All Episodes

Madeleine Milburn on running her own literary agency, discovering "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" and what makes a perfect book-club book

Matt Haig on his early struggles as a literary novelist and the unexpected success of his memoir "Reasons to Stay Alive"

Amanda Harris on the economics of publishing, setting up her own literary agency and what makes a worthwhile celebrity book

Jeff Maysh on optioning dozens of his magazine stories to film and TV production companies and the roots of his interest in crime

Vicki Willden-Lebrecht on screens, the reading crisis and building a business around illustrated children's books

Tom Rob Smith on his bestselling debut "Child 44", screenwriting for the BBC and FX, and taking a different approach in his new novel "Twenty Years Together"

Siri Hustvedt talks about her marriage to the novelist Paul Auster - and writing about him after his death in “Ghost Stories”

John Lanchester on his novelistic portrayal of London on the brink of a financial crisis in "Capital" and intergenerational strife in his new book "Look What You Made Me Do"

Kathryn Stockett on the success (and controversy) of "The Help" and taking 17 years to publish a follow-up novel, "The Calamity Club"

Michael Morpurgo on how his novel about a horse in the First World War gained a spectacular second life on stage and screen

Lauren Groff on book bans, artificial intelligence and what novels set in the past reveal about the present

Jason Burke on his career as a foreign correspondent and unravelling 1970s terror networks in his new book

Katy Hessel on making museums accessible, writing "The Story of Art without Men" and the value of an art-history degree

Doug Naylor on creating iconic 80s and 90s TV, a hit novelty song and books for children

Mary Beard on "The Odyssey", "Gladiator 2" and why popular culture is always in dialogue with the ancient world

Jacques Testard on setting up Fitzcarraldo Editions, publishing fiction in translation and those blue-and-white covers

Nicole Vanderbilt on how Bookshop.org is taking on Amazon through recommendations, not algorithms

Frank Close on the nuclear age, physics' forgotten figures and writing for a general audience

#229: Moira Buffini, playwright, screenwriter and novelist

#228: Salman Rushdie, novelist

#227: Michelle Paver, novelist

#226: Anthony Horowitz, novelist

#225: Susan Choi, novelist

#224: Dean Koontz, novelist

#223: Sarah Perry, novelist

#222: James Alistair Henry, screenwriter and novelist

#221: Eimear McBride, novelist

#220: Anthony Cheetham, publisher

#219: Jacqueline Wilson, novelist

#218: Jesse Armstrong, screenwriter

#217: Hallie Rubenhold, historian

#216: Viet Thanh Nguyen, novelist and academic

#215: Jojo Moyes, novelist

#214: Ben Macintyre, journalist and author

#213: Diana Evans, novelist and journalist

#212: Andrew O'Hagan, novelist and non-fiction writer

#211: Dani Shapiro, novelist and non-fiction writer

#210: Joshi Herrmann, founder, Mill Media

#209: Nnedi Okorafor, novelist

#208: Ben Okri, novelist

#207: Clair Wills, author and academic

#206: Tim Winton, novelist

#205: Hannah Barnes, journalist and author

#204: Michael Lewis, journalist and author

#203: Clare Alexander, literary agent, Aitken Alexander Associates

#202: Philippe Sands, author and lawyer

#201: Reni Eddo-Lodge, journalist and author

#200: Frederick Forsyth, novelist

#199: Paula Hawkins, novelist

#198: Richard Dawkins, non-fiction author

#197: Eleanor Moran/Kate Ruby, TV producer and novelist

#196: Robert Harris, novelist

#195: Carissa Broadbent, novelist

#194: Kevin Barry, novelist and short-story writer

#193: Abi Morgan, screenwriter and playwright

#192: Harlan Coben, novelist

#191: Anna Funder, non-fiction author and novelist

#190: Toby Mundy, literary agent and executive director of the Baillie Gifford Prize

#189: Naomi Klein, non-fiction author

#188: Hugo Rifkind, journalist and novelist

#187: Pari Thomson, editorial director for picture books, Bloomsbury, and children’s author

#186: Hisham Matar, novelist and non-fiction writer

#185: Bettany Hughes, historian

#184: Paul Theroux, novelist and travel writer

#183: Madhumita Murgia, journalist and author

#182: Nicholas Shakespeare, novelist and biographer

#181: Juliet Mabey, co-founder and publisher, Oneworld Publications

#180: Jo Nesbø, novelist

#179: Jhumpa Lahiri, novelist and short-story writer

#178: Adam Thirlwell, novelist

#177: Philippa Gregory, novelist and historian

#176: Henry Jeffreys, drinks writer

#175: Kassia St. Clair, journalist and author

#174: Adam Sisman, biographer

#173: Victoria Hislop, novelist

#172: Anjan Sundaram, journalist and author

#171: Sarah Braybrooke, publishing director, Ithaka Press

#170: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, author and screenwriter

#169: Helen Macdonald, nature writer and novelist

#168: Lee Child, novelist

#167: Megan Nolan, novelist and journalist

#166: James Daunt, managing director, Waterstones, CEO, Barnes & Noble

#165: Francesca Main, publisher, Phoenix Books

#164: Albert Read, managing director, Condé Nast Britain

#163: Abigail Bergstrom, literary agent and novelist

#162: Nels Abbey, author and co-founder of the Black Writers Guild

#161: Sophie Lambert, literary agent, C&W

#160: Jed Mercurio, screenwriter and novelist

#159: Carrie Plitt, literary agent, Felicity Bryan Associates

#158: David Wolf, editor, Guardian Long Read

#157: Sally Hayden, journalist and author

#156: Fraser Nelson, editor, The Spectator

#155: Karolina Sutton, literary agent, Creative Artists Agency

#154: Ian McEwan, novelist

#153: Tessa Hadley, novelist and short-story writer

#152: Orlando Figes, historian

#151: Moya Lothian-McLean, contributing editor, Novara Media

#150: Mohsin Hamid, novelist

#149: Merve Emre, author, academic and literary critic

#148: Oliver Bullough, journalist and author

#147: Tina Brown, journalist, editor and author

#146: Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, academic and author

#145: Kit de Waal, novelist and short-story writer

#144: Marlon James, novelist

#143: Perminder Mann, CEO, Bonnier Books UK

#142: Irvine Welsh, novelist and screenwriter

#141: Lauren Child, children's author and illustrator

#140: Colin Thubron, travel writer and novelist

#139: Antonia Fraser, historian and novelist

#138: Sebastian Junger, journalist, author and film-maker

#137: Monica Ali, novelist

#136: David Mitchell, novelist

#135: Sian Meades-Williams, journalist and author

#134: Toby Harnden, journalist and author

#133: Ruth Ozeki, novelist

#132: George Packer, journalist and author

#131: Christina Patterson, journalist and author

#130: David Nicholls, novelist and screenwriter

#129: Maggie Fergusson, author and journalist

#128: David Shelley, CEO, Hachette UK

#127: Katie Kitamura, novelist

#126: Alex Kay-Jelski, editor-in-chief, the Athletic UK

#125: Elif Shafak, novelist

#124: Howard Jacobson, novelist

#123: Marianne Tatepo, commissioning editor, Ebury Press

#122: David Baldacci, novelist

#121: Hollie McNish, poet

#120: Gary Younge, journalist and author

#119: Tracy Chevalier, novelist

#118: Alex Wade, libel lawyer, journalist and author

#117: Val McDermid, novelist

#116: William Dalrymple, historian and travel writer

#115: Aminatta Forna, novelist and non-fiction writer

#114: Henry Winter, chief football writer, The Times

#113: Lennie Goodings, chair of Virago Press

#112: Simon Scarrow, novelist

#111: Kate Mosse, novelist and founder of the Women's Prize For Fiction

#110: William Boyd, novelist and screenwriter

#109: Terri White, editor-in-chief, Empire magazine, and author

#108: Jonny Geller, literary agent, Curtis Brown

#107: Leaf Arbuthnot, journalist and novelist

#106: Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian and novelist

#105: Rosie Nixon, editor-chief, Hello! magazine and novelist

#104: Simon Akam, magazine writer and author

#103: Samira Shackle, freelance writer and author

#102: Jack Thorne, playwright and screenwriter

#101: Natalie Haynes, author and comedian

#100: James Ashton, business journalist and author

#99: Sirin Kale, feature writer

#98: Ed Needham, editor Strong Words, former editor FHM, Maxim, Rolling Stone

#97: Rebecca Giggs, author

#96: Samanth Subramanian, magazine writer and author

#95: Emily Hayward-Whitlock, book-to-film agent

#94: Patrick Radden Keefe, author and New Yorker staff writer

#93: Phoebe Hurst, managing editor, Vice UK

#92: Alexander McCall Smith, novelist

#91: Linda Grant, writer and novelist

#90: Geoff Dyer, author

#89: Amanda Craig, novelist

#88: Toby Young, journalist and author

#87: Anne Enright, novelist

#86: Matthew Syed, author and journalist

#85: Louise Doughty, novelist

#84: Guy Stagg, travel writer

#83: Hadley Freeman, journalist and author

#82: Colum McCann, novelist

#81: Alysoun Owen, editor of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook

#80: Tim Rice, lyricist

#79: Sophie Elmhirst, magazine writer

#78: Simon Lancaster, speechwriter

#77: Kiley Reid, novelist

#76: Giles Hattersley, features director, British Vogue

#75: Lisa Taddeo, author and journalist

#74: Jay Rayner, restaurant critic, the Observer

#73: Alexandra Pringle, editor-in-chief, Bloomsbury Publishing

#72: Charles Moore, journalist and biographer

#71: Tanya Gold, freelance journalist

#70: Robbie Collin, Telegraph film critic

#69: Laura Weir, editor-in-chief, ES Magazine

#68: Simon Robinson, global managing editor, Thomson Reuters

#67: Anna Davis, director, Curtis Brown Creative

#66: Ferdinand Addis, historian

#65: May Jeong, magazine writer

#64: Jeffrey Archer, novelist

#63: Zahra Hankir, editor and anthologist

#62: Jamie Glazebrook, executive producer, Peaky Blinders

#61: Ruth Padel, poet

#60: James Graham, playwright and screenwriter

#59: Christina Lamb, chief foreign correspondent, the Sunday Times

#58: Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer, the New Yorker

#57: Anna Codrea-Rado, campaigner for freelancer rights

#56: Ed Caesar, magazine writer

#55: Ann Goldstein, Elena Ferrante's translator

#54: Kamal Ahmed, editorial director, BBC News

#53: Pandora Sykes, journalist and podcaster

#52: Andrew Hankinson, journalist and author

#51: Jennifer Croft, Booker Prize winning translator

#50: Alex Perry, journalist and author

#49: Farrah Storr, editor-in-chief, Cosmopolitan UK

#48: Dan Franklin, associate publisher, Jonathan Cape

#47: Rebecca Mead, staff writer, the New Yorker

#46: Mark Haddon, novelist

#45: Alexa von Hirschberg, senior commissioning editor, Bloomsbury

#44: Dylan Jones, editor, British GQ

#43: Daisy Johnson, novelist

#42: Ian Rankin, novelist

#41: Hermione Lee, biographer

#40: Richard Skinner, director of the fiction programme at the Faber Academy

#39: Cal Flyn, author

#38: Rory Stewart, author

#37: Clare Conville, literary agent, C+W

#36: Lionel Barber, editor, the Financial Times

#35: Joanne Harris, novelist

#34: Niall Ferguson, historian

#33: Louisa Joyner, editorial director, Faber & Faber

#32: Jeremy Gavron, author

#31: Lucy Hughes-Hallett, author

#30: Jonathan Shainin, editor, Guardian Long Read

#29: Julia Kelly, romance novelist

#28: Peter Moffat, BAFTA-winning screenwriter

#27: Helen Lewis, deputy editor, the New Statesman

#26: Max Hastings, military historian

#25: Hannah Westland, publisher, Serpent's Tail

#24: Laura Palmer, publishing director, Head of Zeus

#23: Ben Judah, journalist and author of This is London

#22: Patrick Kingsley, New York Times correspondent

#21: Nikesh Shukla, author

#20: Antony Beevor, military historian

#19: Sam Knight, magazine writer

#18: Joelle Owusu, editor, Unbound

#17: Candice Carty-Williams, senior marketing executive, Vintage Books

#16: Nick Summers, features editor, Bloomberg Businessweek

#15: Oliver Franklin-Wallis, commissioning editor, British Wired

#14: Kiran Millwood Hargrave, winner, Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2017

#13: Tom Standage, deputy editor, The Economist

#12: Patrick Walsh, literary agent, PEW Literary

#11: Tom Jennings, director, Logan Nonfiction Programme

#10: Alice Fishburn, editor, FT Weekend Magazine

#9: Sara Baume, novelist

#8: Stig Abell, editor, Times Literary Supplement (TLS)

#7: Sharmaine Lovegrove, publisher, Dialogue Books

#6: Nicola Solomon, chief executive, The Society of Authors

#5: Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

#4: Giles Wilson, founding editor, BBC News Magazine

#3: Laura Barber, publishing director and editorial director, Portobello Books and Granta

#2: Imogen Pelham, literary agent, Marjacq

#1: Jonathan Beckman, deputy editor, 1843