Book Shambles With Robin And Josie

Recorded live at the British Library as part of the Chortle Comedy Book Festival Robin chat to actor, comedian and broadcasting icon Les Dennis. They talk about his autobiography, Must the Show Go On and share tales of Little and Large, Tommy Cooper and their like as well as discuss favourite showbiz memoirs before Les and Josie swap stories from when they were both of Celebrity Masterchef. Support the show by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles. This week Patreon supporters get a bonus 15 minutes of conversation not on the public feed.

This week's in studio guest is a regular at our live events and joins Robin and guest co-host Helen Czerski to chat about his new book, The Crowd and the Cosmos. Prof Chris Lintott is probably best known as the co-host of The Sky and Night and he chats with us about the Zooniverse Project, why we probably won't find aliens, citizen science and what he's been reading lately. Also Helen lets us know her badminton coach would be a good scientist. Support the podcast and get extended episodes by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

This week Robin is joined by the author, journalist and activist Joan Smith, alongside guest co-host Bec Hill. They focus on Joan's new acclaimed book Home Grown: How Domestic Violence Turns Men Into Terrorists as well as touch on some of her previous work of both fiction and non fiction. Due to the subject nature of her most recent book please be aware this episode contains open discussion about domestic violence, sexual violence and terrorism. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode.

In the first Book Shambles of 2020, Robin is joined by his Science Shambles co-host Helen Czerski to chat with comedian and author Russell Kane. They chat about Russell's new book Son of a Silverback, the reactions to it from other alpha-man silverbacks and children thereof, as well as Evelyn Waugh, personalising comedy, emotional equality, Michael Rosen and much more. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. 15 bonus minutes await pledgers this week including a discussion about why Brian Cox doesn't like jokes about octopuses...

It's our annual books of the year edition of Book Shambles recorded with various guests back stage at the Compendium and Nine Lessons shows. In this year's edition Robin chats to Josie Long, Michael Legge, Pete Etchells, Claudia Hammond, Gecko, Chris Lintott, Chris Hadfield, Jo Neary, Suzi Gage, Lucie Green, Ben Moor, Tim Peake, Lucy Rogers, Peter Buckley Hill, Melinda Burton and Trent Burton. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles

It’s Christmas Eve, so that means ghost stories surely? Robin is joined, for a Book Shambles Extra, by Johnny Mains. Book Shambles listeners may best know Jonny as the co-editor of Dead Funny and Dead Funny Encore, but he’s also a horror historian and author. They chat about his lost collections of old ghost stories written by women, including the new anthology, Remember the Dead at Christmas, Johnny’s work in progress book on Freaks and the thrill of finding rare books in second hand book stores. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions and other goodies.

Our comics experts, Nathaniel Metcalfe and Tom Oldham joined Robin for an update on what'd good in comics and offer some excellent Christmas gift ideas. They chat about new work from Lala Albert, Vic Pratt, Daniel Clowes, Martin Scorese's take on Marvel movies and also try to work out why people didn't like mother! when it's clearly an excellent film. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. 15 bonus minutes await pledgers this week.

Angela Saini's Superior: The Return of Race Science has featured in a lot of Books of the Year lists of late so we thought it high time we had Angela on the show to chat about it, and her other work. She chats with Robin about what she discovered in researching for the book, books that inspired her growing up and the advantages of having an engineer for a father. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions and other goodies.

Professor Jon Butterworth is a regular at many of our live shows and he's also written two top selling popular science books about physics, his latest, A Map of the Invisible, has recently come out in paperback. So he dropped by the studio to chat about it with Josie and Robin as well as climate change, where science meets politics, reading more fiction and Josie's update on Dark Matter. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Author Scarlett Thomas joins Robin and a returning Josie this week to chat about her new book Oligarchy. They look at the inspiration provided by boarding schools, the work of Elizabeth Taylor (not that one), Muriel Spark and Angela Carter. Also Robin and Josie both have a bit of a cold. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode.

Author John Higgs is in the studio this week with Robin and Bec to talk about all things William Blake, which makes sense being that John has just written a new essay on him for the Tate Exhibition and as a major new book coming out next year about Blake. They also talk about AI, climate and the future, the subject of John's latest book The Future Starts Here as well as Elizabeth Taylor, Matt Haig and discover The Beatles were quite good. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. In this week's extended edition find out why Tomorrowland wasn't as bad as Bec thought it would be...

Robin is joined by author Lisa Blower this week to talk about her latest book, It's All Gone Dark Over Bill's Mother's. They chat about highlighting different voices in fiction, caravan holidays, Kit De Waal and the beauty of a novella. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. 10 bonus minutes await pledgers this week.

Best selling science fiction author Peter F. Hamilton joins Robin and Bec in studio this week to talk about what goes into creating massive 'space opera' worlds like that of his latest book Salvation Lost. They talk about science fiction influences, which sci-fi books got turned into movies that were actually good and why Robin's local library wouldn't allow him to order a book by Eric Idle... Support the podcast by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles for as little as $1 a month to get extended episodes and more.

In a Halloween special, comedian and author John Robertson joins Book Shambles this week to talk of his novel, The Little Town of Marrowville with Robin and Bec. Then they talk about the spooky tales of childhood books from horror anthologies to Paul Jennings and the most unsettling things in fiction... Who's that woman standing by the window? The one without any eyes... Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. 15 bonus minutes await pledgers this week.

Lemn is back for part two after a shortened first (that was actually his second) visit to Book Shambles. Robin and Lemn, with Natalie Haynes a super sub for Josie Long, carry on their conversation about 'My Name is Why' and how it has connected with readers in the wider world. All mixed in with tales of Lenny Henry, Julian Barnes and Welsh Miners Workers Libraries. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. 10 bonus minutes await pledgers this week. Lemn will be joining Robin at the Royal Albert Hall on May 17th 2020 as part of Sea Shambles, a huge variety spectacular show along with Steve Backshall, Helen Czerski, British Sea Power, Josie Long and many more! Tickets at cosmicshambles.com/seashambles

Lemn Sissay returns to Book Shambles to chat about his bestseller 'My Name is Why' to chat with Robin and Josie. This is part one of Lemn's return because there was a travel issue, which means this episode is shorter than normal, but we've recorded a full episode with Lemn, with Robin and Natalie Haynes because the following week, Josie was away, and that'll be out next week... In the meantime enjoy this chat of poetry, Harry Potter and lost book shops... Support the podcast by pledging to patreon.com/bookshambles

Author Dan Richards' new book Outpost is all about journeying into the wilderness and finding the edges of civilisation. But Robin and Dan got very sidetracked and didn't talk about that. So go get a copy of Dan's book after you've listened to a conversation about Wind in the Willows, miscast fictional detectives, Winnie the Pooh audiobooks and Keith Moon's interactions with grandmothers... Support the podcast by pledging as little as $1 a month on Patreon at https://patreon.com/bookshambles

Robin, and returning guest co-host Natalie Haynes, are joined by astronomer and astronomy writer Colin Stuart to talk about his new book Rebel Star. They chat about what we know about the sun, and how we know it, the dangers of space weather and why Natalie has issues with both Ray Bradbury and Christopher Nolan... Support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles to hear extended episodes.

Our first ever guest on Book Shambles was Stewart Lee, and with his new book, March of the Lemmings, just released he's back in the studio this week with Robin to chat about it. Given the new book is about Brexit, there's a lot of chat about Brexit, finding the comedy in, but also talk of Steve Jones, William Blake, Marvel comics and what Robin and Stew need to do to make sure they remain members of the metropolitan liberal elite... To hear the extended edition of this, and all, episodes, support the podcast at https://patreon.com/bookshambles Pic by Steve Ullathorne

This week it's all about the classics as Robin is joined by two classicists, Natalie Haynes and Charlotte Higgins. They chat about the best translations of The Odyssey, how much filth the monks permitted, why the classics are frowned upon as 'too high brow' and good entry points for getting into these great Greek tales. Also, spoiler alert, this episode contains spoilers for a number of works written about 3000 years ago. Support the podcast at http://patreon.com/bookshambles to get extended editions of each and every episode. Please note: Although discussed in the context of work written in the 8th century BC, this episode does contain mentions of sexual violence and suicide.