Book Shambles

With Robin out of the country, and Josie on maternity leave, producer Trent Burton is taking up the hosting duties for a week. Which is appropriate as our guest for this Book Shambles Extra is author and journalist Mat Oxley. Mat is one of the world's leading motorcycle writers, and motorcycling racing is Trent's 'other world'. They chat about Mat's books including his latest Speed: The One Genuinely Modern Pleasure, as well as some of the great books and authors of fiction to tackle humankind's speed fetish including Aldous Huxley, Hunter S Thompson, Hemingway and others. You can support Book Shambles on Patreon and get lots of extras by visiting patreon.com/bookshambles

Our second special from this year's Latitude Festival, again recorded backstage at the Speakeasy tent. Robin chats her Ladybird Guide to Consciousness with Dr Hannah Critchlow and science books with Dr Michael Brooks of Science(ish). We catch up with Matt Haig about Notes on a Nervous Planet and Jen Brister on her new Edinburgh show. As before, being a festival, there can be some background noise in some of these chats. Like Gospel choirs at full tilt. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles

Our second special from this year's Latitude Festival, again recorded backstage at the Speakeasy tent. Robin chats her Ladybird Guide to Consciousness with Dr Hannah Critchlow and science books with Dr Michael Brooks of Science(ish). We catch up with Matt Haig about Notes on a Nervous Planet and Jen Brister on her new Edinburgh show. As before, being a festival, there can be some background noise in some of these chats. Like Gospel choirs at full tilt. Support the podcast at patreon.com/bookshambles

It's the first of a number of specials we recorded at this year's Latitude Festival. On this first episode we've got a bit of a focus on poetry. Robin chats to host of The Verb, Ian McMillan, poet Luke Wright, the Octavia Poetry Collective, punk poet, musician and Josie Long's primary school classmate Brigette Aphrodite and comedian and author Jonnie Bayfield. There's chat of Dylan Thomas, Melvyn Bragg, Dostoevsky and astrophysics based poetry. As always with the interviews we record at festivals, there's a bit of background noise from bands and other performers. Become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles

Our second episode recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, Robin is once again joined by guest co-host Sarah Kendall, with this week's special guest mathematician, author and broadcaster Dr Hannah Fry. They chat about Hannah's upcoming book Hello World, books on AI and the internet, air crash investigations, butter, baby food and making bad decisions based off of junk maths. Hear an extended edition of this episode, and almost all our other episodes too, plus bonus episodes and more by becoming a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/bookshambles

One year ago, we were doing Festival Shambles at Latitude with the great Barry Crimmins who sadly passed away earlier this year. Previously only available as a Patreon exclusive, here is the chat he had with Robin that night as part of one of our live shows. Sign up and pledge at patreon.com/bookshambles

The last recorded, but the first released, of the four episodes we recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in June. Robin is joined by guest co-host Sarah Kendall and special guest comedian and broadcaster Adam Buxton. They chat about David Bowie's top 100 books, Viz, faking a book report, Judy Blume and more. A bonus 20 minutes of this chat is available exclusive to Patreon supporters. Sign up and pledge at patreon.com/bookshambles

This week Dr Helen Czerski plays the role of Josie for the second time alongside Robin as they're joined by author and actual proper broadcaster Dallas Campbell to talk about space books, including his own recently released Ad Astra. From HG Wells to Jules Verne and Ladybird books of space the three discuss all manner of books, space travel and why people buy into conspiracy theories. Patreon supporters get a bonus fifteen minutes this week. If you'd like to become one head to patreon.com/bookshambles

Kimokeo Kapahulehua is well-known throughout Hawai‘i for his tireless efforts to preserve and perpetuate his Hawaiian culture, the land and sea. A few nights before we recorded this episode he took to the Royal Albert Hall, with Robin's guest co-host for this episode, Dr Helen Czerski, as part of Space Shambles where they spoke of celestial navigation. Now he's in the Shambles studio to chat of the oceans, his involvement with Hawaiki Rising, the award winning book about the voyaging canoe Hokule'a. To hear an extended version of this episode, plus other goodies, support us at patreon.com/bookshambles

As mentioned on the last episode, Josie is now on maternity leave, but don't fret, we've still got lots of exciting episodes in store for you. Here is the recording from the London launch of The Happy Brain back in May. Robin chats to Dean Burnett about his new book, why The Daily Mail doesn't know what makes people happy, what happiness even is and then things get weird as Dean tries to explain orgasms while his in laws are in the audience. Support the show at patreon.com/bookshambles