http://podularity.com Authors and books. In a pod. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:02:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 en ©George Miller podulari@podularity.com (George Miller) podulari@podularity.com(George Miller) Books 1440 literature, books, writing, authors The on-line books programme Podularity is a regular on-line books programme that features interviews with writers in a wide variety of genres. Join host, George Miller, in conversation with novelists, poets and authors of non-fiction. Think of it as an on-going literary festival on-line. George Miller George Miller podulari@podularity.com No no http://podularity.com/wp-content/images/podularity_logo.jpg http://podularity.com 144 144 http://podularity.com/2010/03/01/41-its-only-a-movie-and-a-book/ http://podularity.com/2010/03/01/41-its-only-a-movie-and-a-book/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:02:26 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/03/01/41-its-only-a-movie-and-a-book/ http://podularity.com/2010/03/01/41-its-only-a-movie-and-a-book/feed/ 00:01:01 Last Monday I met film critic Mark Kermode at the Watershed in Bristol before his event there which formed part of his countrywide tour to ... Last Monday I met film critic Mark Kermode at the Watershed in Bristol before his event there which formed part of his countrywide tour to present his new book, It's Only a Movie. He was remarkably bright and engaged, considering he had been at the BAFTAs the night before and had already done 37 interviews (sic) that morning. Later, he would delight his audience with nearly two hours of anecdotes from his career and opinions on the films he loves and loathes. But before he took to the stage, I talked to him about his career - what his earliest film memories are, why The Exorcist is his favourite film, and what overlooked gems he thinks we should all be seeking out. biography,and,memoir,,film,,podcasts George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2010/02/23/nicola-upson-interview/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/23/nicola-upson-interview/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:05:57 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/02/23/nicola-upson-interview/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/23/nicola-upson-interview/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/19/three-questions-for-simon-winder/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/19/three-questions-for-simon-winder/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:03:25 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/02/19/three-questions-for-simon-winder/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/19/three-questions-for-simon-winder/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/12/40-charles-dickens-a-writers-life/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/12/40-charles-dickens-a-writers-life/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:21:15 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/02/12/40-charles-dickens-a-writers-life/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/12/40-charles-dickens-a-writers-life/feed/ 36:36 We mark the birthday of Charles Dickens earlier this week with a special extended edition of my interview with his biographer Michael Slater from the ... We mark the birthday of Charles Dickens earlier this week with a special extended edition of my interview with his biographer Michael Slater from the end of last year, which originally appeared on Blackwell Online. John Bowen, reviewing the book in the Times Literary Supplement, said: "[it] immediately takes its place as the most authoritative, fair-minded and navigable of modern biographies. Slater, the most distinguished of modern Dickens scholars, is a master of detail and a stickler for dates (there are a dozen or so on the first page) and the book gives a vivid sense of the day-to-day, week-by-week bustle and productivity of Dickensrsquo;s life, its polymorphous inventiveness, its relentless juggling." In this extended version of the interview, you can hear how Michael Slater first became interested in Dickens, what persuaded him to take on the monumental task, and which aspects of Dickens personality and writing have fascinated him most. Click on the link above to listen to the podcast. biography,and,memoir,,literature,,podcasts George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2010/02/09/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-barbara-ehrenreich/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/09/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-barbara-ehrenreich/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:23:38 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/02/09/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-barbara-ehrenreich/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/09/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-barbara-ehrenreich/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/05/books-of-the-decade-rebecca-carter/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/05/books-of-the-decade-rebecca-carter/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:02:55 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/02/05/books-of-the-decade-rebecca-carter/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/05/books-of-the-decade-rebecca-carter/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/04/books-of-the-decade-luke-brown/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/04/books-of-the-decade-luke-brown/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:25:19 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/02/04/books-of-the-decade-luke-brown/ http://podularity.com/2010/02/04/books-of-the-decade-luke-brown/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/14/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-obama-and-smart-power/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/14/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-obama-and-smart-power/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:04:20 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/14/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-obama-and-smart-power/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/14/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-obama-and-smart-power/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/39-on-monsters-an-unnatural-history-of-our-worst-fears/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/39-on-monsters-an-unnatural-history-of-our-worst-fears/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:48:22 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/39-on-monsters-an-unnatural-history-of-our-worst-fears/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/39-on-monsters-an-unnatural-history-of-our-worst-fears/feed/ 19:47 I first became aware of Stephen Asma's book on the fine Washington Post Book World podcast (which sadly is no more). The Post also chose ... I first became aware of Stephen Asma's book on the fine Washington Post Book World podcast (which sadly is no more). The Post also chose the book as one of its top non-fiction titles of the year for 2009, calling it "a safari through the many manifestations of our idea of the monstrous". Their reviewer went on: "I have seldom read a book that so satisfyingly achieves such an ambitious goal." And indeed the book is much more than a mere freakish parade of monsters (though that is a part of its pleasure) - it is rather an investigation of the meaning of monsters. Why do all societies have their monsters? What do they help us cope with? How has the significance of monsters changed as societies have gone from polytheism to monotheism and on through the Enlightenment? And which of our current fears will our future monsters embody? Asma is clearly something of a polymath - not only did he produce many of the illustrations in the book himself, he also combines his academic career at Columbia College in Chicago, where he specializes in the philosophy and history of science, with playing music professionally (you can sample it here). And he has made his own entertainingly creepy trailer for On Monsters, which you can seenbsp;here. Click on the link above to listen to the podcast, or subscribe to Podularity on iTunes using the link in the right hand column above - it's quick, free and easy. history,and,politics,,literature,,podcasts,,religion,and,belief,,science,and,philosophy George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/books-of-the-decade-michael-bywater/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/books-of-the-decade-michael-bywater/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:52:57 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/books-of-the-decade-michael-bywater/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/13/books-of-the-decade-michael-bywater/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/10/poland-a-country-in-the-moon/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/10/poland-a-country-in-the-moon/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:24:23 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/10/poland-a-country-in-the-moon/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/10/poland-a-country-in-the-moon/feed/ 21:07 My guest on this week's programme is Michael Moran, author of A Country in the Moon: Travels in Search of the Heart of Poland. Michael first ... My guest on this week's programme is Michael Moran, author of A Country in the Moon: Travels in Search of the Heart of Poland. Michael first visited Poland in the early 1990s after the collapse of Communism as leader of an ill-assorted crew of British teachers charged with introducing the Poles to the delights of market capitalism. As a pianist, he was attracted by the music of Chopin, but confesses that he knew little about the country. He little suspected that he would fall in love with the country and end up making it his home. A Country in the Moon - the description is Edmund Burke's and dates from 1795, but might still stand for a country which is very little known and all too often reduced to clicheacute; in the West - achieves something very rare for a travel book: it manages to be genuinely funny and entertaining, and also deeply thought-provoking about the many terrible chapters in Poland's history. The book has been widely praised; the Guardian called it "the best contemporary travel book on Poland, reminiscent in its finest moments of Patrick Leigh Fermorrsquo;s masterful Time of Gifts" and said "No thinking traveller interested in Poland should overlook this essential book". The Observer admired how itnbsp; "triumphantly balanc[ed] humour with scholarship", while the Spectator called it "well-researched and hugely entertaining...nbsp; a three-star feast". Click on the podcast player above to find out what Michael finds so attractive about Poland - and what it is like to tour the country in a venerable old Rolls-Royce. biography,and,memoir,,history,and,politics,,humour,,podcasts,,travel George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2010/01/09/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kahn/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/09/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kahn/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:10:05 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/09/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kahn/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/09/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kahn/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/08/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kelly/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/08/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kelly/#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:11:54 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/08/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kelly/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/08/books-of-the-decade-andrew-kelly/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/06/37-hilary-mantel-wolf-hall/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/06/37-hilary-mantel-wolf-hall/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:13:02 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/06/37-hilary-mantel-wolf-hall/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/06/37-hilary-mantel-wolf-hall/feed/ 55:47 I'm delighted to say that the first Podularity podcast of 2010 is devoted to an in-depth interview with 2009 Booker prize winner, Hilary Mantel in ... I'm delighted to say that the first Podularity podcast of 2010 is devoted to an in-depth interview with 2009 Booker prize winner, Hilary Mantel in which she talks about her remarkable novel, Wolf Hall. As far as I can tell, this is the most extensive interview about the book available anywhere on the web. Here's Hilary Mantel on her decision to write about Thomas Cromwell: "Very much I wanted to write about Cromwell. There isn't any other figure I would have picked; he was the main attraction because I was really interested in the path he took from very humble origins, to the Councils of State, to be the king's right-hand man, to be an earl. Other people rise from a humble background but they invariably come through the Church. "Cromwell didn't take that path. He very much created the conditions in which he could succeed, but by doing so [also created] a huge backwash of resentment and ill-will, which I suppose in his own mind must have seemed indefeasible at times. "He had the example before him of his patron and mentor, Cardinal Wolesey, and his fall from power. And so you might say that he must have known all along that he was bound not to succeed. And you know that saying, 'all political careers end in failure sooner or later'. But he obviously thought the game was worth the candle, and with the odds stacked against him, he persevered. "And if he had been able to do even a fraction of what he would have liked to do, the country would have been a very different place." To hear more about Thomas Cromwell and Hilary Mantel's extraordinarily accomplished novel about him, click on the podcast player at the top of this post. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes using the right-hand column above. history,and,politics,,literature,,podcasts George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2010/01/05/three-questions-for-mary-beard/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/05/three-questions-for-mary-beard/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:47:14 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/05/three-questions-for-mary-beard/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/05/three-questions-for-mary-beard/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/books-of-the-decade-roland-chambers/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/books-of-the-decade-roland-chambers/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:13:50 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/books-of-the-decade-roland-chambers/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/books-of-the-decade-roland-chambers/feed/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/where-is-everybody/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/where-is-everybody/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:26:38 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/where-is-everybody/ http://podularity.com/2010/01/04/where-is-everybody/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/19/books-of-the-decade-roger-luckhurst/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/19/books-of-the-decade-roger-luckhurst/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:40:14 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/19/books-of-the-decade-roger-luckhurst/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/19/books-of-the-decade-roger-luckhurst/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/feeding-the-5000/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/feeding-the-5000/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:53:52 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/feeding-the-5000/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/feeding-the-5000/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/books-of-the-decade-peter-sillem/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/books-of-the-decade-peter-sillem/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:11:53 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/books-of-the-decade-peter-sillem/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/15/books-of-the-decade-peter-sillem/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/12/books-of-the-decade-keith-kahn-harris/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/12/books-of-the-decade-keith-kahn-harris/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:43:17 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/12/books-of-the-decade-keith-kahn-harris/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/12/books-of-the-decade-keith-kahn-harris/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/11/books-of-the-decade-mark-vernon/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/11/books-of-the-decade-mark-vernon/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:29:17 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/11/books-of-the-decade-mark-vernon/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/11/books-of-the-decade-mark-vernon/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/09/books-of-the-decade-andy-beckett/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/09/books-of-the-decade-andy-beckett/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:18:52 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/09/books-of-the-decade-andy-beckett/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/09/books-of-the-decade-andy-beckett/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/04/books-of-the-decade-tony-bruce/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/04/books-of-the-decade-tony-bruce/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:25:20 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/04/books-of-the-decade-tony-bruce/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/04/books-of-the-decade-tony-bruce/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/03/books-of-the-decade-katy-derbyshire/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/03/books-of-the-decade-katy-derbyshire/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:20:04 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/03/books-of-the-decade-katy-derbyshire/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/03/books-of-the-decade-katy-derbyshire/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/02/books-of-the-decade-steve-lake/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/02/books-of-the-decade-steve-lake/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:03:44 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/02/books-of-the-decade-steve-lake/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/02/books-of-the-decade-steve-lake/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/three-questions-for-robert-rowland-smith/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/three-questions-for-robert-rowland-smith/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:34:29 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/three-questions-for-robert-rowland-smith/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/three-questions-for-robert-rowland-smith/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/books-of-the-decade-christopher-potter/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/books-of-the-decade-christopher-potter/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:21:48 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/books-of-the-decade-christopher-potter/ http://podularity.com/2009/12/01/books-of-the-decade-christopher-potter/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/27/books-of-the-decade-kirsten-ellis/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/27/books-of-the-decade-kirsten-ellis/#comments Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:35:01 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/27/books-of-the-decade-kirsten-ellis/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/27/books-of-the-decade-kirsten-ellis/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/25/books-of-the-decade-louise-foxcroft/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/25/books-of-the-decade-louise-foxcroft/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:47:00 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/25/books-of-the-decade-louise-foxcroft/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/25/books-of-the-decade-louise-foxcroft/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/20/books-of-the-decade-elizabeth-speller/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/20/books-of-the-decade-elizabeth-speller/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:09:17 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/20/books-of-the-decade-elizabeth-speller/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/20/books-of-the-decade-elizabeth-speller/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/12/did-the-vikings-wear-viking-helmets/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/12/did-the-vikings-wear-viking-helmets/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:43:17 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/12/did-the-vikings-wear-viking-helmets/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/12/did-the-vikings-wear-viking-helmets/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/10/the-wall-and-after/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/10/the-wall-and-after/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:55:05 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/10/the-wall-and-after/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/10/the-wall-and-after/feed/ 15:42 This week's podcast features an interview with Heather Reyes, co-founder of Oxygen Books, and co-editor of the latest addition to their City-Lit series, which ... This week's podcast features an interview with Heather Reyes, co-founder of Oxygen Books, and co-editor of the latest addition to their City-Lit series, which appropriately enough in the week which marks the twentieth anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, paints a portrait in words of Berlin. Although there are plenty of old favourites such as Christopher Isherwood, Alfred Douml;blin and Len Deighton, the emphasis of the book is on unexpected vantage points and new, less familiar voices. So there is no dutiful trot through the city's history "from earliest times to the present day", but instead themed sections which try to get under the skin of the city. Off the beaten track, some of the highlights of the book for me were: Rolf Schneider on the disappearing Berlin pub or Kneipe (it used to be said that every street crossing in Berlin had four corners and five corner pubs - but not any more); Dutch novelist Cees Nooteboom's reflections on a city every inch of which is "steeped in history", from the opening of his novel All Souls' Day; Chloe Aridjis in Book of Clouds on the "ghost stations" on the underground - the deserted, embalmed stations which although on West Berlin lines, happened to lie beneath East Berlin's territory. There's also an excellent piece by Iain Bamforth about Berlin's sense of itself as expressed in its architecture (he coins the memorable phrase "hyperthyroid neoclassicism" for Hitler's default style). He mentions Stephen Spender's visit to Hitler's Chancellery in 1945 and writes: "Spender noted the reams of building manuals above the Fuuml;hrer's bed. Hitler didn't believe in much but he believed in architecture." And Berlin, it seems to me, is hard to better as an expression of what a city's people - or its leaders - believed throughout its history rendered in stone, glass, brick and steel. One of my own favourite books on the city (not included in the City-Lit anthology) is Brian Ladd's Ghosts of Berlin, which looks at how the city has come to terms with its past through the built environment. That may sound rather dry and specialist - it's not, since the past that Berlin has had to come to terms with has so often been so raw and painful. Finally, I wanted to mention Heather's co-editor on this volume, Katy Derbyshire. Katy has contributed many new translations to the book, which adds considerably to its appeal. You can find Katy's blog on German books (Love German Books) here. It's well worth checking out. To listen to the podcast, click on the link above, or go to Podularity's iTunes page using the link in the right-hand column. To see my photo essay on Berlin, click on the "more" link below. history,and,politics,,podcasts,,travel George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2009/11/09/the-cat-and-the-cockroach/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/09/the-cat-and-the-cockroach/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:35:48 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/09/the-cat-and-the-cockroach/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/09/the-cat-and-the-cockroach/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/05/georgian-secrets/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/05/georgian-secrets/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:07:25 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/05/georgian-secrets/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/05/georgian-secrets/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/04/cookery-to-crow-about/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/04/cookery-to-crow-about/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:02:03 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/04/cookery-to-crow-about/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/04/cookery-to-crow-about/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/03/three-questions-for-julian-baggini/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/03/three-questions-for-julian-baggini/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:09:02 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/03/three-questions-for-julian-baggini/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/03/three-questions-for-julian-baggini/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/02/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-civilizations-from-different-galaxies/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/02/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-civilizations-from-different-galaxies/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:29:24 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/02/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-civilizations-from-different-galaxies/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/02/le-monde-diplomatique-podcast-civilizations-from-different-galaxies/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/01/pick-of-the-podcasts/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/01/pick-of-the-podcasts/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:36:43 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/11/01/pick-of-the-podcasts/ http://podularity.com/2009/11/01/pick-of-the-podcasts/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/31/35-a-dons-life/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/31/35-a-dons-life/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:40:20 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/31/35-a-dons-life/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/31/35-a-dons-life/feed/ 32:18 This week marks the second anniversary of Podularity, so I'm delighted to be welcoming back an old friend of the programme, Cambridge professor of classics, ... This week marks the second anniversary of Podularity, so I'm delighted to be welcoming back an old friend of the programme, Cambridge professor of classics, Mary Beard. Mary appeared in programme 15 to talk about her book on the Roman triumph and more recently in programme 28, to talk about Pompeii. This time, we're in conversation about the book of her blog, A Don's Life, which is out in paperback from Profile Books on 5 November. Although - as she explains in the interview - it can be a burden to be constantly described as "wickedly subversive", that's just what she often succeeds in being in her posts. Her subjects range from what Romans wore under their togas to whether Prince Harry should have gone to Afghanistan. To hear how Mary took to the blogosphere - and the blogosphere took to her - click on the link above. And if you listen to the end, you'll find out how high she rates the chances of her appearing on Twitter any time soon... history,and,politics,,podcasts,,technology,and,communication George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2009/10/23/34-after-weve-gone/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/23/34-after-weve-gone/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:41:27 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/23/34-after-weve-gone/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/23/34-after-weve-gone/feed/ 19:07 What would a race of space-travelling aliens 100 million years in the future make of the Earth? "One can imagine that they'll be sufficiently scientifically ... What would a race of space-travelling aliens 100 million years in the future make of the Earth? "One can imagine that they'll be sufficiently scientifically curious to look on the world as extraordinary - because the Earth is extraordinary by comparison with all the other planets. "And then to investigate its future present, as it were, and try to work out how this future present arose and how it survived for so long. And to do that they'll have to play the particular kind of history game that we call geology... they'll have to become fossil detectives..." My guest this week is Jan Zalasiewicz, who is a senior lecturer in the department of geology at the University of Leicester. The first ever edition of Podularity featured a geology title, Ted Nield's Supercontinent, so it's fitting that we return to that subject as the programme approaches its second birthday. In his new book, The Earth after Us, Jan decided to conduct a thought experiment on a grand scale - what would happen if you imagined applying the same techniques as we apply to the study of dinosaurs and other fossils to our own species in some far distant future epoch? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, cars, and plastic cups? How thick a layer will the "human stratum" be? And will it be obvious that our species once dominated the planet? The answers are quite sobering... podcasts,,science,and,philosophy George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2009/10/19/living-on-j-street/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/19/living-on-j-street/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:06:38 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/19/living-on-j-street/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/19/living-on-j-street/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/16/33-through-the-georgian-keyhole/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/16/33-through-the-georgian-keyhole/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:31:04 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/16/33-through-the-georgian-keyhole/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/16/33-through-the-georgian-keyhole/feed/ 32:10 Amanda Vickery on the impression of Georgian life given by National Trust properties today: "They're absolutely empty of life. They're neat and tidy and they don't ... Amanda Vickery on the impression of Georgian life given by National Trust properties today: "They're absolutely empty of life. They're neat and tidy and they don't smell and there's no noise of the household. All of those things are absolutely central to what it was like to live in even quite grand eighteenth-century houses. "Women's letters are full of complaints about how awful it is, how freezing, the stiff-backed ceremony, people coming in, a lack of privacy..." This week's podcast, sponsored by Blackwell Online, features an in-depth interview with Amanda Vickery, whose Behind Closed Doors has just been published by Yale University Press. In the interview we talk about what home meant to the Georgians, both physically and psychologically. Amanda is fascinating on what a detail of domestic interiors as apparently insignificant as wallpaper can tell you about the taste, status and outlook of a household. For those with money, it was a period which saw the dawning of the age ofnbsp; the commercialization of home and simultaneously the feminization of it. While for those of lesser means, such as the Georgians' army of domestic servants, "home" could be a precarious affair - a temporary bed and a wooden box containing a few treasured possessions in your master's house. Amanda's book is richly illustrated in both senses - there are many pictures of domestic interiors and furnishings, but she also tells many stories of what home meant to individuals, which brings the history alive. "We see the Georgians at home as we have never seen them before in this ground-breaking book. Vickery can make a young wifersquo;s arrangement of china into an event of thrilling social and psychological tension. Behind Closed Doors is both scholarly and terrifically good fun. Worth staying at home for." - Frances Wilson, Sunday Times, 11 October 2009 history,and,politics,,podcasts George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2009/10/12/32-what-made-greeks-laugh/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/12/32-what-made-greeks-laugh/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:56:51 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/12/32-what-made-greeks-laugh/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/12/32-what-made-greeks-laugh/feed/ 27:41 "I'm trying to use laughter as a kind of prism, I suppose, through which to examine certain features of the broader culture... "Greeks talk a lot ... "I'm trying to use laughter as a kind of prism, I suppose, through which to examine certain features of the broader culture... "Greeks talk a lot about laughter and so there are a lot of perceptions and representations of laughter in prose texts and poetic texts... It's used all over the place, it's referred to, it's discussed by philosophers and others. "So I really wanted to use it as a prism through which to look at a wider range of Greek values and tensions with in the culture and ways in which Greeks think about many different aspects of life." My guest this week is Stephen Halliwell, Professor of Greek at St Andrews University and winner of this year's Criticos Prize for the best book published on the subject of Greece, ancient or modern. Stephen's book, Greek Laughter, is a vast compendium of information of what made the Greeks laugh and how laughter functioned in ancient Greek society. As the book makes abundantly clear, laughter was far from unproblematic -nbsp; to be laughed down in Greek society was a deeply shameful experience - and laughter was a frequent subject of reflection for philosophers and other ancient Greek thinkers. The book is also fascinating on the links between laughter and early Christianity (by and large, they weren't in favour of it...) Click on the link above to hear the podcast, or subscribe at iTunes (link in right-hand column above). history,and,politics,,humour,,podcasts,,religion,and,belief George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2009/10/05/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge-ii/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/05/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge-ii/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:44:16 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/05/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge-ii/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/05/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge-ii/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/03/31-the-making-of-mr-grays-anatomy/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/03/31-the-making-of-mr-grays-anatomy/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:39:51 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/10/03/31-the-making-of-mr-grays-anatomy/ http://podularity.com/2009/10/03/31-the-making-of-mr-grays-anatomy/feed/ 17:59 "What's so wonderful about Carter's illustrations [for Gray's Anatomy] is that they are not abject people, they are not shown as lumps of meat, they're ... "What's so wonderful about Carter's illustrations [for Gray's Anatomy] is that they are not abject people, they are not shown as lumps of meat, they're not shown as undignified, they're not shown in pain. In fact, many of the illustrations are quite noble... "It's the first real anatomy book for students to be published since the development of chloroform, anaesthesia in general, and I think these bodies are chloroformed bodies. They are not being treated as though they are social outcasts; they're being treated as human beings." My guest on this week's programme is medical historian, Ruth Richardson. Ruth has written a fascinating history of how the most famous medical textbook of all time came to be written - Gray's Anatomy, which is still going strong after more than 150 years and 40 editions. She shows that its success was down to not just Henry Gray, who wrote the text, but also to Henry Carter, who provided the illustrations. In the interview we talk about the very different fates of these two men and also about how medicine as a career was changing in the mid-nineteenth century. But, as you'll hear, much of Ruth's sympathies go to the workhouse poor, who in death provided the models for the illustrations in the book. history,and,politics,,medicine,,podcasts,,science,and,philosophy George Miller no No http://podularity.com/2009/09/30/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/30/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:46:06 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/09/30/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/30/vic-reeves-vast-book-of-world-knowledge/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/24/margaret-atwood-interview/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/24/margaret-atwood-interview/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:11:12 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/09/24/margaret-atwood-interview/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/24/margaret-atwood-interview/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/08/old-dog-new-tricks/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/08/old-dog-new-tricks/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:44:23 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/09/08/old-dog-new-tricks/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/08/old-dog-new-tricks/feed/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/04/30-huns-eye-view/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/04/30-huns-eye-view/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:54:17 +0000 podmeister http://podularity.com/2009/09/04/30-huns-eye-view/ http://podularity.com/2009/09/04/30-huns-eye-view/feed/ 20:21 "The Huns are a blank canvas. That's what makes them so interesting. We know only one word of Hunnic, the word strava, the Hunnic word ... "The Huns are a blank canvas. That's what makes them so interesting. We know only one word of Hunnic, the word strava, the Hunnic word for funeral. We have no Hunnic poetry, we have no Hunnic literature." My guest on this edition of Podularity is Cambridge classicist, Christopher Kelly. His book on Attila the Hun and the part he played in the downfall of the Roman empire has just come out in paperback. In the interview, we talk about the difficulty of writing about someone whose civilization is only preserved in the annals of his enemies, in which the Huns were portrayed as "the scourge of God". Kelly sets that against the opinion of one Roman commentator who came to know Attila and was impressed by the civilization of his court and the Hun leader's command of Latin. And we tackle the key question - to what extent did the Huns bring about the fall of the Roman empire? The end result may not be a "Hun's eye view" - that may well be impossible to recapture - but it does at least demonstrate that Rome was not the only vantage point from which to view the world. As Kelly says in the interview, the Roman empire wrought far more destruction on the continent of Europe than the Huns ever did... history,and,politics,,podcasts George Miller no No