they love about science, cosmic vertigo, putting big ideas into song and why you should definitely get the vaccine. Support the podcast by subscribing at patreon.com/bookshambles for extended episodes and more.

Francesca Stavrakopoulou was a guest on the first series of Tips for Existence and now that her first book, God: An Anatomy, has just been released we'd excited to have her on Book Shambles with Robin and Josie to talk about it. They chat about how Francesca had to write the book she wished existed when she was in university, why examining God upsets people and whether God went to the toilet or not... Extended edition for Patreon supporters as ever so please subscribe at patreon.com/bookshambles

On this week’s episode our guest is Kathryn Mannix, a palliative care doctor and author. Kathryn self proclaims that her Mastermind subject would be death, and in her new book Listen she uses her years of experience to deconstruct our difficulty with difficult conversations. This conversation, on the podcast, isn’t difficult but why is it so hard to talk about death, coming out or even answering honestly when someone asks ‘How are you?’. Please note that this episode does contain conversations around subjects some people may find upsetting. To support the podcast, and hear and extended version of this and every other conversation, subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles.

This week our guest couldn't make the interview at the very last minute. Which was unfortunate because obviously we wanted to talk to them and also it meant we didn't have an episode for this week. So since Robin and Josie were already on the Zoom call, they just interviewed each other for half an hour. Hope you enjoy. Normal service will resume next week. Support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles

James Baldwin is one of the most recommended and discussed authors on this podcast so this week's guest is someone who literally wrote the book on Baldwin. Eddie Glaude is a Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and his latest book is Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. he talks to Robin about Baldwin, race in America and what society needs to do to move forward, face up to its past. To hear a super extended version of this interview complete with Baldwin clips and more you can subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles and hear it on the Tips for Existence podcast.

Anil Seth has been researching consciousness for over twenty years and now he's released his first book on the subject, Being You. He joins Robin and Josie to talk about the book and what we do and don't know about consciousness. Are trees consciousness? What is panpsychism? Are there levels of consciousness? Why do some people see the letter B as purple? And now that he's finished writing a book what fiction can he escape into? Extended edition for Patreon supporters of course. Subscribe and support at patreon.com/bookshambles

As part of The Cosmic Shambles Network's takeover of The Speakeasy at this year's Latitude Festival, Dr Helen Czerski was joined by Professor Dan Davis for a live Book Shambles / Science Shambles crossover show. They chat about Dan's new book The Secret Body: How the New Science of the Human Body Is Changing the Way We Live, glowing jellyfish, doing science without a hypothesis, how immune cells are changing how they behave and a whole lot more. To support the podcast, and the CSN at large, subscribe via Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

Isy Suttie was one of our first guests on the podcast many years ago now and as her first ever novel, Jane is Trying, hits shelves this month she returns to talk about with Robin and Josie. They chat about the experience of not writing a novel to sound like a novel, not letting Isy's mum read it, being concerned that coffee granules could be cancerous moles and a whole lot more! Extended edition for Patreon supporters as always. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

This week on Book Shambles Josie and Robin are joined by the Swedish journalist Katrine Marçal to talk about her new book Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men. They chat about how this means we had a man on the moon before we had suitcases with wheels and how electric cars are 'just for girls'. Extended edition for Patreons as ever. Subscribe at patreon.com/bookshambles

You might recognise journalist Rachel England's voice from the Brain Yapping podcast that she co-hosts with Dean Burnett on The Cosmic Shambles Network but today she's a guest on Book Shambles as her first book has just been released. Everyday Activism: How to Change the World in Five Minutes, One Hour or a Day is full of ideas for people who want to make things better, but aren't sure where to start. Robin and guest co-host Helen Czerski talk about changing your search engine, not mowing your lawn and changing the meaning of activism itself. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles