Freedom, Books, Flowers & The Moon

To mark the bicentenary of Queen Victoria's birth, the TLS's history editor David Horspool guides us through all manner of Victorian matters, including the Widow of Windsor's mastery of soft power, how different things might have been had she been born a boy, how the Victorians amused themselves, and the Rebecca Riots; we also have a symposium in this week's paper, asking writers and thinkers – including Steven Pinker and Bernardine Evaristo – to tell us about the important books from their childhoods. To discuss this – and to share our own youthful reading – we're joined in the studio by a [insert collective noun here] of TLS editors Go to www.the-tls.co.uk/ to read a selection of articles from our Victorian special issue, and much more.Our symposium was prompted by an initiative – Books To Inspire – launched by Hay Festival Wales, aiming to compile a crowd-sourced list of titles to inspire the next generation. Find out more at hayfestival.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy

The comedian and writer Helen Lederer joins us to discuss gender and comedy and the new Comedy Women In Print Prize; Lucy Dallas considers a clutch of novels in which animals might offer a little respite from human company; the TLS’s philosophy editor Tim Crane guides us through the riches of this week’s philosophy issue, including how the advent of biological immortality might augur “the greatest inequality experienced in all human history” and what happened when Michel Foucault took LSD in Death Valley To Leave with the Reindeer by Olivia Rosenthal, translated by Sophie LewisAnimalia by Jean-Baptiste del Amo, translated by Frank WynneThe Animal Gazer by Edgardo Franzosini, translated by Michael F. Moore“The last mortals: why we are especially unfortunate to die, when our near-descendants could be immortal", by Regini Rini – see this week’s TLS (in print and online)Foucault in California: A true story, wherein the great French philosopher drops acid in the Valley of Death by Simeon Wade &

Robert Macfarlane joins us to discuss our "peculiar times", the memory of ice, and the world beneath out feet; Margie Orford brings our attention to South Africa at a crucial moment in its history, twenty-five years since the first democratic election and as another makes its mark; Nicola Shulman offers a new theory about race in Disney's original Dumbo, from 1941Underland: A deep time journey by Robert MacfarlaneThe Café de Move-on Blues: In search of the new South Africa by Christopher Hope  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Avengers: Endgame is released, Roz Kaveney sweeps us through the shifting cast of superheroes and, latterly, heroines that populate the Marvel Universe, considers the evolving politics of the comic-book film, and answers the question on (some) people's lips: "but why...?"; Imogen Russell Williams's introduces some of the best writing on LGBTQ themes for children and young adultsAvengers: Endgame Spiderman: Into the SpiderverseJulian Is a Mermaid by Jessica LoveAalfred and Aalbert by Morag Hood Death in the Spotlight by Robin Stevens Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by L. C. RosenProud: Stories, poetry and art on the theme of pride, compiled by Juno Dawson  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ruth Scurr on the master biographer Robert A. Caro, whose subjects include Robert Moses, Lyndon B. Johnson and, now, himself; Dmitri Levitin talks us through Diogenes Laertius' Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, an eccentric and often inaccurate guide to early thinkers; Why bother with literary criticism? Whither this generation's Lionel Trilling? Michael LaPointe joins us to discussWorking: Researching, interviewing, writing by Robert A. CaroAmerican Audacity: In defense of literary daring by William GiraldiHater: On the virtues of utter disagreeability by John SemleyLives of the Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laertius, translated by Pamela Mensch  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There is only one author to whom the TLS devotes an issue every year: William Shakespeare. Michael Caines talks us through the latest theories, research and reviews; Ian McEwan discusses his new novel, Machines Like Me  ‘Still a giddy neighbour’ – Shakespeare’s parish in the 1590s, by Geoffrey Marsh, the TLSThe Bible on the Shakespearean Stage: Cultures of interpretation in Renaissance England, edited by Thomas Fulton and Kristen PooleBelieving in Shakespeare: Studies in longing, by Claire McEachernReligious Conversion in Early Modern English Drama, by Lieke StellingWhat Blest Genius?: The Jubilee that made Shakespeare, by Andrew McConnell StottShakespeare’s Rise to Cultural Prominence: Politics, print and alteration, 1642–1700, by Emma DepledgeShakespeare: The theatre of our world, by Peter ConradMachines Like Me by Ian McEwan (Cape)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The novelist discusses his new book Machines Like Me with the TLS's fiction editor Toby Lichtig  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Shauneen Lambe on ephibiphobia, fear of the teenager, and why we get youth justice wrong; Alice Bloch considers new possibilities at the frontiers of sex and robotics; George Berridge explains why now is the time to take out shares in the novelist Max Porter Why Children Follow Rules: Legal socialization and the development of legitimacy by Tom R. Tyler and Rick TrinknerJames GarbarinoMiller’s Children: Why giving teenage killers a second chance matters for all of us by James GarbarinoTurned On: Science, sex and robots by Kate DevlinGrief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, adapted by Enda Walsh (Barbican Theatre, before heading to New York)Lanny by Max Porter  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anna Picard discusses the problems of subject matter and sensationalism in the new opera Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel; Anna Vaux talks us through the Bauhaus school and its global influence, as well as Lucian Freud's compulsion to create and controlBooksJack the Ripper:The Women of Whitechapel by Iain Bell, ENO, until April 12Walter Gropius: Visionary founder of the Bauhaus by Fiona MacCarthyJosef Albers: Life and work by Charles DarwentLucian Freud by Martin Gayford  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Richard Fortey takes us on an energetic sprint through 65 million years of Europe's complex biological history; David Robey introduces the life and work of Emilio Salgari, the Italian Rider Haggard; Ella Baron, the TLS's regular cartoonist, discusses her work, including this week's European cover.BooksEurope: A natural history by Tim FlanneryEmilio Salgari: Una mitologia moderna tra letteratura, politica, società (volumes I and II) by Ann Lawson LucasElla Baron's work will be exhibited at Christie's in London, from April 5 to 10  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Carol Tavris considers new approaches to the old problem of old age (and the newer problem of old old age); as secularism wanes on the global scale, Rupert Shortt considers whether religion does more harm than good BooksBolder: Making the most of our longer lives by Carl HonoréBorrowed Time: The science of how and why we age by Sue ArmstrongRetirement and Its Discontents: Why we won’t stop working, even if we can by Michelle Pannor SilverWomen Rowing North: Navigating life’s currents and flourishing as we age by Mary PipherOn the Brink of Everything: Grace, gravity and getting old by Parker J. PalmerThis Chair Rocks: A manifesto against ageism by Ashton ApplewhiteDoes Religion do More Harm than Good? by Rupert Shortt  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Phil Baker guides us through the morbid, wistful and yet immensely charming world of the writer and illustrator Edward Gorey; Frances Wilson weighs the pleasures and pains of letter and email writing; Ian Sansom on the struggle to be funnyBooksBorn To Be Posthumous: The eccentric life and mysterious genius of Edward Gorey, by Mark DeryWhat a Hazard a Letter Is: The strange destiny of the unsent letter, by Caroline AtkinsWritten In History: Letters that changed the world, by Simon Sebag MontefioreIn Their Own Words: Volume 2: More letters from historyWit's End: What wit is, how it works, and why we need it, by James GearyMessing About In Quotes: A little Oxford dictionary of humorous quotations, compiled by Gyles Brandreth  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“What we often forget in the daily drumbeat of abuses by the dominant tech companies is our complicity in these abuses, and in the fundamental and unsettling ways the internet has changed every one of us.” As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enters its seventieth anniversary, Dave Eggers, in the 2018 PEN H. G. Wells lecture, argues that urgent amendments are needed to mitigate the corrosive effects of technology on the societal and the personal. You can read an edited extract from the lecture on the TLS website. This is a recording of an event that took place on December 16, 2018, at the Bridge Theatre, London.    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

David Coward celebrates the 400th anniversary of the birth of Cyrano de Bergerac, whose radical thought has long been obscured by his protuberant nose; Muriel Zagha on Molière, France’s most famous playwright, and a bold new adaptation of Tartuffe; finally, a poem by Stephen Knight: “Rail Replacement Bus Service” (sigh) Molière’s ‘Tartuffe’, a new version by John Donnelly, at the National Theatre, London  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With Stig Abell and Lucy DallasToby Lichtig comes in to talk the wide scope of Jewish culture, the “lachrymose” theory of history and why it is Arthur Miller time once more. Roz Dineen deals with porn, pile-ons and goop podcasts. And we call Thea when she is “working from home” to check in on her new dog.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The writer and comedian Charlie Higson, half of the team behind The Fast Show, on the curious history of comedy written and performed by pairs; the novelist Margaret Drabble considers the dizzying new releases from the estate of Anthony Burgess, the man Philip Larkin once called “the Batman of contemporary letters”  TextsStan & Ollie, directed by Jon S. Baird Morecambe & Wise: 50 years of sunshine, by Gary MorecambeThe Double Act: A history of British comedy duos, by Andrew RobertsSoupy Twists!: The full, official story of the sophisticated silliness of Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, by Jem RobertsBeard’s Roman Women by Anthony Burgess, edited by Graham FosterPuma by Anthony Burgess, edited by Paul WakeThe Black Prince by Adam RobertsObscenity and the Arts, a talk by Anthony Burgess, edited by Johnny Walsh  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A conversation between the novelist and essayist Zadie Smith and the journalist Carolina, recorded at Hay Festival Cartagena in Colombia earlier this month. The full Hay Festival archive can be accessed by subscribing to Hay Player online at hayfestival.org  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A recording of the inaugural Gabriel García Marquez lecture given this February by the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, at Hay Festival Cartagena in Colombia. The full Hay Festival archive can be accessed by subscribing to Hay Player online at hayfestival.org  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the MeToo movement continues to focus our attentions on questions around abuse, consent and justice, Rebecca Watson joins us to discuss the various and prolonged impacts of sexual assault, and the warping effect of trauma on narrative; the TLS’s French editor Adrian Tahourdin considers the inexorable rise of “le globish” (by which English words supplant, or pervert, French ones), and presents the diverse and challenging books in contention for this year’s Society of Author’s Translation Prizes BooksNot That Bad: Dispatches from rape culture, edited by Roxane GayA False Report: A true story by T. Christian Miller and Ken ArmstrongOn Rape by Germaine Greer The President’s Gardens by Muhsin al-Ramli, translated by Luke Leafgren Seeing Red by Lina Meruane, translated by Megan McDowellKruso by Lutz Seiler, translated by Tess Lewis   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eighteen months after Emmanuel Macron rode a wave of optimism to the Élysée Palace, the French are rioting and the President's approval ratings are desperately low – Sudhir Hazareesingh tells us what went wrong; James O'Brien reflects on another week of Brexit bafflement; Laura Freeman introduces the "Hungry Novel", a sub-genre of the post-war British novel in which writers, subsisting on meagre rations of stodge and tinned goods, channelled their appetites into their prose  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.