This week, Breeze Barrington takes us through a history of art with a difference - there are no men; and Larry Wolff talks us through the diva-rich operatic event of the season, the world premiere of The Hours at the Met in New York.

'The Story of Art Without Men' by Katy Hessel

'The Hours' by Kevin Puts

Metropolitan Opera, New York, until December 15. Live transmission in various cinemas, December 10

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Reid on the improbable rise of Volodymyr Zelensky

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/volodymyr-zelensky-biographies-book-review-anna-reid/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Mary Beard talks us through coins and emperors, real and fake, and the hidden networks beneath the Roman Empire; and Norma Clarke discusses the life and work of Rosa Bonheur, a celebrated female artist who kept her radical private life to herself.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michele Pridmore-Brown on the troubled dreams of the gods of the digital universe

https://www.the-tls.co.uk./articles/survival-of-the-richest-douglas-rushkoff-book-review-michele-pridmore-brown/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Baillie Gifford Prizewinner Katherine Rundell describes how John Donne’s life force captivated her; and celebrated actor and playwright Wallace Shawn surveys a lifetime of writing essays.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Berridge on Cormac McCarthy’s long-awaited diptych of conspiracy and nuclear anxiety

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-passenger-stella-maris-cormac-mccarthy-book-review-george-berridge/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we discuss Emmanuel Carrère’s incisive account of France’s judicial response to the Bataclan attacks; and a host of TLS contributors on their favourite books of 2022.

‘V13: Chronique judiciare’ by Emmanuel Carrère

Books of the Year 2022

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Potts considers the inconstancies of John le Carré.

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private-spy-letters-john-le-carre-secret-heart-suleika-dawson-book-review-robert-potts/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Alex Clark and Lucy Dallas explore the rise to prominence of Volodymyr Zelensky, the satirical stand-up turned president and war leader; and blow the cobwebs off the world’s rarest medieval manuscripts.

'The Zelensky Effect' by Olga Onuch and Henry E Hale

'Zelensky: Ukraine’s president and his country' by Steven Derix with Marina Shelkunova, translated by Brent Annable

'The Fight of Our Lives: My time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s battle for democracy, and what it means for the world' by Iuliia Mendel, translated by Madeline G Levine

'Zelensky: A biography' by Serhii Rudenko, translated by Michael M Naydan and Alla Perminova

'The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club' by Christopher de Hamel

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin Thubron on an anthology of human beings straining at the limits.

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/endurance-levison-wood-book-review-colin-thubron/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week André Aciman toasts the genius of Marcel Proust, a century after his death; and Richard Lea on the mesmerising multiverses of John Banville.

The works of Marcel Proust

‘The Singularities’ by John Banville

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Leith on Roald Dahl’s life of plane crashes, bunk-ups, secret agenting – and children’s writing

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/teller-of-the-unexpected-roald-dahl-matthew-dennison-book-review-sam-leith/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we learn about the final years of the Napoleonic era, poke around the exclusive gentlemen’s watering holes of Pall Mall, and discover how Roy Orbison ended up meeting his wife in Batley Variety Club.

’Napoleon: The decline and fall of an Empire, 1811-1821’ by Michael Broers

’Napoleon at Peace: How to end a revolution’ by William Doyle

‘Behind Close Doors: The secret life of London’s private members’ clubs’ by Seth Alexander Thévoz

‘Clubland: How the working men's club shaped Britain’ by Pete Brown

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Thompson on the much-married daughter of Barbara Cartland who became Lady Diana’s stepmother

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/three-times-a-countess-tina-gaudoin-book-review-laura-thompson/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Toby Lichtig interviews the new Booker laureate, Shehan Karunatilaka, and discovers why he killed off his protagonist; and we explore the latest developments in a Chaucerian controversy.

‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Shehan Karunatilaka

Mary C Flannery on Chaucer

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michele Pridmore-Brown considers our quest for godlike immortality

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/hybrid-humans-harry-parker-the-price-of-immortality-peter-ward-book-review-michele-pridmore-brown/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Dunn joins Alex and Lucy to discuss how humanity began to measure the world around it; and Lauren Elkin illuminates the immense artistic contribution of Annie Ernaux, this winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature.

‘Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement’ by James Vincent

The work of Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize laureate 2022

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bill McKibben considers the future of farming in a rapidly warming world

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/rooted-sarah-langford-sixty-harvests-left-philip-lymbery-regenesis-george-monbiot-review-bill-mckibben/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sofia Chelyak joins us to preview this weekend’s Lviv International Book Forum, in which guests including Margaret Atwood and Henry Marsh will join Ukrainian writers and thinkers in an online extravaganza; plus highlights of our live podcast on narrative arcs in fiction, history and politics and how to support a literary fundraiser for those affected by floods in Pakistan.

Lviv International BookForum, 7-9 October 2022

https://airauctioneer.com/books-for-pakistan

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Foster considers the extraordinary variety of animals’ sensory worlds

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/an-immense-world-ed-yong-book-review-charles-foster/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.