Mary Renault's Worldbuilding

Perry Anderson once wrote that in Fredric Jameson’s account of postmodernism, ‘the vocation of Western Marxism has reached its most complete consummation.’ Praising the ‘spacious rhythms’ of his ‘complex, yet supple syntax’ and ‘sudden bursts of metaphoric intensity’, Anderson al ...  Show more

For decades after the Roman legions left Britain in the early fifth century, people expected them sooner or later to return. ‘During this bizarre interregnum,’ Pablo Scheffer wrote recently in the LRB, ‘a veneer of romanitas was everywhere.’ But unlike in other parts of the forme ...  Show more

This week, we drop in on a conversation between Mary Beard and two former TLS editors; and Anne Enright joins us to talk about turning poet in her new novel.'Emperor of Rome: Ruling the ancient Roman world', by Mary Beard'Big Caesars and little Caesars: How they rise and how they ...  Show more

This week, Margaret Drabble enjoys an enthralling biography of an adventure writer and his entourage; and Thea Lenarduzzi on the gothic mystery at the heart of her new book.'Storyteller: The life of Robert Louis Stevenson', by Leo Damrosch'The Tower', by Thea LenarduzziProduced b ...  Show more

Mary Robinette Kowal’s work has inspired several episodes of the podcast. She has just written a pair of books that are called the Lady Astronaut duology, and Tracy got the chance to speak with Mary about her work and its historical settings.   Learn more about your ad-choices at ...  Show more

Margaret reads you a reimagining of Hindu mythology by a masterful speculative fiction author.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.