Jenny Uglow reads from ‘A Gambling man’

“The old king had been killed in the winter chill at the dead, dark turn of the year; the new king had come in the warmth of spring, like life revived.”

After years in exile, Charles returned to England in May 1660 to become king. Click here to hear Jenny Uglow read about his triumphant return, and the hopes and expectations which it gave rise to.

“The packed theatres, suffocating on hot days, were ripe with the smell of sweat, powder and heady perfume… In the crush there was always a scent of sex, with assignations in the pit and the boxes, glances from audience to stage and back.”

Click here to listen to an extract about the theatre during the Restoration.

Marcus chown reads from ‘We need to talk about kelvin’

“The sun is mostly made of hydrogen and weighs about a billion, billion, billion tonnes. But put a billion, billion, billion tonnes of bananas or a billion, billion, billion tonnes of microwave ovens in one place and the end result will be the same – a glowing ball of gas pretty much as hot as the sun.”

Click here to find out how scientists first discovered how hot the sun is and why.

“One striking feature of the world is so obvious that, like the darkness of the sky at night, it is almost never remarked upon…”

Click here to find out what this feature is.

two questions for marcus chown

1. We asked Marcus to tell us what the hardest scientific concept was that he had had to grapple with in writing We Need to Talk about Kelvin. Click here to find out what he said.
2. Is anybody out there? We asked Marcus about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Click here to hear his answer – it may surprise you!

faber podcast november 2009

Click here to listen to the podcast featuring interviews with Jenny Uglow and Marcus Chown.

And click here for freestanding interview with Jenny Uglow…

and here for the interview with Marcus Chown.