Freedom, Books, Flowers & The Moon

This week, Lucy Lethbridge explains what a curate's eye is, and how ideas of British cooking range from Aga fantasies to bacon butties; and J. S. Barnes takes us to the dark side of the festive season, via Dickens and M. R. James....'The British Cookbook: Authentic home cooking recipes from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland' by Ben Mervis'To Be Read At Dusk: Dickens, ghosts and the supernatural', Charles Dickens Museum, London, until March 5, 2023 'The Witch Farm', BBC Radio 4 and Sounds 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas', Nunkie Theatre Company, December 24, live online  Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon McBurney, the artistic director of the endlessly innovative and influential Complicité theatre company, talks to Lucy Dallas about two of their major new projects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we hear how the music-hall star Josephine Baker became a secret agent; and we talk to Simon McBurney of Complicité theatre company, about their haunting audio production of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising.'The Flame of Resistance' by Damien Lewis'The Dark Is Rising' by Susan Cooper, BBC World Service, December 20Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan Forrest on Napoleon’s enemies at home and abroad.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/napoleon-michael-broers-napoleon-at-peace-william-doyle-book-review-alan-forrest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Breeze Barrington takes us through a history of art with a difference - there are no men; and Larry Wolff talks us through the diva-rich operatic event of the season, the world premiere of The Hours at the Met in New York.'The Story of Art Without Men' by Katy Hessel'The Hours' by Kevin PutsMetropolitan Opera, New York, until December 15. Live transmission in various cinemas, December 10Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Reid on the improbable rise of Volodymyr Zelenskyhttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/volodymyr-zelensky-biographies-book-review-anna-reid/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Mary Beard talks us through coins and emperors, real and fake, and the hidden networks beneath the Roman Empire; and Norma Clarke discusses the life and work of Rosa Bonheur, a celebrated female artist who kept her radical private life to herself.Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michele Pridmore-Brown on the troubled dreams of the gods of the digital universehttps://www.the-tls.co.uk./articles/survival-of-the-richest-douglas-rushkoff-book-review-michele-pridmore-brown/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Baillie Gifford Prizewinner Katherine Rundell describes how John Donne’s life force captivated her; and celebrated actor and playwright Wallace Shawn surveys a lifetime of writing essays.Produced by Charlotte Pardy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Berridge on Cormac McCarthy’s long-awaited diptych of conspiracy and nuclear anxietyhttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-passenger-stella-maris-cormac-mccarthy-book-review-george-berridge/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we discuss Emmanuel Carrère’s incisive account of France’s judicial response to the Bataclan attacks; and a host of TLS contributors on their favourite books of 2022.‘V13: Chronique judiciare’ by Emmanuel CarrèreBooks of the Year 2022Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Potts considers the inconstancies of John le Carré.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private-spy-letters-john-le-carre-secret-heart-suleika-dawson-book-review-robert-potts/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Alex Clark and Lucy Dallas explore the rise to prominence of Volodymyr Zelensky, the satirical stand-up turned president and war leader; and blow the cobwebs off the world’s rarest medieval manuscripts.'The Zelensky Effect' by Olga Onuch and Henry E Hale'Zelensky: Ukraine’s president and his country' by Steven Derix with Marina Shelkunova, translated by Brent Annable'The Fight of Our Lives: My time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s battle for democracy, and what it means for the world' by Iuliia Mendel, translated by Madeline G Levine'Zelensky: A biography' by Serhii Rudenko, translated by Michael M Naydan and Alla Perminova'The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club' by Christopher de HamelProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin Thubron on an anthology of human beings straining at the limits.https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/endurance-levison-wood-book-review-colin-thubron/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week André Aciman toasts the genius of Marcel Proust, a century after his death; and Richard Lea on the mesmerising multiverses of John Banville.The works of Marcel Proust‘The Singularities’ by John BanvilleProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Leith on Roald Dahl’s life of plane crashes, bunk-ups, secret agenting – and children’s writinghttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/teller-of-the-unexpected-roald-dahl-matthew-dennison-book-review-sam-leith/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we learn about the final years of the Napoleonic era, poke around the exclusive gentlemen’s watering holes of Pall Mall, and discover how Roy Orbison ended up meeting his wife in Batley Variety Club.’Napoleon: The decline and fall of an Empire, 1811-1821’ by Michael Broers’Napoleon at Peace: How to end a revolution’ by William Doyle‘Behind Close Doors: The secret life of London’s private members’ clubs’ by Seth Alexander Thévoz‘Clubland: How the working men's club shaped Britain’ by Pete Brown Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Thompson on the much-married daughter of Barbara Cartland who became Lady Diana’s stepmotherhttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/three-times-a-countess-tina-gaudoin-book-review-laura-thompson/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Toby Lichtig interviews the new Booker laureate, Shehan Karunatilaka, and discovers why he killed off his protagonist; and we explore the latest developments in a Chaucerian controversy.‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Shehan KarunatilakaMary C Flannery on ChaucerProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michele Pridmore-Brown considers our quest for godlike immortalityhttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/hybrid-humans-harry-parker-the-price-of-immortality-peter-ward-book-review-michele-pridmore-brown/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.