TangoCharlie Posted November 14, 2014 Chris Remo recommended the BBC World Book Club podcast in an old episode of Idle Thumbs. I gave it a whirl, and it turns out it's fantastic. I've been mainlining it ever since. I have read very, very few of the books by the authors featured in the podcast, but it's Relevant To My Interests, and is turning out to be a real treasure trove. It's providing a lot of very interesting insight into the character of some authors, as well. Some shining features: Harriet Gilbert, the host, is the picture of impartiality. Writers from all over the genre spectrum are represented, and she invests as much careful thought, interest, and enthusiasm in the author of quick-read genre-typical airport crime series as she does in and author of plotless, innovative, award-winning literary fiction. I've become accustomed to people sneering at forms of fiction outside their own tastes, so I'm super pleased to find that Harriet's open, welcoming approach is making me excited about books again. My favourite part, though, is how many examples there are of authors kicking the legs out from underneath the searching type of questions you'd recognize from a first-year English class. When asked about the symbolism of the colour red in his novel, one author responds, "oh, I just really like that colour." A question to a different author about time period and setting gets a response along the lines of, "I originally wanted to involve it more closely with WWII, but I realized that would involve more research than I wanted to do." I love these mundane answers. Probably because it feels like vindication for every miserable English-class essay through which I had to suffer. Don't know where to start? I'm currently really enjoying the episode on PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (direct MP3 link), and I enjoyed the one about Camus' THE STRANGER (MP3), even though I haven't read that book. I dunno, most of the episodes are excellent. Next month features William Gibson talking about NEUROMANCER, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm also really appreciating a podcast about entertainment that is platform-agnostic and has very low system requirements. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
namman siggins Posted November 14, 2014 BBC World Book is great.May I also recommend Bookworm: http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm He did an amazing interview with Richard Flanagan http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/richard-flanagan-the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north Not a book cast, but Forum with Michael Krasny did an hour long interview with Colm Toibin http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201410281000 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
