This week, Claire Harman explores the self-possession and vigour of the youngest of the Brontë clan; and Lily Herd on musical brothers at war in a new play.'This Dark Night: The life of Emily Brontë', by Deborah Lutz'Hit Machine', by Jonathan Caren, Soho Theatre, London, until Au ...Show more
The Art of Chaos
This week, Carrie Cracknell joins us to talk about the delights and challenges of directing Tom Stoppard's Arcadia; and Hirsh Sawhney on the empathetic brilliance of Sigrid Nunez.'Arcadia', by Tom Stoppard, Duke of York's Theatre, London, until September 12 2026'It Will Come Back ...Show more
Two worlds collide in this Close Readings fusion episode in which Mary Wellesley talks to Mark Ford about the medieval in Thomas Hardy and the wider Victorian imagination. They discuss why Hardy liked to present himself as an Arthurian knight, his satirisation of the chivalric id ...Show more
What do Jane Austen, Simone de Beauvoir and Herodotus have in common? They all appear in three of this year’s Close Readings series, in which a pair of LRB contributors explore an area of literature through a selection of key works. This week, we’re revisiting some of the highlig ...Show more
What a searching, stimulating conversation this was. Elisa Gabbert joins the podcast to talk about a poem she and I have both long loved, Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus."Elisa is a poet, critic, and essayist—and the author of several books. Her recent titles include Normal Distance ...Show more
LOVE & ROMANCE – Laurie Taylor unpacks different conceptions of love. He’s joined by Raksha Pande, Senior Lecturer in Social Geography at Newcastle University, whose latest research explores arranged marriages amongst people in the British-Indian diaspora. She finds that they hav ...Show more