Book Shambles With Robin And Josie

Comedian, actor, writer and podcaster Jessie Cave joins Robin and Josie this week to talk about her debut novel Sunset which is out now. They talk about why she chose to write about grief, hating being on stage, working with her family and worrying that whatever the book ended up being it'd just be labelled as 'Harry Potter chick lit'. A warning as well that this episode contains some talk about sexual assault and death that may be upsetting for some listeners. Extended edition for Patreon supporters as always. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles to hear an extra 10 minutes of conversation.

Neuroscientist and best selling author Dean Burnett is a regular contributor to the Cosmic Shambles Network and this week he returns to the Book Shambles podcast to chat to Robin and Josie about his latest book Psycho-Logical, the problems surrounding mental health care in the UK, dealing with grief in the pandemic and some of the continuing misconceptions of mental health issues. On the extended Patreon edition you can hear a long discussion about Section 28 and also Josie's laptop dies... Subscribe and support at patreon.com/bookshambles

On today's episode Josie and Robin chat to the writer Lauren Oyler. A prolific writer of articles for publications like Harper's and the New Yorker, as well as having ghostwritten for many people, her first novel is Fake Accounts about a a woman who discovers her boyfriend is an anonymous internet conspiracy theorist. They chat about the challenges of writing a novel instead of feature articles, the problems with social media in 2021, favourite novels and, of course, lots of other stuff. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

Geoff Dyer returns to the podcast to talk to Robin and Josie (who is late arriving because her daughter broke the TV...) about his new book See/Saw: Looking at Photographs, which is out now. They talk about photography, favourite photographers, writing about niche topics for a wide audience and humour in photography. To hear an extended edition of this episode with 15 bonus minutes subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

On today's episode Robin and Josie are joined by Annie Macmanus (who you may better know as Annie Mac from Radio1) to talk about her debut novel Mother Mother. They chat about her fears of moving into an entirely different creative arena, how the literary and music worlds compare and creating playlists for books. Bonus chat as always for Patreon supporters. Subscribe at patreon.com/bookshambles

Musa Okwonga is a writer, poet, podcaster and author about everything from politics to football. His new book is a memoir titled One of Them, about his time at Eton college as a young black man and delves into the effect these sorts of institutions have had on Britain's political life. He talks to Robin and Josie about why he had to write the book, what his school friends from the time think about it, and Eton, now and where Britain is headed. Support the show on Patreon for all sort of extras and bonus content including extended episodes. An extra 20 minutes of conversation for Patreon supporters awaits you on this episode. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

This week Robin and Josie are joined by author Yasmin Khan to talk about her knew book Ripe Figs which is part cookbook, part travel book that traces recipes from the Mediterranean from the time of Ottoman rule to the influence of recent refugee communities. They chat about the inspiration for the book, favourite recipes, first cookbooks, best cookbooks and the best food from around the world. To hear more chat, subscribe to the extended version on Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

Comedian and Bake Off host Tom Allen joins Robin and Josie this week to talk about his memoir No Shame, which is out now. They chat of growing up in the suburbs, doing Julie Andrews numbers at high school plays and early comedy gigs in New Cross. They also discuss in detail how many celebrities admit to soiling themselves in their autobiographies... To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles. 15 extra minutes of chat and chaos this week including in depth analysis of The Glades shopping centre in Bromley.

Two guests on this week's episode. Firstly Robin chats to A.L. Kennedy who returns to the podcast to chat about her new collection of short stories We Are Attempting to Survive Our Time and why she finds writing short stories a different, and sometimes harder, challenge than writing a novel. And then in the second half of the episode Josie talks to philosopher and author Tom Whyman about his book Infinitely Full of Hope: Fatherhood and the Future in an Age of Crisis and Disaster. They chat about how the book was written pre-COVID and how being full of hope now is still possible, if more of a challenge! To hear the full versions of both of these chats subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

Robin and Josie are joined by author Douglas Stuart, winner of the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut novel Shuggie Bain ahead of it's release in paperback. They chat about the book's decade long gestation, growing up in Glasgow under Thatcher and the importance of getting more working class stories into popular fiction. As always, an extended version of this episode is available for Patreon supporters. This week Douglas welcomes Josie to Glasgow and Robin delights in the art and music that's come out of the Scottish city. Subscribe at patreon.com/bookshambles Using books as a jumping off point, each week award winning comedians and bibliophiles Josie Long and Robin Ince and a special guest dive into interesting, passionate and shambolic discussions.

On today's episode Josie and Robin are joined by the actor, comedian and writer Katy Wix to talk about her new book, Delicacy: A Memoir about Cake and Death. They chat about the book, stories of the Fringe, jugglers who can't juggle and then, eventually, Josie just can't keep her love of Stath Lets Flats in any longer... To hear a super bumper edition with 25 minutes of extra chat, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles

Two science authors on the show today, both with new books that look at different ways of what makes us human. First up it's Shambles regular, Ginny Smith chatting to Robin and Josie about her new book Overloaded: How Every Aspect of Your Life is Influenced by Your Brain Chemicals, which is out today! And then they chat with Melanie Challenger about her new release, How to Be Animal: A New History of What It Means to Be Human. Book Shambles Patreon supporters can listen to longer interviews with each author. Over 40 minutes of bonus content for you this week. You can sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

This week's Book Shambles is a cross over event. Physicist, and one of the world's biggest selling science authors, Carlo Rovelli has a new book out today, Helgoland. He joined Robin for a conversation for our Patreon exclusive series Tips for Existence but we're making some of that conversation around the book available for free here on Book Shambles. To hear the full Tips for Existence episode, which is 40 minutes longer, you can sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles Other guests in that series include Neil Gaiman, Tim Minchin, Ann Druyan and Brian Greene.

It's a double header this week! First up Robin and Josie chat with journalist Ben Machell about his book, The Unusual Suspect: The Rise and Fall of a Modern-Day Outlaw and then in the second part Robin chats to Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste. If you'd like to hear the full versions of both of these interviews, you can subscribe to the podcast's Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

Journalist Nell Frizzell's new book is The Panic Years: Dates, Doubts, and the Mother of All Decisions and it spoke so strongly to Josie that she provided one of the cover quotes so it only makes sense she join her and Robin on the podcast. They chat about the book, motherhood, some of Nell's favourite books about parenting, vegetable growing and much more. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles. 20 minutes extra this week.

On today's episode, Josie couldn't make the recording and so Robin is joined by a guest co-host, the brilliant Natalie Haynes. They chat to Mark Steel about a new book of collected writings and musings of the late Jeremy Hardy, Speaks Volumes, for which Mark wrote the introduction. They chat about the difference between a comedian and a comic, favourite stories in the book and why it's high time we called a canoe a canoe... To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles where there's a whole bonus twenty minutes this week.

Salena Godden was one of our very first guests on Book Shambles six years ago and now she's back to talk about her debut novel, the hugely acclaimed Mrs Death Misses Death. She chats to Josie and Robin about the book, discovering female authors in her thirties and the process of writing while walking. Support the show on Patreon to get extended editions each and every week. You can do that at patreon.com/bookshambles The extended edition this week includes the potential of cannibal marshmallows covered in death magic...

This week Robin and Josie are joined by the multi-award winning, and Booker Prize long-listed, Irish novelist and short stories writer Kevin Barry. They chat about his latest collection of short stories, That Old Country Music, the grumpiness of Dennis Potter, a hatred of the first draft and the appeal of living by a swamp. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

Marian Keyes is one of the most successful Irish writers of all time with her novels having sold over 30 million copies and been translated into 33 languages. With her most recent novel, the Sunday Times #1 bestseller Grown Ups, just landing in paperback she joined Josie and Robin to talk about the book, her writing process, dealing with important issues in 'genre fiction' and much more. As always, you can hear an extended edition of this episode by subscribing to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

You've probably heard us talking about our new audio documentary series An Uncanny Hour on Book Shambles recently. Well we've just finished season one of the show, which features six one hour documentaries on everything from Hawkwind to David Cronenburg. We speak to authors, performers and scientists such as Stewart Lee, Reece Shearsmith and Kier-La Janisse about the weird and the uncanny corners of culture. We thought we'd provide Book Shambles listeners with a 30 minute anthology collection of the first season this week. You can listen to the entire thing by becoming a Patreon supporter of Book Shambles and/or The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/bookshambles and patreon.com/cosmicshambles