Book Shambles With Robin And Josie

Author Nikesh Shukla returns to the podcast this week to chat to Robin and Josie about his new memoir, Brown Baby. They chat about the importance of humour in non-fiction, the idea of writing a memoir to his children and the amusement derived from dropping Marvel Easter Eggs into the book. They also cover parenting, the pointlessness of Twitter arguments and Nikesh's daughter's desire for the episode to be over so they can have lunch. To hear an extended edition of this episode in which Nikesh recounts the time he had lunch with George Saunders, subscribe to Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

Alexi Pappas is an author, actor, screenwriter and Olympian to boot. You might have recently seen her in the film Olympic Dreams, alongside Nick Kroll, with whom she also co-wrote it. She competed in track and field for Greece in the 2016 Olympics and has just released her brilliant memoir Bravey, in which she talks about her life, drive and battles with depression. She joins Robin and Josie from the US to chat about the book, getting Maya Rudolph to write the foreword, juggling improv classes and Olympic training and a whole lot more. To hear an extended edition of this episode, as with all episodes, you can pledge at patreon.com/bookshambles

Robin has often mentioned how much he enjoyed Cosey Fanni Tutti's book Art Sex Music so it was only right we finally get her on the show. She joins Robin and Josie to talk about Hull, the counter culture, finding your own path in art and feminism in the 70s. Josie was having all myriad of technical difficulties during this recording so please bear with her! And also please note that there is some discussion about the 'scene' in the 60s and 70s that people may find upsetting. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

For our first proper episode of 2021 Josie and Robin are joined by comedian and broadcaster Alan Davies, who is also the author of the new acclaimed memoir, Just Ignore Him. They chat about the process of writing the book, dealing with the past, separating the art from the artist and a whole lot more. Please note that this episode does contain discussion around the subject of abuse. To hear an extended edition of this episode support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles Supporters receive an extra 15 minutes of chat this week in which Alan awards Josie with the best joke of 2020

In our first episode of 2021, Robin and Josie look back on the best things they read in 2020. Most are books that came out last year, but a few aren't, don't hold it against us. From poetry to science to horror, there's something in this long list of recommendations for everyone! Support the show, and hear extended episodes, by signing up at patreon.com/bookshambles

In a somewhat Christmas themed episode Robin is joined by the philosopher Julian Baggini and the former Dean of Guilford to talk about Julian's new book, The Godless Gospel. They chat about the main question of Julian's book, if we take the 'magical' elements out of The Bible, was Jesus a good moral teacher? They also talk about the philosophy of Jesus, the role of, and failures of, religion today, the writing of Richard Holloway and why the resurrection isn't very good narratively. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

Jenny Landreth returns to the podcast this week to speak to Josie about her new book Breaking a Leg. They chat about the wonderful world of am-dram, the negative connotations of the word 'amateur' and how Jenny single handedly invented cold water swimming. For reading lists, past episodes etc head to cosmicshambles.com/bookshambles and support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles

Today Robin is joined by author and journalist Susannah Cahalan. Her first book, Brain on Fire, was a smash hit memoir about contracting a rare auto-immune disease, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis that was turned into a film of the same name with Chloë Grace Moretz playing the role of Susannah. Her new book is The Great Pretender in which she investigates the work of prominent psychologist David Rosenhan and how is famed experiments may not hold up to scrutiny. Note: This was recorded on the same day as last week's episode when Josie was indisposed. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

When we said Hallie Rubenhold was going to be a guest on the show we were flooded with comments from people saying The Five, her 2019 book about the lives of the women murdered by Jack the Ripper, was one of their favourite books of the last few years. They're not alone as it was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize and won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction. Robin chats to Hallie about that book, the reaction to it a year on, and what she's working on now. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

Janna Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Columbia University and a world leading researcher on our understanding of black holes. Her new book, Black Hole Survival Guide, is out this week and she joined us from the US to chat about it. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

A little while ago we did a Book Shambles Livestream as part of the Royal Albert Home series and now, here it is, in podcast form. Robin and Josie co-host with Science Shambles co-host Helen Czerski and they are joined by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to chat about her new book, Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut, as well as musician Tanita Tikaram whose music was taken to space by a number of astronauts, including Samantha. As this was a livestream recording there may be the odd tech glitch not present in a normal episode. Support the podcast by subscribing at patreon.com/bookshambles Donate to the Royal Albert Hall at royalalberthall.com/donate

This week Robin is joined by physician and author Gavin Francis to talk about his obsession with islands, and his new book on the subject Island Dreams. They talk about the psychology and philosophy beyond humans connections to islands and when moving to an island can become more of a nightmare than a dream. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

Hugh Warwick is an ecologist and nature writer who is very much the 'The Hedgehog Guy'. He joins Robin and Josie on this episode to talk about everything to do with hedgehogs and his new book, The Hedgehog Book. They also talk about the perils of sniffing otter poo, why we should be feeding frozen peas to ducks and what to do with an injured glis glis. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

This week Robin is joined by psychologist Dr Stuart Ritchie to talk about his latest book Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science. They talk about how we can better communicate the process of science and be aware of any bias within it, what scientists themselves can do better when it comes to publicising their findings and how we need to be better and quickly calling out bad science. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

On so many previous episodes of Book Shambles guests have talked about how much they love the writing of Kit de Waal and so on this week’s episode Robin and Josie are joined by Kit herself to talk about her new book Supporting Cast. Well, that was the plan but they barely great round to it and spend most of the time talking about classic films, Trevor Howard, struggling at school and then, eventually, her wonderful new book. By the way, if you’re listening to this episode and wonder where Josie is at the start, she was running a bit late (it's explained) but joins Robin about 8 minutes in! To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

On this episode Robin chats with the author of the 2020 Royal Society Science Book Prize shortlisted Explaining Humans - What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships, Dr Camilla Pang. They talk about how using a set of scientific principles can provide a useful way through life and interaction for someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder like Camilla, reading Stephen Hawking as a child and how others with Autism Spectrum Disorders have found the book useful. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

Professor Alice Roberts returns to Book Shambles and she's brought along her co-author and editor of the new book, The Little Book of Humanism, Andrew Copson. They talk about what exactly humanism is, how they came to put together this new book and just how many Bertrand Russell quotes is too many... 15 bonus minutes of chat on the Patreon edition today including Robin dealing with a dog... Subscribe at patreon.com/bookshambles

On this week's Science Book Shambles Robin is joined by astronaut Tim Peake to chat about his new autobiography Limitless. They chat about Tim's career leading up to his astronaut training including answering an ad that was basically, 'Wanna Be An Astronaut', breaking things and aviation failures. Extended conversation, and lots of other goodies, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

Mark Watson joins Robin and Josie this week to talk about his new novel Contacts. They talk about the differences between writing a novel and a stand up show, trying to stay creative during a pandemic and how constantly being late for gigs means you end up being a lot fitter than you imagined. Also Robin makes Mark show off unread books from his shelf at random. This was a bumper episode so to hear a whole 20 extra minutes of chat, including what films are best to watch after emergency dental procedures, become a supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles

On this week's Science Book Shambles Robin chats with one of the founding members of The Trowelblazers, Rebecca Wragg Sykes. Her new book, Kindred, takes one of the fullest looks yet about what we know, and don't know, about Neanderthals. Robin also learns how Neanderthals have become clickbait... Hear an extended edition of chat by pledging your support at patreon.com/bookshambles