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 August 15

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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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 to You', by Sigrid Nunez

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Scarlett Baron puzzles over an attempt to cut Joyce down to size; and Ian Sansom on the sobering realities of balancing the books if you want to be an artist.

'A Shorter Ulysses', by James Joyce and Anthony Burgess

'Making Art and Making a Living: Adventures in funding a creative life', by Mason Currey

'How to Enter the Art World: After a late start, a first career, illness, raising children, a crisis of confidence/leaving it in disgust ...', by Hettie Judah

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Toby Lichtig joins us to mull over what TLS writers are reading this summer; and Hannah Lowe reads a new poem with a botanical theme.

'Jamaican Forget-Me-Not', by Hannah Lowe

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, we continue to enjoy festival season as we listen to Toby Lichtig's conversation with Nigel Planer live from the Hay Festival.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, we join Toby live from the Hay Festival where he talks to Colm Tóibín where they discuss exile and return, secrets and evasion, the avoidance of drama, and how (not) to end a story.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, we join Toby live from the European Writer's Festival where he spoke to novelists Beatriz Serrano and Sulaiman Addonia.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, join us live from Hay Festival.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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May has flown by — here's a listen back at some of the conversations we've had this month on The TLS Podcast.

We hear from Merlin Holland on the afterlife of his grandfather Oscar Wilde, David Horspool on the luscious world of the lido, Samantha Ellis on Charlotte Brontë's relationship with material reality, and Dinah Birch finds solace in letters and diaries from the past.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Dinah Birch finds solace in letters and diaries from the past, whether they be joyous, heartbreaking or down-to-earth; John Talbot reads us his poem of a very specific corner of London.

 A Literary Letter for Every Day of the Year, edited by Liz Ison  

The Writer’s Room: The hidden worlds that shape the books we love by Katie da Cunha Lewin  

Diaries of Note: 366 lives, one day at a time, edited by Shaun Usher  

St Petersburgh Mews, W2, a poem by John Talbot  

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, David Streitfeld takes us to Earthsea and the wonderful imagination of Ursula K. Le Guin; and Samantha Ellis on Charlotte Brontë's relationship with material reality.

'The Word for World: The maps of Ursula K. Le Guin', edited by So Mayer and Sarah Shin

'Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand', by Ursula K. Le Guin

'Ursula K. Le Guin's Book of Cats'

'So Far So Good: Final Poems: 2014-2018'

'A Larger Reality', edited by Conner Bouchard-Roberts

'Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes', by Eleanor Houghton

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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Here is our exclusive conversation with Ed Vulliamy in full as he gives us a look at the letters between his Great-Aunt Gladys and Ezra Pound.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Ed Vulliamy gives us an exclusive look at the letters between his Great-Aunt Gladys and Ezra Pound; and David Horspool dips a toe into the luscious world of the lido.

'Lido Land: How Britain Learned to Make a Splash', by Tom Fort

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Toby Lichtig on a constellation of new fiction; and Merlin Holland on the afterlife of his grandfather, Oscar Wilde.

'The Palm House', by Gwendoline Riley

'Devotions: Eight Stories', by Lucy Caldwell

'The Tribe', by Michael Arditti

'Lázár', by Nelio Biedermann, translated by Jamie Bulloch

'You Are the Führer's Unrequited Love', by Jean-Noël Orengo, translated by David Watson

'After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal', by Merlin Holland

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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April is behind us - here's a look back at some of the conversations we've had this month on The TLS Podcast.

We hear from Fiona Stafford on encounters with remarkable trees, Emily Herring on why we should all slow down a little, Emma Smith on how Shakespeare scholarship wrestles with the gaps in what we know, and Sara Wheeler on the monumental task of becoming Jan Morris’s biographer.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Russell Williams on the French writers laying down their pens; and John-Paul Stonard hails a bravura production of Bertolt Brecht.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until May 30

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Sara Wheeler reflects on monumental task of becoming Jan Morris's biographer; and Abigail Dembo reads us an intriguing new poem.

'Jan Morris: A Life', by Sara Wheeler

'He Wore His Leather Coat', by Abigail Dembo

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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Emma Smith on how Shakespeare scholarship grapples with gaps; and Muriel Zagha admires François Ozon's noir adaptation of Camus's classic novel

'Book Culture in Shakespeare's Stratford: The Quiney Connections', by Marlin E. Blaine, Lena Cowen Orlin, Robert Bearman and Alan H. Nelson

'L'étranger', various cinemas

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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It's been quite a month on The TLS Podcast, here's a listen back at some of the conversations we've had in March.

We hear from Christy Edwall on the joys of being a lifelong bookworm, Sarah Lonsdale on the remarkable Clemence Dane, Julian Evans on two books exploring the link between food and war in Ukraine, and we revisit our interview with the inspirational Michael Morpurgo.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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This week, Emily Herring explains why we all need to take it a bit easier; and Ana Alicia Garza on the novelist whose ancestor inspired a Victorian classic.

'In Defence of Leisure: Experiments in living with Marion Milner', by Akshi Singh

'The Brain at Rest: Why doing nothing can change your life', by Joseph Jebelli

Oliver Twist & Me: The true story of Dickens's best-loved novel', by Nicholas Blincoe

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