London Review Bookshop Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Philip Hoare & Olivia Laing: William Blake and The Sea Monsters of Love Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

In William Blake and The Sea Monsters of Love (4th Estate) – ‘an impassioned magnum opus celebrating Blake’s star-shaken genius by discovering his lineage everywhere in the author’s own crystal cabinet of artists and outlaws,’ in the words of Iain Sinclair – Philip Hoare pays brilliant and digressive tribute to the maverick poet and artist and his abiding influence.

Hoare, author of the classic Leviathan and Albert and the Whale, was joined in conversation by novelist and essayist Olivia Laing.

More from the Bookshop:

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Sasha Debevec-McKenney & Jack Underwood: Joy is My Middle Name Dec 13, 2025

Show notes

Sasha Debevec-McKenney’s debut collection Joy Is My Middle Name (Fitzcarraldo) packs a lot in – humour, heartbreak, politics, sex, race, womanhood, addiction, sobriety, consumerism, pop culture and much else besides. ‘Where else can you read about e-girls twerking to LBJ in hell?’ asks Maggie Millner, author of Couplets. ‘Who else can pack microplastics, adultery, and overalls into the same poem, and make you (literally) cry along the way? No one, that’s who. Sasha Debevec-McKenney is the real freaking deal.’

She read from her work and spoke about it with Jack Underwood, author of A Year in the New Life and Not Even This.

More from the Bookshop:

Discover our author of the month, book of the week and more: ⁠https://lrb.me/bkshppod⁠

From the LRB:

Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subsbkshppod

Close Readings podcast: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/crbkshppod

LRB Audiobooks: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobooksbkshppod

Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/storebkshppod

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

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Jenny Uglow & Fiona Stafford on Gilbert White Dec 10, 2025

Show notes

In A Year with Gilbert White (Faber) biographer and historian Jenny Uglow continues her exploration of the 18th-century scientific revolution with a journey in the company of the father of British natural history, whose The Natural History of Selborne has been constantly in print since 1789 in over 300 editions to date.

Jenny Uglow talked about how the nature notes of an obscure Hampshire clergyman became one of the best-loved books of all time with Fiona Stafford, Professor of English at Somerville, Oxford and author of The Long, Long Life of Trees, The Brief Life of Flowers and Time and Tide.

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Emily LaBarge & Olivia Laing: Dog Days Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

Emily LaBarge’s Dog Days (Peninsula Press) begins with a personal trauma – the account of how she and her family were held hostage during the Christmas holidays of 2009 – building on that experience a dazzling exploration of writing, art and the imagination. Drawing on writers and artists such as Vivian Gornick, Robert Burton, David Lynch and Sylvia Plath, LaBarge picks apart the structures of narrative forms to ask how it might be possible to tell the ‘Good Story,’ and its aftermath, on its own terms. LaBarge was in conversation with writer Olivia Laing.

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Wendy Erskine & Sheena Patel: The Benefactors Dec 06, 2025

Show notes

Wendy Erskine’s two short story collections Sweet Home and Dance Move marked her out as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Irish fiction. Now her first novel The Benefactors (Sceptre) looks set to cement that reputation. ‘In all of its glorious polyphony, The Benefactors brims with humanity’, writes Lucy Caldwell. ‘It’s got snap, it’s got sparkle, it’s got soul. All of Belfast is here, all of life. I adored it.’

Wendy Erskine was in conversation with Sheena Patel, part of the collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE and author of the novel I’m a Fan.

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Ali Smith & Sarah Wood: Gliff in the Spruce Forest Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

Playful, mind-expanding, dark, funny and endlessly rewarding, Ali Smith’s dystopian parable of an authoritarian future was one of the most talked-about new books when published in hardback last year. To mark the appearance of Gliff in paperback, Smith returned to the shop to talk about it with film-maker Sarah Wood.

They also spoke about So in the Spruce Forest, an essay originally written for ‘Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth’, an exhibition in 2023 in Oslo which has now appeared in book form, beautifully printed by the Munch Museum.

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Ed Atkins & Holly Pester: Flower Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

In Flower (Fitzcarraldo), his first work of non-fiction, Copenhagen-based artist Ed Atkins propels us into a world of junk food, invented memories and confessional anti-confessionalism. ‘Sometimes it brought me to tears and I’m not even sure why,’ writes Luke Kennard, ‘It’s the stuff most of us leave out, or wouldn’t even know how to articulate. By which I mean this book has made so much other writing feel like propaganda. It’s heroic. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from it.’

Atkins read from his work and was joined in conversation by poet and novelist Holly Pester.

Find more events at the Bookshop: https://lrb.me/eventspod

From the LRB:

Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subsbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Close Readings podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/crbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

LRB Audiobooks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobooksbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/storebkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Owen Hatherley & Michael Hofmann: The Alienation Effect Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

In the 1930s, tens of thousands of central Europeans sought sanctuary from fascism in Britain. In The Alienation Effect(Allen Lane) acclaimed architectural historian Owen Hatherley draws on an immense cast of artists and intellectuals, including celebrated figures like Erno Goldfinger, forgotten luminaries like Ruth Glass, and a host of larger-than-life visionaries and charlatans, to argue that in the resulting clash between European modernism and British moderation, our imaginations were fundamentally realigned and remade for the better.

Owen Hatherley was joined in conversation about his book by poet and translator Michael Hofmann.

Find more events at the Bookshop: ⁠https://lrb.me/eventspod⁠

From the LRB:

Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subsbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Close Readings podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/crbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

LRB Audiobooks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobooksbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/storebkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

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Ken Worpole & Melissa Benn: Brightening from the East Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

Ken Worpole, ‘a literary original, a social and architectural historian whose books combine the Orwellian ideal of common decency with understated erudition’ (New Statesman), has written on many subjects during his long career, from cemeteries to hospices to the novels of Alexander Baron, but has often returned to the subject of his beloved Essex. His latest essay collection Brightening from the East (Little Toller) focuses on the natural and built landscapes of the ‘region of the mind’ that is the estuarine marshlands of the Thames and the East Anglian coast, bringing us stories of radical communities and arcadian dreams of new ways of living.

Worpole is in conversation with writer and journalist Melissa Benn; the evening will be hosted by writer and producer Gareth Evans.

From the LRB:

Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subsbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Close Readings podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/crbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

LRB Audiobooks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobooksbkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/storebkshppod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

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Paul B. Preciado & Nathalie Olah: Dysphoria Mundi Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

With Testo Junkie, Pornotopia, An Apartment in Uranus and Can the Monster Speak, Paul B. Preciado became established as one of the most exciting and challenging social thinkers of our time. His latest book Dysphoria Mundi (Fitzcarraldo), a mutant text assembled from essays, philosophy, poetry and autofiction, draws on the experience of the Covid pandemic and the social convulsions that accompanied and followed from it to argue that dysphoria, far from being a form of mental illness, is the defining condition of our age. In what is his most accessible and significant work to date he seeks to make sense of a world in ruins around us, at the same time mapping a joyous, radical way forward.

Preciado was joined by Nathalie Olah, author of Bad Taste and Steal as Much as You Can.

From the LRB:

Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subsbkshppod⁠⁠⁠

Close Readings podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/crbkshppod⁠⁠⁠

LRB Audiobooks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobooksbkshppod⁠⁠⁠

Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/storebkshppod⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

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