PODCAST · arts
Better Words
by Michelle Gately & Caitlin Toohey
A podcast for readers who want to know the stories behind the pages 📖 Join Caitlin and Michelle, two book nerds who bring you in-depth conversations about writing and publishing from those on the inside. Grab a cuppa and get ready to chat books.
Episodes
-
My Brilliant Career pt 3: a captivating adaptation for a modern audience
Welcome to the final part of our 3-part series celebrating the iconic Australian feminist novel My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. In this episode, Caitlin and Michelle are diving into the new Netflix series adaptation of this Australian classic novel. For your convenience, here's everything...
-
My Brilliant Career pt 2: discussing 'the very first Australian novel'
Welcome to the second of our 3-part series celebrating the iconic Australian feminist novel My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. In this episode, Caitlin and Michelle are discussing the novel, originally published in 1901. About the book: Growing up on her parents’ outback farm, Sybylla is...
-
My Brilliant Career pt 1: Miles Franklin's trailblazing literary life
Welcome to the first of our three-part series celebrating the iconic Australian feminist novel My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. In this first part, Michelle is taking inspiration from Just the Gist (our favourite podcast) to tell Caitlin the incredible life of Stella Miles Franklin. We...
-
Book & film club: Heartstopper Vol. 6 & Heartstopper Forever
The Heartstopper series reaches its conclusion, with Volume 6 in Alice Oseman's beautiful YA graphic novel series and a Netflix movie. We're discussing both the graphic novel and our reactions to the Heartstopper Forever film. Enjoyed this episode? Please share it with a bookish friend to help...
-
Book recommendation bonanza: crime books for people who don't usually read crime
This episode Michelle is giving a round-up of crime book recommendations, especially for people who don’t think they’re fans of crime as a genre. Before we get into that, she shares a fun fact about a connection between The Book Thief and Heated Rivalry. For your convenience, here's everything…
more -
Reviews: The Long Haul, Soft Serve, and Logging Off
This episode we’re sharing reviews of recent reads. Michelle discusses The Long Haul by Hannah Doyle and Logging Off by Adele Zeynep Walton. Caitlin talks about George Kemp’s debut novel Soft Serve. For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in this episode: Mhairi McFarlane...
-
The book adaptation phenomenon: why it's great news for readers and publishing
In this episode, we’re discussing why book to screen adaptations are so vital for the publishing industry and the incredible stats that show just how many people are starting to read because of what they see on screen. Our main source is the Publisher’s Association report on screen adaptations,...
-
Reviews: Fruit Fly and Anne of Green Gables graphic novel adaptations
This episode we’re sharing some reviews of recent reads. Caitlin discusses two graphic novel retellings of Anne of Green Gables: Dan in Green Gables by Rex Ogle and Anne by Kathleen Gros. While Michelle chats about one of her most-anticipated books of 2026, Fruit Fly, by friend of the podcast…
more -
Pansy Books: How Matt Cain is rewriting publishing norms for LGBTQ+ authors
This episode is an extra special one as we welcome Matt Cain back to the podcast to talk about his new venture: he and husband Harry have launched an independent publishing company to get queer voices to mainstream readers. Pansy Books is a brilliant concept, and we are so excited for what Matt…
more -
Book club: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
In this episode, we're discussing Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Unlike review episodes, book club chats will include some spoilers, although we will give ample warning before we switch from a general chat into spoiler territory. About the book: Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and has…
more -
Film club: People We Meet on Vacation
In this episode we’re deep diving into the adaptation of Emily Henry’s The People We Meet on Vacation. Caitlin explains the mysterious changes between the UK and US versions, and we discuss the film. For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in this episode: Hoppers (film)…
more -
Reviews: Half His Age and Lost Lambs
In this episode, we’re reviewing Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy and Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash. Both were provided by publishers for review! For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in this episode: Operation Mincemeat musical Come From Away musical I’m Glad My Mom Died by...
-
Reviews: Esther is Now Following You and Bad Publicity
In this episode we’re reviewing Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam and Esther is Now Following You by Tanya Sweeny. For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in this episode: Red Flags by Sophie Jo Heated Rivalry The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein...
-
Trending TV and London musicals
In this episode we’re discussing things we watched together in January: The Traitors UK, Heated Rivalry and musicals Hercules, and Just For One Day. Caitlin also talks about The Devil Wears Prada and The Mousetrap. For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in this episode: Smart...
-
Book club: Future Boy by Michael J. Fox
We were lucky enough to record this episode together in a studio at Vanishing Point Records in Chesterfield. In this episode, we’re discussing Future Boy by Michael J Fox, which explores how the iconic Back to the Future film was made. For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in...
-
Our 2025 favourites
We were lucky enough to record this episode together in a studio at Vanishing Point Records in Chesterfield. We kick off with a wrap-up of our reading stats for the year: how many books and pages, the moods and re-reads. *Accessed through our work/from the publisher 2024 debut book: Caitlin: The...
-
Aussie rom-com recommendations bonanza and Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run
In this episode, Caitlin gives you dozens of recommendations for brilliant Aussie rom-coms. While Michelle chats briefly about Paul McCartney's new book, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run. For your convenience, here's everything else we mentioned in this episode: Man on the Run (upcoming…
more -
Reviews: Girl Dinner, Park Avenue, The Americans and The Buccaneers
In this episode, we're chatting about: The secret skill of book signings Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake* Park Avenue by Renée Ahdieh* The Americans (TV series) The Buccaneers (TV series) *Accessed through our work/from the publisher But for your convenience, here's everything we mentioned in this...
-
Book Club: The Names by Florence Knapp
In this episode, we're discussing The Names by Florence Knapp. Unlike review episodes, book club chats will include some spoilers (although we'll still try to keep things vague). About the book: It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to...
-
Seasonal reading recommendations (for summer or autumn)
In this episode, we're chatting about seasonal reading: what we're looking for and what it means to us. Then we share some recommendations for the summer ahead in the Southern Hemisphere and autumn vibes for our Northern Hemisphere pals. Enjoy! For your convenience, here's everything we mentioned...
-
Reviews: The Life of a Showgirl, Make Me a Monster and Love Overdue
In this episode, we're chatting about: Michelle's birthday trip to The Lake District and our excitement for the bookish girl autumn Maisie Peters is teasing with her new single Caitlin's brief thoughts on The Life of a Showgirl Kalynn Bayron's supernatural twist on Mary Shelley's classic...
-
Book club: Rytual by Chloe Elisabeth Wilson
In this episode, we're discussing Rytual by Chloe Elisabeth Wilson. Unlike review episodes, book club chats will include some spoilers (although we'll still try to keep things vague). About the book: Marnie Sellick is adrift when she lands a job at the coveted, mysterious beauty brand rytuał...
-
Reviews: Lucy Jane Wood's cosy fantasy, The Book Thief, and The Newsreader
In this episode, we're chatting about: Rewitched and Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood The Book Thief by Markus Zusak The Newsreader (TV series) But for your convenience, here's everything we mentioned in this episode: Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series) Charmed (TV series) Mhairi McFarlane books…
more -
The Thursday Murder Club movie is finally out! Here's what we thought
In this episode, we're chatting about: Behind the scenes of setting up a new bookshop Seeing The Thursday Murder Club in the cinema Our thoughts on the movie as an adaptation (yes, there are some spoilers here) But for your convenience, here's everything we mentioned in this episode: The Rest is...
-
Watching TV the Y2k way and the upcoming releases we're excited for
Oh, hello! We're back and trying a new format. In short: we burnt out and lost the love for making the podcast (although we loved speaking to authors). While we've not been recording podcasts, we have been sharing monthly recommendations on Substack. You can take a look (and subscribe!) here. In...
-
Our 2024 favourites
Welcome to our favourite episode: the yearly wrap! We're sharing our reading stats, 2024 goals and the books, TV, film and audio we loved in 2024. Make sure you're also following us on Substack. On the last day of the month, we share recommendations for two things we reckon you should...
-
Childhood, community and bookselling with Jennie Godfrey
Jennie Godfrey was raised in West Yorkshire and her debut novel, The List of Suspicious Things, is inspired by her childhood there in the 1970s. Jennie is from a mill-working family, but as the first of the generation born after the mills closed, she went to university and built a career in the...
-
From a parenting email to being a US bestseller with Emma Grey
Emma Grey is a novelist, feature writer, photographer, professional speaker and accountability coach. She wrote her first adult novel, The Last Love Note, in the wake of her husband’s death. It’s a fictional tribute to their love, an attempt to articulate the magnitude of her loss and a...
-
Behind the glamour of Hollywood and writing about writers with Pip Drysdale
Pip Drysdale writes ‘sexy-cool’ thrillers with a dash of witty humour. She grew up in Africa, Canada, and Australia, became an adult in New York and London, and lives on a steady diet of coffee, dreams, and literature. Her books — The Sunday Girl, The Strangers We Know, The Paris Affair and The...
-
How we can live in the wake of trauma with Melanie Cheng
Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016 and the Victorian Premier’s…
more -
From writers rooms to writing a novel with Steph Tisdell
Steph Tisdell is a rising star of the comedy scene in Australia. Her acting credits include Class of ’07, Total Control, Bump and Netflix Original Love is in the Air, while her writing credits include Fisk, Bump and Rosehaven. Steph lives in Meanjin with her pet parrots, Parky and Eddie. Today...
-
What it means to be experienced with Kate Young
Kate Young is a writer and cook. Her award-winning Little Library Cookbooks feature food inspired by beloved works of literature. After a sunny Australian childhood, spent indoors reading books, she moved to London, which suited her much better. She now lives in a converted mill in a...
-
Telling authentic teenage stories with Gary Lonesborough
Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin man, who grew up on the Far South Coast of New South Wales as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. Gary has experience working in youth work,...
-
Celebrating Pride with inclusivity and platonic love stories with Anna Zoe Quirke
Anna Zoe Quirke is a queer and autistic author and librarian from the North of England. She currently lives in Manchester with her partner, Rachael, and their very angry tortoise, Sheldon. They’re at their happiest writing stories about queer and neurodivergent people finding and claiming their...
-
Recent reads and musical performances
Welcome to a bonus episode where we catch up on things we've recently bought, read and watched. We've shared bits of this over on Substack, where we post monthly wraps of things we've loved. Books and other things mentioned: Caitlin's trip to PEI Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery I Hope This...
-
The strange timing of stories and juggling creative careers with Sophie Green
Sophie Green is an author and publisher who lives in Sydney. In her spare time she writes about country music on her website, Sunburnt Country Music. Sophie's debut novel, The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club, was a Top Ten bestseller and was shortlisted for the Australian Book...
-
Romance tropes and quitting TV production to become an author with Amy Hutton
Amy Hutton writes contemporary romantic comedies from her home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. An award-winning Television Producer by trade, she walked away from a successful career in network television, to follow her dream of becoming an author. Amy is a Romance Writers of America and Romance...
-
Big love stories and being published in a foreign country first with Emma Steele
Emma Steele was born and raised on the west coast of Scotland before studying law at The University of Aberdeen. Working as a solicitor in Edinburgh, she continued to dabble in her childhood passions of art and creative writing for several years. Emma now writes big love stories with a twist, and...
-
Forms of masculinity and coming of age with Avi Duckor-Jones
Avi Duckor-Jones trained as a lawyer before gaining his MA in creative writing from Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters in 2013. His travel writing has been published with BBC Travel, The NZ Listener and Lonely Planet, among others. Avi has worked as a writing…
more -
Inside East Berlin and never giving up on getting published with Josie Ferguson
Born in Sweden, to a family of writers and readers, Josie Ferguson moved to Scotland when she was two. She returned to Sweden in her twenties, where she completed a vocational degree in Clinical Psychology (MSc). Upon graduating, she moved to London to pursue a career in publishing, something she...
-
The Re-Read: Lauren Draper
Welcome to The Re-Read: bonus episodes where we chat with previous Better Words guests and catch up on what's happened since they joined us on the pod. Lauren Draper is a Melbourne-based writer and marketing professional. She is a graduate of RMIT's Professional Writing and Editing program and…
more -
The Re-Read: Bri Lee
Welcome to The Re-Read: bonus episodes where we chat with previous Better Words guests and catch up on what's happened since they joined us on the pod. Bri Lee is a writer, journalist and activist. Her debut book Eggshell Skull was a multi-award winner. She followed this with Beauty and Who Gets…
more -
Ghostwriting, ego and art with Liam Pieper
Liam Pieper is an author and ABIA-winning ghostwriter. The first was a memoir, The Feel-Good Hit of the Year, shortlisted for the National Biography Award and the Ned Kelly Best True Crime award. His second was the Penguin Special Mistakes Were Made, a collection of funny true stories. He was...
-
The expat experience and TV writing with Brydie Lee-Kennedy
Brydie Lee-Kennedy is an Australian TV writer. She has written on shows for Netflix, Apple TV and Disney. In a former life, she was a cabaret performer, kid's party entertainer and sex columnist. Today, we're discussing her debut novel Go Lightly. Our interview begins at 26.00 We've got a…
more -
The Re-Read: Jodi McAlister
Welcome to The Re-Read: bonus episodes where we chat with previous Better Words guests and catch up on what's happened since they joined us on the pod. Dr Jodi McAlister is a romance author and romance scholar. Her latest novel is Not Here To Make Friends. Listen to our previous chat with Jodi...
-
A novel in stories and exploring family dynamics with Emma Darragh
Emma Darragh spends most of her time on Gadigal and Dharawal Lands. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong, where she works as a sessional academic. Her writing has appeared in numerous Australian publications, including Cordite, Westerly, Meniscus, TEXT, and The…
more -
Food, family and expectation with Lottie Hazell
Lottie Hazell is a contemporary literary scholar, board game designer and writer in Warwickshire. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing and her research considers food-writing in 21st Century fiction. Today, we’re discussing her debut novel Piglet. Our interview begins at 16:00 We've got a Substack...
-
Career apathy and doomed affairs with Madeleine Gray
Madeleine Gray is a writer and critic from Sydney. She was a 2021 Finalist for the Walkley Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism and has written for many publications. She also lived in the UK for several years, has an MSt in English Literature from the University of Oxford and is a current (remote)...
-
Teenage pregnancy and abortion in Northern Ireland with Kelly McCaughrain
Kelly McCaughrain is a YA writer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her first book, Flying Tips for Flightless Birds won the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Award and NI Book Award. She was the Queens University Belfast Children's Writing Fellow 2019-2021. Her new YA, Little Bang, is about...
-
The Re-Read: Libby Page
Welcome to The Re-Read: bonus episodes where we chat with previous Better Words guests and catch up on what's happened since they joined us on the pod. Libby Page became a Sunday Times bestselling author with her debut The Lido and has since become a staple of the 'up-lit' genre with her…
more
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
A podcast for readers who want to know the stories behind the pages 📖 Join Caitlin and Michelle, two book nerds who bring you in-depth conversations about writing and publishing from those on the inside. Grab a cuppa and get ready to chat books.
HOSTED BY
Michelle Gately & Caitlin Toohey
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Better Words have?
Better Words currently has 175 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Better Words about?
A podcast for readers who want to know the stories behind the pages 📖 Join Caitlin and Michelle, two book nerds who bring you in-depth conversations about writing and publishing from those on the inside. Grab a cuppa and get ready to chat books.
How often does Better Words release new episodes?
Better Words publishes regularly with 175 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Better Words?
You can listen to Better Words on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Better Words?
Better Words is created and hosted by Michelle Gately & Caitlin Toohey.
URL copied to clipboard!