Loves Labours Watched

This week we had the pleasure of chatting to Helly Acton, author of debut novel The Shelf. The Shelf follows protagonist Amy, who is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend on a new reality TV show and tasked, alongside six other contestants, to complete challenges that'll turn her into a 'keeper' and win the show. We had a great time listening to the audiobook, which is read by Normal People star and LLW fave Daisy Edgar-Jones. We also loved connecting with Helly to discuss feminism, sexism and reality television and followed that up with all our thoughts on reality TV in today's modern world, from Love Island to new hit Selling Sunset. Enjoy!

Welcome back to Loves Labours Watched! This week we're chatting to Susannah Dickey, author of compelling new novel Tennis Lessons, a coming of age story showcasing snapshots of a young woman's life from her childhood to late twenties. It's visceral and compulsive and we speak to Susannah all about her knack for observing the minutiae of daily life. Also...Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer's rewriting of Twilight, is out and of course Helena has read it and has many thoughts. Plus, we discuss some of our past interviewees who've recently had books optioned for TV, including Beth O'Leary, Naoise Dolan and Brit Bennett. Enjoy!

This week on Loves Labours Watched we’re chatting all about How to Build a Girl, the new movie adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s 2014 novel of the same name. We speak to director Coky Giedroyc, who brought the book to the big screen with a vivacious energy that matches the bighearted performance of Beanie Feldstein as protagonist Johanna Morrigan. Coky talks to LLW about the importance of creating a film that was truthful and reflected the reality of being a teenage girl and how her fast paced camerawork mirrors her protagonist’s journey. We also discuss the v swoon-worthy performance by Alfie Allen and how the movie ranks against our favourite coming-of-age dramadies. How to Build a Girl is available to watch on demand in the US and via Amazon Prime in the UK.

Speaking of music, we later get into all our thoughts on Taylor Swift’s surprise new album folklore. Plus book recs including Candice Brathwaite’s I am Not Your Baby Mother. Enjoy! (And please rate and review the podcast if you’ve liked it/get in touch on social media to tell us your thoughts)

This week on Loves Labours Watched we speak to memoirist Tamsin Calidas, author of I Am An Island, an account of Tamsin's fraught yet transformative move from London to an unnamed Scottish island. Tamsin speaks to LLW about the process of memoir-writing, wild-swimming and her belief in the importance of living cohesively with the natural world.

Later, Francesca discusses I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel's explosive, genre-defying TV series, available on BBC iPlayer and currently broadcasting in the US on HBO. Meanwhile Helena is obsessed with Netflix's Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. Plus, we discuss new Netflix series Cursed and question whether it could ever top the dizzy heights of BBC's iconic noughties series Merlin.

This week we connect with author Brit Bennett, whose second novel The Vanishing Half has shot to the top of the New York Times bestsellers chart and is causing a buzz across the literary world. We talk to Brit about how she tackled themes of race, discrimination, gender, performance and identity.

Later, we talk about Mrs Dalloway, which Helena's reading for the first time and is about the impact of the First World War on London society. We consider whether the Covid-19 pandemic might produce similar literary and pop culture ruminations and get excited about Zadie Smith's upcoming essay collection about lockdown life, Imitations, due to be published this summer.

Follow us and get in touch on social media, we'd love to hear from you. We're @RealLLW on Twitter and @LovesLaboursWatched on Instagram. We hope everyone is staying safe and as well as possible in this strange time and we'll see you in a couple of weeks.

This week we had the pleasure of chatting to journalist Gavanndra Hodge, author of new memoir The Consequences of Love, about the sudden death of her younger sister and its impact on her family. We talked about grief, memoir-writing and what it was like for Gavanndra growing up as the child of addicts.

We also bring back our bi-weekly book segment. This time round, we discuss some fiction and non-fiction written by black authors that discuss racism in Britain and in the US. We talk about Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age, Andrea Levy's Small Island and Tayari Jones' An American Marriage.

This is just a small selection -- there are so many more important novels and works of non-fiction that could help educate readers on race relations and discrimination in Britain, the US and across the world. We have many more on our reading list and we would love to hear recommends from listeners, too.

Follow us and get in touch on social media, @RealLLW on Twitter and @LovesLaboursWatched on Instagram. Stay safe everyone and enjoy the episode.

This week on Loves Labours Watched we connect with acclaimed author Curtis Sittenfeld. You may have read Curtis' bestselling 2008 novel American Wife, which imagines the life of a fictionalised American First Lady who shares many biographical similarities with Laura Bush. Or perhaps you devoured her wry collection of short stories, You Think it, I'll Say it, published in 2018 and set to be adapted into a Reese-Witherspoon-produced TV series. Now, Curtis' back with an explosive new novel, Rodham, a fictionalised account of what might have happened had Hillary Clinton decided not to marry Bill. We discuss Curtis' motivations for writing the novel, what it was like marrying real life with fiction and what she thinks Hillary herself might think of the book. It was a fascinating chat and we then dive into our thoughts on the book (the chat and discussion is largely spoiler-free!)

Later, more book chat as Francesca discusses writer Emma Gannon's debut novel Olive, and Helena is gearing up to read new novel Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick. Enjoy!

Welcome back to Loves Labours Watched! This week we were delighted to speak to Lenny Abrahamson, Oscar-nominated director of the 2015 movie Room and the filmmaker behind hit BBC/Hulu show Normal People, based on the bestselling novel by Sally Rooney. We chat to Lenny about adapting the novel for screen, reflecting the novel's intimacy and interiority on film and we take a deep dive into the themes and mood of the series.

Later, we also discuss why Helena is not-so-secretly freaking out about Twilight author Stephanie Meyer's long-awaited Midnight Sun. Plus, some thoughts on the recently released Parks and Rec online reunion special. Enjoy!

This week on Loves Labours Watched we welcome back author Beth O’Leary! Our first repeat guest, Beth last chatted to us back in May 2019 about her debut novel The Flatshare, a super heartwarming and gorgeously told story about the power of connection. The Flatshare became an international hit and now Beth’s back this spring with The Switch, a vivacious, warm and funny novel about a grandmother and her granddaughter who temporarily switch lives, with results both humorous and life-changing. We had a fantastic time catching up with Beth and hearing about her whirlwind last year and we absolutely loved The Switch.

Plus, Francesca’s enthusing about Bernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other and the new TV version of Malory Towers, while Helena is enjoying the TV version of What We Do in the Shadows, and just did a mammoth book order.

Don’t forget to sign up to our Patreon for bonus content! This time round, we discuss The Phantom of the Opera with a Phantom newbie in honour of its recent livestream via The Shows Must Go On!

This week on Loves Labours Watched, we're chatting to author Naoise Dolan. Dubbed "the next Sally Rooney", Irish writer Naoise just published her first book Exciting Times, which explores the intricacies of human relationships and connection via the story of three young people living in Hong Kong. There's so much well-deserved buzz surrounding the novel, we both loved it. We had a fantastic time chatting to Naoise about why she chose Hong Kong as the setting, the assumptions made about young female novelists, subverting expectations, how she transplanted the themes of the Victorian novel to the present day and why we would watch a socially-distanced-version of Derry Girls.

Later, we discuss the tiny joys getting us through this strange time: Helena's getting excited about Eurovision Again and we're both enjoying the roster of plays offered by National Theatre Live.

PLUS exciting news about how we're growing the podcast, check out the last few minutes to find out more.