Book Shambles

Tonight the ever brilliant Inside No. 9 returns to our screens for series 7 and so it is that Reece Shearsmith returns to Book Shambles! He joins Robin to talk about the new series, favourite episodes, great horror short stories and more. They're also joined by horror writer and historian Johnny Mains who, together with Robin, will be editing the third volume of Dead Funny, horror stories by comedians, of which Reece will be contributing. You can support it on Unbound, just search for Dead Funny. And you can support Book Shambles, and hear an extended version of this and all other episodes at patreon.com/bookshambles

Our guest today is the author of one of the most lauded books of 2021, the superb Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe. One of the awards it garnered last year was the highly prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and one of the judges on the panel last year was our own Dr Helen Czerski, so this week we've handed over the solo reigns of the podcast to Helen. She talks to Patrick about the book, the research, the threats, legal and beyond and how the Sacklers are an example of an entirely broken system. Extended version and other goodies for podcast supporters at patreon.com/bookshambles

Hayley Campbell is a writer and broadcaster you may best know for his book The Art of Neil Gaiman. Her latest book, All the Living and the Dead, looks at our relationship with death, and the people for whom death is their life. She joins Robin to talk about her fascination with death, seeing her first dead body, embalming and Jeremy Bentham's head. Extended version as ever for Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/bookshambles

Veronica O'Keane is a Professor of Psychiatry and this week she joins Robin and Helen Czerski to talk about her book The Rag and Bone Shop which deals with her thirty year investigation into memory. One of the exciting things about Veronica's book, for Book Shambles fans, is how her book takes us on a journey through writers from Beckett to Yeats and beyond as she uncovers the mysteries of how our memories, and false memories, work.

To hear and extended episode subscribe at patreon.com/bookshambles

On today's episode Robin is joined by author and poet Kei Miller to talk about his new collection of essays, Things I Have Withheld. They chat about the fear of writing such an honest book, how criticism and expectations of self differs from country to country, favourite Jamaican poets and much more. Extended episode, and other goodies, available for Patreon subscribers. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

You've probably encountered online what is often labeled 'Abandoned Places Porn'. Artistic photography of disused theme parks, factories and that sort of thing. Our guest on today's show is the author of widely acclaimed, and Baillie Gifford Prize shortlisted book, Islands of Abandonment, an in depth exploration into the places where nature is flourishing after humans have left. She talks to Robin about the book, the myths around these sorts of places, science fiction, Chernobyl and much more. Extended edition, as ever, for Patreon supporters. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

On this week's show we have someone who was one of the writers, and performers, of the Cosmic Shambles and Book Shambles theme music. Oh, and he's also one of the world's leading experts on disgust and emotions and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary University. And now Dr Richard Firth-Godbehere's first book has just been published, A Human History of Emotion. Richard chats to Robin and Helen Czerski about the book, the emotions of war, witch trials, the history of emoticons, why everything ends up back at Plato and a whole lot more. As ever, an extended edition of this week's episode is available to Patreon supporters which includes a chat about how emotions will control the metaverse. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

This week's episode was recorded in January live at The Slapstick Festival in Bristol. Armando Iannucci, co-creator of The Thick Of It, Veep, Alan Partridge and so many other comedy icons, joins Robin to talk about the state of satire in 2022. Armando's latest book is Pandemonium : Some verses on the Current Predicament, an epic mock-heroic poem, written in response to the pandemic, but they don't really get round to that what with everything else going on. SUPER extended edition for Patreon supporters this week with over half an hour of extra content including discussions about The Death of Stalin and a bunch of audience questions. Sign up at patreon.com/bookshambles

On this week's episode Robin is joined by the Reverend Richard Coles to talk about his literary inspirations and loves growing up as a nerdy kid in Kettering, finding God, a love of diaries and how the process of writing about grief after the loss of his partner David, which would become the book The Madness of Grief. Subscribe to our Patreon to hear extended episodes and get all sorts of other goodies. patreon.com/bookshambles is where to go to sign up

Julia Cooke is a writer and author whose work regularly appears in the likes of Salon, Smithsonian and The New York Times. Her latest book is the acclaimed Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am. She joins Robin to talk about how she found herself in the world of Pan Am and the Mad Men era, studying in Cuba and Pan Am's role in everything from Vietnam to Women's Liberation. Extended version and all sorts of exclusive bonuses are available to Patreon supporters at patreon.com/bookshambles