The Critic Books Podcast

📚From prison stints for defacing books, to the historical evolution of the “shelfie”, Emma Smith's Portable Magic is a riot of detail, scholarly insight, and fun. What gives a book its “bookhood“? What makes some volumes so collectable? Francesca Peacock is joined by the literary critic Lucasta Miller — author of Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph (2021) and The Brontë Myth (2001), amongst others — to discuss Smith's new work. 

On this episode, Francesca Peacock is joined by Sarah LeFanu to discuss Marjorie Grant's novel Latchkey Ladies, which has been out of print for just over a century. It was recently republished by Handheld Press, and Sarah — the author of a biography of Rose Macaulay — penned the introduction. 

In this episode of The Critic Books Podcast, Francesca Peacock is in conversation with Alexander Larman about his piece in the April issue of the magazine: “How to be a cult writer”. What makes a writer “cult”? Is Iris Murdoch a cult writer? Is Ian McEwan? What is the difference between a cult figure and a coterie figure? All these questions are discussed, alongside Byron, Rochester, Virginia Woolf, and Nancy Mitford. 

What makes it "Stewkey" rather than "Stifkey"? How has Norfolk and Norwich changed in the last few decades? What is different about writing short stories rather than novels? In this episode of The Critic books podcast, D J Taylor speaks about his new collection of short stories — all based in the Norfolk area. 

What happens when two women meet on the train and agree to murder their ex-husbands? Amanda Craig's latest novel is a panoramic look at Britain in the wake of Brexit, and asks what it takes to push people to their limits. 

What happened in the decade Britain was without a monarch? Was day-to-day life altered by the revolution? Paul Lay, The Critic's Literary Editor, speaks to Anna Keay about her new book The Restless Republic, which seeks to answer these questions.

A cross-dressing sailor, renowned pick-pocket, and a mad Duchess — the women of Holly Kyte's Roaring Girls are anything but boring. By exploring the lives of eight broadly unknown women from early modern British history through to the eighteenth century, Holly Kyte asks what it meant to strain at the limits of womanhood before feminism was even a nascent movement.

Set across Oxford, London, and Karachi — and between 1981 and 2003 — Yasmin Cordery Khan's debut novel is a mix of family drama and mystery. Francesca Peacock spoke to her about the book, and they touch on everything from Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty to the BCCI crisis. 

It is 100 years since John Reith, Arthur Burrows, and Cecil Lewis first set up the British Broadcasting Company, as it was then known. A General Strike, a world war, and a number of scandals later — Auntie Beeb is now a well-known fixture in British life. Francesca Peacock spoke to David Hendy about his new history of the corporation, which takes a look at the BBC right through from its early days to the recent history of the pandemic. 

Set in Prussia and Australia in 1836, Devotion is a story of suppression, repression, and love. Francesca Peacock spoke to Hannah Kent about the historical basis behind her novel, and its contemporary importance. 

In 1988, James Birch staged an exhibition of Francis Bacon's works in Moscow — still behind the Iron Curtain at the time. Honeytraps, KGB officers, and the London Soho art scene: his new book is a snapshot of a very special moment in time. 

Burntcoat was one of the first “pandemic novels” to be published in 2021. Francesca Peacock spoke to Sarah Hall about the difficulties of taking inspiration from such a real event, the importance of memorialising death, and the struggles of writing about art. 

Heather Cass White — the editor of the New Collected Poems of Marianne Moore — speaks to Francesca Peacock about the difficulties of editing Moore, her tendency to drastically revise her own work, and the beauty in her complexity. 

Salena Godden's debut novel tells the story of Mrs Death — the female shape-shifting spirit of death herself. It is a bold, imaginative novel that takes its readers from Victorian London through to contemporary Ireland, and laments the loss of figures from Leonard Cohen to Harambe. 

This special episode of The Critic Books Podcast is released on the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses. Francesca Peacock speaks about the novel with John McCourt (Professor of English Literature at the University of Macerata and author of Consuming Joyce) and Richard Brown, Reader in Modern Literature at the University of Leeds and editor of the James Joyce Broadsheet. How was the book received in 1922? What was Joyce influenced by? And was Marilyn Monroe really reading it in that famous photograph? (Picture credit: Painting by Paul Cadmus, Toledo Museum of Art)

How different was the eighteenth century to our own? Why are the Georgians famed for their libertinism? Was Georgian Britain a crucible of meritocracy? Francesca Peacock speaks to Penelope Corfield about her new book The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th-Century Britain. 

Francesca Peacock speaks to Nick Blackburn about The Reactor: A Book About Grief and Repair. Part memoir, part poetic commentary on culture and literature, The Reactor is raw, moving, and all-encompassing. 

Francesca Peacock speaks to The Guardian's chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins about her Greek Myths: A New Retelling, illustrated by Chris Ofili. How does weaving wind its way through ancient culture? How do you go about retelling stories that have been told so many times before? 

On the first episode of The Critic Books Podcast in 2022, Francesca Peacock speaks to C J Carey (Jane Thynne) about her novel Widowland. What might have happened if Great Britain had entered into an alliance with Germany in 1940? 

The Critic's Francesca Peacock speaks to Jennifer Saint about her novel Ariadne. Why is it important to tell such ancient myths from a female perspective? 

Francesca Peacock speaks to writer and columnist Sally Coulthard about her new book The Barn — a history of Yorkshire life, agriculture, folklore, and so much more. How has the countryside changed since the 17th century? What role did the turnip have to play in history? Why were the British afraid of the potato? 

On this episode of The Critic Books Podcast, The Critic's Deputy Editor Graham Stewart speaks to Andrew Roberts about his new biography of George III. Why has the monarch been thought of as a tyrant for so long? 

On the latest episode of The Critic Books Podcast, Francesca Peacock speaks to Laura Thompson about her new book Heiresses. From the threats of kidnapping and unscrupulous husbands to the unending boredom of a luxurious life, having a fortune is not quite all it's cracked up to be. 

On this episode of The Critic Books podcast, Francesca Peacock speaks to Salley Vickers. Salley published her first novel — Miss Garnet’s Angel —  in 2000. Her most recent book, The Gardener, was published in November, and tells the story of two sisters who move to live together in a Jacobean house in the Welsh Marches. 

On the first episode of The Critic Books podcast, Francesca Peacock speaks to J.R Thorp - a librettist and novelist whose debut novel Learwife was published on November the 4th. Learwife imagines the life of King Lear's broadly unmentioned Queen. The novel is set just after the end of Shakespeare's play; in the aftermath of war, what follows is a haunting tale of loss, power, and memory. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.