Books of My Life

In the sixth and final episode of Books of My Life season two, host Hareth Al Bustani interviews English actor, comedian and author Ben Miller.

Having found success with the BAFTA-winning Armstrong and Miller sketch show, he has gone on to feature in countless films and TV shows, including Johnny English, Paddington 2 and Bridgerton.

He's also written a string of bestselling children’s books, including How I Became a Dog Called Midnight, The Night We Got Stuck in a Story and more – a passion that began by writing a story for his son.

In this episode, Miller discusses the books that inspired him the most when he was young, and what drove him to write for a new generation of readers.

In the fifth episode of Books of My Life season two, host Hareth Al Bustani interviews Kuwaiti-Palestinian author and academic Shahd Alshammari.

Alshammari has a profound relationship with literature – she credits it with saving her life. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at a young age, she has overcome great physical and mental obstacles to become a beacon of inspiration, strength and hope through extensive writing about disability and gender in the Arabian Gulf.

Her memoir Head Above Water shines a powerful light on the rarely heard non-Western narratives exploring illness, and she brings a crucial female Arab voice to the conversation.

In this episode, Alshammari discusses how the classics and Arabic literature drove a passion for life, the importance of destigmatising mental health and the need for more representation of people living with disabilities.

In the fourth episode of Books of My Life season two, host Hareth Al Bustani interviews British writer and explorer Benedict Allen.

The real-life Indiana Jones, Allen has nearly died nine times, adventuring everywhere from the Amazon to the Arctic. Keen to minimise his impact on local communities and surroundings, he never takes any GPS equipment and builds local expeditions from the ground wherever he goes.

Allen has also written a dozen books documenting his exploits.

He recalls being inspired by the stories of Dr David Livingstone, Peter Matthiessen and Wilfred Thesiger, people he says had a dream and were prepared to take risks to make it come true.

In the third episode of Books of My Life season two, host Hareth Al Bustani interviews Indian historian, journalist and author Shrabani Basu.

The truly great history writer walks a fine line between dramatisation and documentation – a balance Basu has mastered admirably.

Basu famously wrote Victoria and Abdul, a historical novel later adapted into a feature film. Somewhat of a sleuth herself, she also wrote a fascinating account of Arthur Conan Doyle’s efforts to rescue a Parsi lawyer from injustice.

In the episode, Al Bustani and Basu discuss the remarkable correlations between history and journalism, and why the best history writers have to be both.

In the first episode of Books of My Life season two, host Hareth Al Bustani interviews best-selling British author Jeffrey Archer.

Starting with the blockbuster hit Kane and Abel in 1979, Archer has gone on to sell more than 275 million books.

But there’s a lot more to him than that. Once a member of parliament, he rose to the heights of deputy chairman of the Conservatives and was the party's London mayoral candidate in 1999, only to resign after being embroiled in a perjury scandal that saw him sentenced to four years in jail.

Following his stint behind bars, his prison diaries achieved great success, making him the only author to have had best-selling titles across fiction, non-fiction and short stories.

Storytelling is a crucial pillar of our lives. In many ways, the human experience is defined as a series of stories. For millions, the most memorable and evocative tales live in the hallowed pages of books, for there is no medium more powerful than the human imagination.

Books have a remarkable power to draw us in, to connect us with one another, to educate and entertain; they take us on journeys through love, pain, inspiration and everywhere in between.

Arts and culture editor at The National, Hareth Al Bustani, will take listeners on their own journey by delving into the lives, minds and untold stories of writers through the books that shaped their experiences.

In season two of the Books of My Life podcast, he sits down with influential figures from an array of fields to explore the books that have left the deepest imprints on their lives. They reveal the stories, characters and ideas that resonate with them most and how they shape their values, beliefs and careers.

The series can be downloaded and subscribed to on all popular podcast platforms and apps.