Freedom, Books, Flowers & The Moon

In this week's bumper podcast, George Berridge assesses the legacy of Cormac McCarthy; Toby Lichtig on this summer's ideal reads; and an interview with American novelist Brandon Taylor.'The Late Americans', by Brandon TaylorProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Owen Matthews on the triumph of the Kremlin propaganda machinehttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/russia-ian-garner-jade-mcglynn-alexandar-mihailovic-alexander-etkind-book-review-owen-matthews/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, an exhibition of the Italian Renaissance painter Lavinia Fontana's work thrills Norma Clarke; and Kieran Setiya on Sarah Bakewell's bravura survey of the history of humanism.'Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, rule breaker', at the National Gallery of Ireland until August 27, with accompanying book by Aoife Brady, Babette Bohn and Jonquil O'Reilly'Humanly Possible: Seven hundred years of humanist freethinking, enquiry and hope' by Sarah BakewellProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Thonemann on a civilization that questions its first principles.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-west-naoise-mac-sweeney-book-review-peter-thonemann/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Lucy and Alex head to Hay, and find guest stars Eleanor Catton and Sarah Raven.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Edward Chancellor considers why central bankers have lost the plot with inflation.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/we-need-to-talk-about-inflation-stephen-d-king-book-review-edward-chancellor/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Norma Clarke unpicks the complicated business of family legacy in Polly Toynbee’s memoir; and Nicholas Clee immerses himself in Paul Murray’s multi-generational saga of Irish small-town life.'An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals’ by Polly Toynbee’The Bee Sting’ by Paul MurrayProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Moran explores the weird world of fandom.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/fans-michael-bond-book-review-joe-moran/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, TLS contributors on what art and literature mean in a time of crisis; and we take a trip to the melancholy, beautiful, faded English seaside.‘The Seaside: England’s Love Affair’, by Madeleine BuntingProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Kate Simpson introduces us to the precarious and vital world of the gastropods; and James McConnachie plunges into the teeming waters of the St George’s Channel.‘A World in a Shell: Snail Stories for a Time of Extinctions’ by Thom van Dooren’The Turning Tide: A Biography of the Irish Sea’ by Jon GowerProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abigail Green considers a panoramic account of the continent-wide outbreak of revolutions in 1848.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/revolutionary-spring-christopher-clark-book-review-abigail-green/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ben Hutchinson takes us to Paris to survey the invention of type; and Joe Moran on giving your creativity a workout.‘Imprimer! L’Europe de Gutenberg’, Bibliothèque nationale de France, until July 16'Imprimer! L’Europe de Gutenberg 1450-1520’, edited by Nathalie Coilly and Caroline Vrand‘The Imagination Muscle: Where good ideas come from (and how to have more of them)’, by Albert ReadProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tyler Cowen on the advantages of gradual reform over long-term thinking.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-long-view-richard-fisher-the-lost-future-jan-zielonka-gradual-greg-berman-aubrey-fox-book-review-tyler-cowen/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Lucy and Alex discover how James Shapiro created his landmark work on a formative year in Shakespeare’s life; and Miranda France on her spellbinding study of memoir and creative writing.‘1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare’, by James Shapiro‘The Writing School’, by Miranda FranceProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Throsby on the ruthlessness of the consulting industry.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/consulting-mckinsey-mariana-mazzucato-rosie-collington-walt-bogdanich-michael-forsythe-book-review-david-throsby/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Laurie Maguire is in the audience for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet; and Lucy and Alex catch up with novelist Curtis Sittenfeld on her whistle-stop visit to the UK.‘Hamnet’, an RSC production, from the novel by Maggie O’Farrell‘Romantic Comedy’, by Curtis SittenfeldProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tristram Hunt revisits the monuments controversy. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/monumental-lies-robert-bevan-everyday-like-of-memorials-andrew-shanken-on-the-street-edwin-heathcote-book-review-tristram-hunt/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Historian Emily Baughan on two books chronicling the immense impact of the NHS and the welfare state on the lives of Britons; and a new film explores Patricia Highsmith’s hinterland.’The Welfare State generation: Women, agency and class in Britain since 1945’, by Eve Worth‘Poster, protests and prescriptions: Cultural histories of the National Health Service in Britain’, edited by Jennifer Crane and Jane Hand‘Loving Highsmith’, a film by Eva VitijaProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicola Shulman on two anthologies that display the obituarist’s art.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/lives-less-ordinary-nigel-farndale-eccentric-lives-andrew-brown-book-review-nicola-shulman/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boyd Tonkin visits Complicité’s audacious adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead; and Barnaby Phillips on two Victorian explorers at daggers drawn'Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’, staged by Complicité, based on the novel by Olga Tokarczuk‘River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile’ by Candice Millard Producer: Lucy Dichmont Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.