The Waterstones Podcast Archiv
170 Episoden
19 Minuten
A little bonus episode for you, recorded with Jessie Ware and Lennie Ware of Table Manners podcast fame when they came to launch their cookbook at Waterstones Piccadilly. What happens when you combine their passion for food with an equally greedy host and a fine selection of cheese from Paxton and Whitfield? A recipe for disaster? Far from it. Enjoy
Books mentioned: Table Manners
Books mentioned: Table Manners
52 Minuten
In these uncertain times we bring you a podcast that confronts our fears and anxieties to bring a note of hope and even some ideas about what we can do to make the world a better place afterwards. Jenny Offill speaks to us from America about the current coronavirus pandemic, and how she managed to engage with climate change, the opioid crisis and American politics in her new novel, Weather. Rosmaund Lupton shares her techniques for creating suspense in the reader in her latest real-time thriller, Three Hours. And Julia Ebner shares details of her undercover work to document online extremism in Going Dark and what happens when you come face to face with such real world danger.
Books mentioned: Weather, Three Hours, Going Dark, House of Leaves, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Books mentioned: Weather, Three Hours, Going Dark, House of Leaves, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
34 Minuten
Memory gives us the chance to speak to three authors who all approach this theme from completely different directions. Eimear McBride takes us to a series of hotel rooms to see what memories they unearth and how they can warp and change over time. Bestselling food writer Meera Sodha shares some of her first food memories and why preserving family recipes is so important. And Nicci Gerrard shares her personal experience of her father’s dementia and why it encouraged her to write What Dementia Teaches Us About Love.
Books mentioned: What Dementia Teaches Us About Love, Strange Hotel, East, Somebody I Used To Know, The Sense of an Ending, Playthings
Books mentioned: What Dementia Teaches Us About Love, Strange Hotel, East, Somebody I Used To Know, The Sense of an Ending, Playthings
38 Minuten
There is something unique about the bond of motherhood but with social media adding to the pressures already present, how do we keep our expectations realistic when it comes to being a good parent? And does history have anything to teach us about our modern approach? Maggie O’Farrell talks about bridging the gap of 400 years in her fictional portrait of Anne Hathaway and the Shakespeare family in Hamnet. And Giovanna Fletcher joins us in the studio to talk about the realities of modern motherhood; the tears and the tantrums. And that’s just the parents.
Books mentioned: Letters on Motherhood, Hamnet, Motherwell, The Unit, The Republic of Motherhood.
Books mentioned: Letters on Motherhood, Hamnet, Motherwell, The Unit, The Republic of Motherhood.
37 Minuten
What is it that short stories can do that novels cannot? Why does it appeal to some writers and not others? In this episode we embrace the short form and talk to three female writers keen to engage with this unique form of storytelling. Zadie Smith straddles the Atlantic to look at the differences between story culture in the US, UK and beyond. Julia Armfield invokes body horror and genre as she plays with form and liberates herself. And Naomi Ishiguro joins us in the studio to share her journey from student to published author as she launches her debut story collection.
Books mentioned: Escape Routes, Grand Union, Salt Slow, Friday Black, The Light Years, Difficult Women.
Books mentioned: Escape Routes, Grand Union, Salt Slow, Friday Black, The Light Years, Difficult Women.
37 Minuten
Books have provided the inspiration for countless films, plays, musicals, TV series, and other works of art. In Adaptation we speak to R. J. Palacio about seeing her best-seller, Wonder, transferred to the big screen. We hear from Neil Gaiman about the different ways he has adapted his own work into other forms and which he thinks have worked the best. And Margaret Atwood speaks to us about seeing The Handmaid’s Tale become a phenomenon and her own adaptation of the works of Shakespeare.
Books mentioned: Wonder, The White Bird, The Ocean At The End of the Lane, Coraline, Good Omens, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, Hag-seed, This Thing of Darkness, An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth, Not The End of the World
Books mentioned: Wonder, The White Bird, The Ocean At The End of the Lane, Coraline, Good Omens, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, Hag-seed, This Thing of Darkness, An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth, Not The End of the World
41 Minuten
At the start of a new year, and indeed a new decade, we’re taking the theme of Changes to allow us to talk to Dr Rangan Chatterjee about the simple ways in which we can genuinely change our health, happiness and fulfilment without having to take out a gym membership or clear the diary. We also hear from Emily Dean about how losing her sister, mother and father in the space of three years, forced a huge amount of change on her and how she coped with this bereavement. And Claudia Hammond tells us why rest is as important as sleep for human health and happiness and why reading might be the very best way to achieve it.
Books mentioned: Feel Better in 5, Everybody Died, So I Got A Dog, The Art of Rest, All Among The Barley, Queenie
Books mentioned: Feel Better in 5, Everybody Died, So I Got A Dog, The Art of Rest, All Among The Barley, Queenie
35 Minuten
Beware: this episode may make you hungry. We’re joined by gourmand Jay Rayner to look back at the life experiences that shaped his taste as he searches for the ingredients for My Last Supper. Michael Palin shares his experiences of eating around the world and how food can be a great unifier of people who may not even share a language. And Lara Williams talks about subverting the idea of appetite for her stunning debut novel about female friendship.
Books mentioned: My Last Supper, North Korea Journal, Supper Club, An Echo of Scandal, An Apple A Day, The Best of A. A. Gill
Books mentioned: My Last Supper, North Korea Journal, Supper Club, An Echo of Scandal, An Apple A Day, The Best of A. A. Gill
39 Minuten
Malcolm Gladwell brings fascinating anecdotes and insight to why humans are so bad at reading each other on first meeting, drawing on events that end in tragedy, wrongful conviction or compromised security. We also look at another meaning to meeting entirely: that between author and character. Sally Rooney talks about the absurdity of ascribing real psychology to figments of her imagination, people who may not exist and yet whom she feels she knows intimately. Arundhati Roy takes things even further by revealing the unique relationship she has with the characters she creates and the way in which they influence decisions about the books they inhabit.
Books mentioned: Talking To Strangers, Normal People, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, 1913, The Psychopath Test, Just Kids.
Books mentioned: Talking To Strangers, Normal People, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, 1913, The Psychopath Test, Just Kids.
35 Minuten
Author and bookshop owner Ann Patchett joins us to talk about why a bookshop should be at the heart of any community and why book design is more important than ever. Jason Reynolds talks about what binds communities together and gives us his perspective on black culture and its influence around the world. And we also hear from an event around Pride in London at which Zing Tsjeng and Amrou Al-Kadhi interrogate whether corporate sponsorship of events like Pride is a good or bad thing.
Books mentioned: The Dutch House, Long Way Down, Look Both Ways, Unicorn, Forgotten Women, Queer Intentions, Sanctuary, Under Milk Wood, Bold Girls.
Books mentioned: The Dutch House, Long Way Down, Look Both Ways, Unicorn, Forgotten Women, Queer Intentions, Sanctuary, Under Milk Wood, Bold Girls.
33 Minuten
Culture comes in many forms and we’ve tried to cram as much as we can into this week’s episode. Richard Ayoade takes us to the movies with his inimitable perspective on perhaps the best cabin crew dramedy ever filmed: View From the Top starring Gwyneth Paltrow. We get the chance to speak to cultural icon Debbie Harry, who shares what it was like to be in the New York of the 1970s involved in music, fashion, art and filmmaking. And essayist Jia Tolentino talks about the influence of the internet on our culture and why we should be very careful about what we give up to social media.
Books mentioned: Ayoade on Top, Face It, Trick Mirror, A Field Guide To Getting Lost, The Lonely City, The Importance of Music to Girls.
Books mentioned: Ayoade on Top, Face It, Trick Mirror, A Field Guide To Getting Lost, The Lonely City, The Importance of Music to Girls.
37 Minuten
Robert Macfarlane joins us in the studio to talk about the world outside, the climate emergency and how the landscape has shaped his writing and thought over the years. With climate strikes becoming a regular feature we also speak to veteran activist and essayist, Rebecca Solnit, about whether we should be hopeful about the future of the planet. And we actually head outside with the microphone to speak to Professor Shane O’Mara about why the act of walking is far more miraculous and fundamental to being human than we may have imagined.
Books mentioned: Underland, Ness, Whose Story Is This?, In Praise of Walking, Modern Nature, Haunts of the Black Masseur, The Secret Garden.
Books mentioned: Underland, Ness, Whose Story Is This?, In Praise of Walking, Modern Nature, Haunts of the Black Masseur, The Secret Garden.
35 Minuten
You don’t start a new podcast season at this time of year without injecting some thrills and chills. Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being A Wallflower has made us wait 20 years for another novel but with Imaginary Friend he’s back with a bang. He spoke to us about where his idea for it came from and how he provokes reactions from readers. We also get to hear a genuine ghostly encounter from Jeanette Winterson who will have you checking the doors and windows before bedtime. And Andrew Michael Hurley shares his own fascinations with death and the afterlife and why we’re all a little bit obsessed with what happens next.
Books mentioned: Imaginary Friend, Starve Acre, Frankissstein, Ghost Stories, Rivers of London, Thin Air.
Books mentioned: Imaginary Friend, Starve Acre, Frankissstein, Ghost Stories, Rivers of London, Thin Air.
38 Minuten
For our final episode in season one we tackle our nearest (if not dearest). Jeanette Winterson talks about how being adopted has shaped her concept of family and why the future may not look great for its traditional form. A. M. Homes, another adopted child, talks about the differences of writing about family in fiction and memoir. And to finish off we hear from Emilie Pine about her honest and frank personal essay collection and how she managed to share the intimate details of her family life.
BOOKS MENTIONED: Frankissstein, This Brutal House, The Mistresses’ Daughter, May We Be Forgiven, Notes To Self, The Unmumsy Mum, Never Mind, Educated.
BOOKS MENTIONED: Frankissstein, This Brutal House, The Mistresses’ Daughter, May We Be Forgiven, Notes To Self, The Unmumsy Mum, Never Mind, Educated.
47 Minuten
Elizabeth Day, creator of the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast and book joins the team to share failures and to see what their connection is to success. After putting so many of her personal failures in her book, would Elizabeth have any new ones to share? We hear from Man Booker Prize-winner Arundhati Roy about becoming a global sensation with her debut, Man Booker Prize-winning novel and what that meant for her, her friends and her family. And we also hear from Sarah Perry about what it meant to have The Essex Serpent named as Waterstones Book of the Year.
BOOKS MENTIONED: How To Fail, The God of Small Things, Ministry of Utmost Happiness, The Essex Serpent, Mothering Sunday, Painter To The King, On The Come Up, Range, Golden Hill.
BOOKS MENTIONED: How To Fail, The God of Small Things, Ministry of Utmost Happiness, The Essex Serpent, Mothering Sunday, Painter To The King, On The Come Up, Range, Golden Hill.
