Artists at Work
- Episodes
- 315
- Released
- several times a week
- Latest episode
- Nov 13, 2026
About the podcast
How creatives write, perform and make art, design and music. The home of arts and culture from BBC World Service.
In The Studio follows the world’s leading creative figures while they work. Nikki Bedi hosts The Arts Hour, with news of the latest releases from around the world, and in World Book Club Harriett Gilbert puts your questions and comments to best-selling authors.
In the Studio episodes are released on Tuesdays, The Arts Hour with you on Fridays and World Book Club drops on the first Saturday of each month.
Episodes 315
The Arts Hour: Asha Puthli, musical pioneer
In a career-spanning interview, Nikki Bedi speaks to the iconic Indian singer Asha Puthli about meeting Salvador Dali, being "rediscovered" by rapper 50 Cent and performing into her eighties. Plus, critic …
Show notes
In a career-spanning interview, Nikki Bedi speaks to the iconic Indian singer Asha Puthli about meeting Salvador Dali, being "rediscovered" by rapper 50 Cent and performing into her eighties.
Plus, critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh discusses this week’s cultural highlights:
American screenwriter, filmmaker and provocateur Quentin Tarantino on his first stage play;
Tenzing is a biopic about the first person to conquer of Mount Everest, alongside Edmund Hillary. We hear from Australian director Jennifer Peedom and Tibetan star Genden Phuntsok;
Oscar-winning Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski discuses Fatherland, his new film about German writer Thomas MannBritish actor Naomi Ackie on her role in the body horror movie, Clayface, the latest addition to the DC Cinematic Universe;
And we hear from M John Harrison, who has just won this year’s Booker Prize for fiction with his dystopian novel, The End of Everything.
In the Studio: Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Camilla Costa follows Sri Lankan/Australian artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran as he creates a work of art in a London park. The new work explores themes of religious iconography, migration and identity. Ramesh …
Show notes
Camilla Costa follows Sri Lankan/Australian artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran as he creates a work of art in a London park. The new work explores themes of religious iconography, migration and identity. Ramesh explains why he has been influenced by artworks that were produced hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. And why he doesn't like colonial monuments.
World Book Club: Ocean Vuong : On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
William Lee Adams is joined by Ocean Vuong to discuss his acclaimed novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous — a luminous and unflinching exploration of family, identity, memory and the complexities of love.The …
Show notes
William Lee Adams is joined by Ocean Vuong to discuss his acclaimed novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous — a luminous and unflinching exploration of family, identity, memory and the complexities of love.
The story unfolds as a letter from Little Dog, a young Vietnamese American man, to his mother, Rose, who is unable to read. Through this intimate act of storytelling, he traces his childhood in Hartford, Connecticut, the inherited trauma of his family’s experiences of war and migration, and the complicated bond between mother and son. As Little Dog reflects on his coming of age, his first love with a boy named Trevor, and the tenderness and brutality that can coexist in human relationships, he searches for a language capable of expressing what his family has struggled to articulate.
Moving between personal memory and collective history, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous examines the lasting effects of war, the experience of being an outsider, the challenges of growing up queer, and the ways violence and love can become entangled across generations. With its striking imagery, poetic prose and profound emotional honesty, the novel asks what it means to tell our own stories when the people we love may never be able to hear them.
Ocean Vuong will be answering questions from our global audience of book lovers. Why craft the novel as a letter to an illiterate recipient? How does he approach the craft of poetry and prose? And are working class authors under threat in contemporary literature?
The Arts Hour. Indian actor and mega-star Ranbir Kapoor
: Nikki Bedi speaks to Indian mega-star and actor, Rabir Kapoor who plays Lord Ram in the epic new movie Ramayana: Rise of a LegendPlus, critic Badisha discusses this week’s cultural highlights:Hollywood star …
Show notes
: Nikki Bedi speaks to Indian mega-star and actor, Rabir Kapoor who plays Lord Ram in the epic new movie Ramayana: Rise of a Legend
Plus, critic Badisha discusses this week’s cultural highlights:
Hollywood star and revered actor John Malkovich on his latest film, Wild Horse Nine
Chilean poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña on her work including her decision to travel to England
Oscar winning British actor Olivia Colman and Emmy Award winning Swedish star Alexander Skarsgard on their folk-frolic film, Wicker
In the Studio: Vietnamese Cinema
Tuyet Vah Huynh meets two film-makers in Hanoi, Nguyen Duy Anh and Bui Kim Quy . Tuyet explains how cinema is booming in Vietnam. In 2025, more than 70 million cinema tickets were sold, and Vietnamese films …
Show notes
Tuyet Vah Huynh meets two film-makers in Hanoi, Nguyen Duy Anh and Bui Kim Quy . Tuyet explains how cinema is booming in Vietnam. In 2025, more than 70 million cinema tickets were sold, and Vietnamese films took more than sixty per cent of the domestic box office. And yet, for audiences in Britain and much of the world, Vietnamese cinema can still feel largely undiscovered. Vietnam has been making films for generations, but outside the country, the image of Vietnam on screen has often been shaped by Hollywood, films about Vietnam, rather than films made by Vietnamese film.
The Arts Hour Indian-Irish poet Nikita Gill
Nikki Bedi speaks to superstar Irish-Indian poet and New York Times-Bestselling author Nikita Gill about her latest “novel in verse Styx: The River” Plus critic Kohinoor Sahota discusses this week’s cultural …
Show notes
Nikki Bedi speaks to superstar Irish-Indian poet and New York Times-Bestselling author Nikita Gill about her latest “novel in verse Styx: The River” Plus critic Kohinoor Sahota discusses this week’s cultural highlights: Oscar-winners Aaron Sorkin and Mikey Madison on their new film, The Social Reckoning “Kinetic artist” Liliane Lijn on growing up in a multi-lingual household and being given Salvador Dali's moustache! South African actor John Kani (King T’Chaka in Black Panther) on playing Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest And fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe alum Florence Pugh on playing "fallen woman" Cathy Ames in the epic new Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden
In the Studio: Yuko Mohri
Neil McCarthy meets Japanese artist Yuko Mohri, as she prepares for a major exhibition. Her sculptures often fuse ordinary objects, such as umbrellas, feather dusters and apples, with unstable forces such as …
Show notes
Neil McCarthy meets Japanese artist Yuko Mohri, as she prepares for a major exhibition. Her sculptures often fuse ordinary objects, such as umbrellas, feather dusters and apples, with unstable forces such as air and water. The results are works of kinetic art that are constantly changing and evolving, as Neil discovers.
The Arts Hour: Elif Shafak
Nikki Bedi speaks to the Turkish-born author about her new novel In One Brief Moment All Eternity. Using the voices of different women, Shafak tells the story of 19th century French writer Gustave Flaubert …
Show notes
Nikki Bedi speaks to the Turkish-born author about her new novel In One Brief Moment All Eternity. Using the voices of different women, Shafak tells the story of 19th century French writer Gustave Flaubert, whose famous book Madame Bovary forever shaped modern fiction.
We hear from New Zealand's Taika Waititi about Klara and the Sun, his new film based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Jamaican author Marlon James discusses The Disappearers, his new Booker-shortlisted story about 1980s homophobia.
French director Stéphane Demoustier on The Great Arch, his new biopic of outsider Danish architect Otto von Spreckelsen
And as a new adaptation of Sense & Sensibility hits the cinemas, British star Daisy Edgar Jones and Australian screenwriter Diana Reid make the case for Jane Austen's enduring relevance and wit.
Joining to give his take on the week's cultural highlights is Guy Lodge, chief film critic at Variety magazine.
Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
In the Studio: Joachim Trier
Another chance to go behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as he makes the follow-up to his international hit The Worst Person In The World. Stephen Hughes got exclusive access to the set of Sentimental …
Show notes
Another chance to go behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as he makes the follow-up to his international hit The Worst Person In The World. Stephen Hughes got exclusive access to the set of Sentimental Value, following the film from pre to post production. In a series of candid interviews, the writer-director reveals the anxiety he feels every time he has to make a movie, and how he is helped by his loyal team: screenwriter Eskil Vogt and producers Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Mone Mikkelsen and Lars Thomas Skare.
The Arts Hour: Visionary filmmaker Boots Riley on his radical new movie I Love Boosters
Nikki Bedi and critic Leila Latif celebrate this year’s London Film Festival with international directors of some of the most playful and provocative upcoming titles.African-American auteur Boots Riley explains …
Show notes
Nikki Bedi and critic Leila Latif celebrate this year’s London Film Festival with international directors of some of the most playful and provocative upcoming titles.
African-American auteur Boots Riley explains the heady cocktail of comedy, shoplifting and politics in his film, ‘I Love Boosters’.
From the Philippines, Rafael Manuel, reveals why he chose an elite Manila golf course as the setting for his social satire, Filipiñana.
Chilean-Indian director Shalini Adnani’s ‘Our Share of Sand’ examines class and patriarchy’, through the eyes of a twelve year old girl who travels from England to India to reconnect with her father.
And Nigerian filmmaker Daniel Oriahi’s “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives” is a dark comedy which explores marriage, jealousy and fertility in a Yoruba family.
The Arts Hour: Tom Cruise on his latest film Digger
Nikki Bedi speaks to Sudanese Russian director Suzannah Mirghani about her latest film, Cotton Queen and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic Hanna Flint: Tom Cruise and Oscar winning Mexican …
Show notes
Nikki Bedi speaks to Sudanese Russian director Suzannah Mirghani about her latest film, Cotton Queen and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic Hanna Flint: Tom Cruise and Oscar winning Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu on their new film, Digger Oscar winning actor Catherine Zeta Jones on reclaiming her Welsh accent in the TV series, Kill Jackie Punjabi-Indian superstar singer Diljit Dosanjh on performing in London's biggest stadium Gonzo journalist Jon Ronson on his latest book, The Castle And Oscar-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri on adapting Thelma and Louise into a stage musical
In the Studio: German Synth Music
In Berlin, three artists have come together to make some unusual music. They’re not a regular rock band in a commercial recording studio, but in an experimental space, where rare vintage synthesisers from Cold …
Show notes
In Berlin, three artists have come together to make some unusual music. They’re not a regular rock band in a commercial recording studio, but in an experimental space, where rare vintage synthesisers from Cold War East Germany sit alongside contemporary instruments. They’re continuing a decades long Berlin tradition of experimental electronic music. In the Studio joins the trio for a couple of days as they push at the envelope of audio possibilities, and hears how musicians from the East and the West influenced each other at the heights of the Cold War. Thanks to the only surviving example of one GDR synthesiser, we’ll literally hear the sound of the other side of the wall in a former divided city.
World Book Club: Paul Tremblay, A Head Full of Ghosts
Josie Long interviews one of the masters of modern horror, Paul Tremblay. He answers your questions on on of his best loved novels, A Head Full of Ghosts.The story centres on the Barretts, a typical New England …
Show notes
Josie Long interviews one of the masters of modern horror, Paul Tremblay. He answers your questions on on of his best loved novels, A Head Full of Ghosts.
The story centres on the Barretts, a typical New England suburban family, torn apart when their eldest daughter, 14-year-old Marjorie, begins to display signs of acute mental illness.
When doctors are seemingly unable to offer any relief, and financial troubles compound the horror of being unable to help their child, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. But the priest offers more than prayers; he knows of a production company that is eager to document their plight, and pay a pretty penny for access. With mounting medical bills, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of a hit reality television show - The Possession. When events in the Barrett household spiral into tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.
Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old memories blur with the edited version presented to the world, and the terrible truth of what happened to the Barrett’s is finally brought to light. Though at the end, readers will still be asking if the events were purely medical, or if there really was a supernatural evil lurking beneath it all. One of Paul’s most beloved works.
Paul answers your questions about the timeless appeal of horror, the power of ambiguity in storytelling, and how demonic possession is perhaps the lesser of all the evils revealed in this story.
The Arts Hour: Saoirse Ronan and Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Nikki Bedi speaks to American poet, author, and artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths about the extraordinary new documentary film Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie and discusses this week’s cultural …
Show notes
Nikki Bedi speaks to American poet, author, and artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths about the extraordinary new documentary film Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic William Lee Adams:
American Irish actor Saoirse Ronan on her cultural hero, Barbra Streisand
French creator and writer Fanny Herrero on her new feature length film, Call My Agent
Chinese American literary star Rebecca F Kuang on her new novel, Taipei Story
Director Dave Green on his Looney Toons film, Coyote vs Acme
And we hear music from Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta
In the Studio: Leïla Slimani takes on Tolstoy
Prix Goncourt-winning writer Leïla Slimani this year completed a trilogy of novels; an era-spanning epic family saga set in Morocco, which concludes with the semi-autobiographical I'll Take The Fire. Never one …
Show notes
Prix Goncourt-winning writer Leïla Slimani this year completed a trilogy of novels; an era-spanning epic family saga set in Morocco, which concludes with the semi-autobiographical I'll Take The Fire. Never one to stay in her comfort zone and compelled to write, she has now embarked on her very first play. She discusses the challenges of adapting Leo Tolstoy’s moralising final novel Resurrection for stage, and the surprising connections with her previous, diverse, body of work. Ahead of the play's world premiere in Lorient next week, theatre director Simon Delétang also joins from his rehearsals with Comédie-Française to discuss collaborating with Slimani on the project.
The Arts Hour: Juliette Binoche and Nicholas Winding Refn
Nikki Bedi speaks to visionary Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn about his latest movie, Her Private Hell, and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic Zing Tsjeng:Plus, we hear from …
Show notes
Nikki Bedi speaks to visionary Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn about his latest movie, Her Private Hell, and discusses this week’s cultural highlights with critic Zing Tsjeng:
Plus, we hear from Oscar-winning French actor Juliette Binoche on her morally complex new film, Queen at Sea
British author Candice Carty-Williams on bringing back her much-loved character, Queenie for her new novel
American actor Bill Pullman on playing groovy jazz legend Bill Evans’ father in a new biopice
And man of the moment, Welsh actor Matthew Rhys on Widow’s Bay and The Beast in Me, which have just earned him a record-breaking scoop at the Emmy Awards
In the Studio: Poet Leonie Charlton on wildfires
An edition of In The Studio on the subject that became the dominant story across the world in the summer of 2026. In December 2024, the Scottish poet Leonie Charlton’s house burned to the ground. From that …
Show notes
An edition of In The Studio on the subject that became the dominant story across the world in the summer of 2026. In December 2024, the Scottish poet Leonie Charlton’s house burned to the ground. From that moment, Leonie was obsessed with fire. She saw it everywhere, writing about and mulling over the acute experience of watching everything she and her family had ever owned go up in flames. In early summer this year, Leonie set off through the ruggedly wild and beautiful landscape of the West Coast of Scotland to write a new poem about fire for her forthcoming collection Deerlands. But, within days, the thousands of wildfires across the world began to take hold, reaching into Scotland too. This is a programme about a poet responding to a personal calamity just at the moment it becomes a global calamity. Presented by Antonia Quirke.
In the Studio: Jack in the Green
In the south of England, Hastings' traditional Jack in the Green takes place every early May Day weekend and sees a seven foot-tall conical tower of leaves - the Jack - being processed through the old fishing …
Show notes
In the south of England, Hastings' traditional Jack in the Green takes place every early May Day weekend and sees a seven foot-tall conical tower of leaves - the Jack - being processed through the old fishing quarters of the town before being led up to a steep hill overlooking the sea where it is 'slain' to release the spirit of summer as the gathered, fervent, crowds take home leaves from him as symbols of luck and fertility. Neil McCarthy goes behind the scenes of one of the biggest celebrations of May Day in the United Kingdom.
In the Studio: The Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry has English history stitched into its fabric, depicting the last time the country was invaded, by William the Conqueror in 1066. France has been its home since then. But now thanks to …
Show notes
The Bayeux Tapestry has English history stitched into its fabric, depicting the last time the country was invaded, by William the Conqueror in 1066. France has been its home since then. But now thanks to high-level negotiations involving President Emmanuel Macron and King Charles III, it will be on display at the British Museum until next summer. Ten colours of woollen thread were used create battlefields and sea voyages on the artwork, as well as scenes of everyday life in the 11th century. Loaded into a specially-built case designed to withstand vibrations, it was transported on its own train under the English Channel – along with a police escort. They even had two practice runs without the tapestry to make sure things ran smoothly. In this episode of In the Studio, where we follow artists as they work, Julian May tells the story of the tapestry’s safe return to England and the preparation for what promises to be a blockbuster exhibition. A million people are expected to see the tapestry and it still inspires memes that show French and English football players in the World Cup wearing chain mail. In the dimly-lit gallery Julian watches while the condition of the Tapestry is checked, as it lies flat in its temperature-controlled case. He witnesses how a millennium after a small group of expert needlewomen embroidered the work of art, a small group of skilled curators – all women too – are nurturing their work: a sisterhood stretching over 70 metres of linen cloth – and a thousand years.
Steve Levine: Revisiting the Beach Boys
Steve Levine is a multi-award winning British record producer. He has produced albums for stars ranging from Deniece Williams to China Crisis; from Ziggy Marley to Quarterflash; as well as being producer of …
Show notes
Steve Levine is a multi-award winning British record producer. He has produced albums for stars ranging from Deniece Williams to China Crisis; from Ziggy Marley to Quarterflash; as well as being producer of Culture Club’s first three multi-platinum selling albums from the 1980s. In 1984 Steve won Producer Of The Year at The Brit Awards, and in 1988 he won a Grammy Award for his work with Deniece Williams The Beach Boys self-titled 1985 CD – which Steve originally produced - was the band’s first to be recorded digitally and featured guest musicians Ringo Starr, Gary Moore and Stevie Wonder, plus a track written by Boy George and Roy Hay of Culture Club. Now, the former Culture Club producer accesses individual tracks from the original London (Red Bus Studios) and Los Angeles (Westlake Audio) session tapes. 40 years later, armed with new technology, Steve is able to transform the sonic quality via equipment that wasn’t available four decades ago. As he undertakes the painstaking studio process of remixing the music for a forthcoming re-release, Steve discusses the process – and the original sessions – in detail, with some music business friends. Those friends include original member of The Go Go’s and solo star Belinda Carlisle; founder member of the band America, Gerry Beckley; poet, author, biographer and documentary film maker Michael Feeney Callan; plus young British music duo Smith & Liddle, otherwise known as Billy Smith and Elizabeth Liddle.
A Magnum Opus Broadcasting production for the BBC World Service Producers: Steve Levine and Lewis Borg-Cardona
Daniyal Mueenuddin : This is Where the Serpent Lives
Harriett talks with Daniyal Mueenuddin about This Is Where the Serpent Lives.Daniyal's debut novel is a rich and compelling portrait of contemporary Pakistan, following the intertwined lives of unforgettable …
Show notes
Harriett talks with Daniyal Mueenuddin about This Is Where the Serpent Lives.
Daniyal's debut novel is a rich and compelling portrait of contemporary Pakistan, following the intertwined lives of unforgettable characters whose fortunes are shaped by love, ambition, loyalty and betrayal. Set against the backdrop of a vast rural estate, the novel explores the lives of servants and landowners, dreamers and opportunists, as they navigate systems of class, power and privilege.
Recorded in front of live audience in Edinburgh, Daniyal will be answering questions about how he created such an intimate portrait of life in Pakistan, the challenges of writing an epic that spans decades, and if it's possible for people to break free of the role society deems they must fulfill.
Introducing: Artists at Work
Harriett Gilbert welcomes you to the Artists at Work podcast feed, the home of arts and culture from BBC World Service, where World Book Club will be joined by In the Studio and the Arts Hour. In The Studio …
Show notes
Harriett Gilbert welcomes you to the Artists at Work podcast feed, the home of arts and culture from BBC World Service, where World Book Club will be joined by In the Studio and the Arts Hour.
In The Studio follows the world’s leading creative figures while they work. Nikki Bedi hosts The Arts Hour, with news of the latest releases from around the world, and in World Book Club Harriett Gilbert puts your questions and comments to best-selling authors.
In the Studio episodes are released on Tuesdays, The Arts Hour with you on Fridays and World Book Club drops on the first Saturday of each month.
Kaarina Parker: Fulvia
Kaarina Parker talks about her debut novel set in ancient Rome - Fulvia. The novel tells the tale of Fulvia, the daughter of a wealthy but inconsequential Roman family. Raised in the country, she yearns for …
Show notes
Kaarina Parker talks about her debut novel set in ancient Rome - Fulvia. The novel tells the tale of Fulvia, the daughter of a wealthy but inconsequential Roman family. Raised in the country, she yearns for excitement, for power. When her father dies and her inheritance is threatened, Fulvia makes her way to Rome to forge her own fate.
There she marries a young aristocrat named Clodius, who is more interested in his hedonistic pleasures than politics. Fulvia is drawn into his world of debauchery, and learns that the balance of power in the Republic is precarious. Her ambition drives them both to political power that draws the attention of the senate, as well as shadowy underworld opponents. The heart of the Empire proves to be a dangerous place, and Fulvia soon learns that her ambitions may come at a terrible cost.
Kaarina will be answering your questions about the place of women in ancient Rome, how to balance historical back with unique storytelling, and why historical fiction from a female perspective is so popular with contemporary readers.
Rachel Kushner: The Mars Room
American author Rachel Kusher talks about her award-winning novel, The Mars Room. The novel follows Romy Hall, as she begins two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, after …
Show notes
American author Rachel Kusher talks about her award-winning novel, The Mars Room. The novel follows Romy Hall, as she begins two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, after killing her stalker.
The story weaves between the two sides of Romy’s existence. First, the prison world where women struggle for the bare essentials of life. Second, the San Francisco of her youth, The Mars Room strip club where she once danced, and days spent with her angelic seven-year-old son, Jackson.
Gritty, daring and sometimes darkly comedic, The Mars Room is both a searing, and deeply empathetic exploration of the American penal system.
Rachel answers your questions about her years of research into prison life, how her protagonist came to be, and if wider societal structures mean some people are pre-determined to end up behind bars.
Presenter: Harriet Gilbert
Karin Slaughter: The Good Daughter
World Book Club welcomes Karin Slaughter to answer your questions about her brutal, heart-rending thriller, The Good Daughter.28 years after the murder of their mother, another horrific crime forces sisters Sam …
Show notes
World Book Club welcomes Karin Slaughter to answer your questions about her brutal, heart-rending thriller, The Good Daughter.
28 years after the murder of their mother, another horrific crime forces sisters Sam and Charlie Quinn to confront the truth about the night that shattered their family so long ago.
Karin will be asking your questions about her attitude to violence in her novels, the dynamics of sisterhood, and why saving public libraries is more important than ever in the modern world.
John Connolly - The Book of Lost Things
Harriett Gilbert welcomes John Connolly to World Book Club to answer your question on his beautiful, but twisted fairy tale - The Book of Lost Things. Set in the Second World War. The novel tells the tale of …
Show notes
Harriett Gilbert welcomes John Connolly to World Book Club to answer your question on his beautiful, but twisted fairy tale - The Book of Lost Things. Set in the Second World War. The novel tells the tale of twelve-year-old David, who mourns the death of his mother while shut up in his attic bedroom with only his books for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him, tempting him... As his family falls apart, David is drawn into a world peopled by heroes and monsters of fairytale and myth, ruled by a shadowy king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things. Not a fairytale for children, the novel is unnerving, psychologically gripping, and achingly tender in parts. It explores how we survive loss, how we can grow braver than we ever thought was possible, and how the stories we cling to can both save us, and scar us. John will answer questions such as what is the hidden meaning behind the monsters young David must confront, why we return to fairy tales throughout our lives, and if he believes in ‘book magic’.
Ragnar Jonasson: The Darkness
Octavia Bright talks to Ragnar Jónasson about his shocking thriller, The Darkness.When Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is unceremoniously told she is being forced into early retirement, she is given …
Show notes
Octavia Bright talks to Ragnar Jónasson about his shocking thriller, The Darkness.
When Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is unceremoniously told she is being forced into early retirement, she is given the chance to work on one last Cold Case, anything she likes. The case she chooses to revive is centred on the death of a Russian asylum seeker, a 27-year-old woman who had been found dead on the icy shore a year before.
As Hulda reopens the case, she discovers that another young woman disappeared at the same time - and that crucial facts have been withheld. Witnesses are evasive, records incomplete, and even her fellow officers appear determined to stall her investigation. With only two weeks to uncover the truth, Hulda must uncover what really happened, even at the risk of her own life.
Ragnar answers listeners questions such as - how he created his detective, Hulda? How the Icelandic landscape shapes his characters and stories? And if he realised the ending of the novel would shock so many of his readers?
Laurent Binet - HHhH
Harriett Gilbert welcomes the French author Laurent Binet to the World Book Club studio to answer your questions about his acclaimed novel HHhH.The book tells the story of the assassination of Reinhard …
Show notes
Harriett Gilbert welcomes the French author Laurent Binet to the World Book Club studio to answer your questions about his acclaimed novel HHhH.
The book tells the story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the chief architects of the Holocaust, and the daring mission carried out by Czech resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Prague. At the same time, Binet places himself into the narrative, obsessively questioning how history should be told, where fact ends and fiction begins, and whether a writer ever has the right to blur that line.
Recorded in front of a live audience at The American Library in Paris, Laurent will be answering your questions about blending history and fiction without betraying the truth, why he chose to make himself writing part of the story itself, and how storytelling is an attempt to confront, or make sense of, the darkest moments in history.
Linwood Barclay - Take Your Breath Away
Harriett Gilbert welcomes master of suspense, the Canadian author Linwood Barclay in the World Book Club Studio, to answer your questions about his thriller 'Take Your Breath Away'.The story centres on Andrew …
Show notes
Harriett Gilbert welcomes master of suspense, the Canadian author Linwood Barclay in the World Book Club Studio, to answer your questions about his thriller 'Take Your Breath Away'.
The story centres on Andrew Mason, whose wife Brie vanished six years ago, making him the prime suspect. But just as he’s beginning to rebuild his life, a mysterious woman resembling Brie suddenly appears, forcing him to uncover the truth about what happened to his wife, uncovering secrets and lies at every turn.
Linwood will be answering your questions, about how to craft a mystery that keeps readers hooked till the last page, how playing with different points of view can mask or reveal the truth, and why vivid settings can be just as important as characters to telling a compelling story.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - The Palace of Illusions
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni into the World Book Club studio to discuss her internationally acclaimed novel, The Palace of Illusions.A luminous reimagining of the …
Show notes
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni into the World Book Club studio to discuss her internationally acclaimed novel, The Palace of Illusions.
A luminous reimagining of the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharat, The Palace of Illusions traces the life of Princess Panchaali—better known as Draupadi—from her miraculous birth in fire to her destiny as the wife of five brothers cheated of their father’s kingdom. Swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, Panchaali stands beside them through years of exile and the terrible civil war that engulfs the kings of India. Along the way, she navigates fierce rivalries, a complex friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, and a forbidden attraction to her husbands’ most dangerous enemy.
With its vivid imagery, lyrical prose and unforgettable characters, Divakaruni’s novel brings to life a world of warriors, gods, and fate, seen through the eyes of a fiery woman determined to shape her own destiny.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni answers readers’ questions about reclaiming women’s voices from myth and legend, the different kinds of love - marital, forbidden and divine, and how mythology can be used to re-write expectations for how people should live their lives even in the modern day.
These are the latest 40 of 315 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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