Page One

For the 77th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian meets actor, wanderer and discover Rebecca Yeo at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, London. They talk about the importance of asking questions without expecting answers, a seminal book on acting and banquet bugs in China.

With a clock ticking implacably in the background, Charles Adrian meets mother, mobile artist and edible gardener Viviana Rossi-Cafell for the 76th Second-Hand Book Factory. They talk about the transformative effect of gardening, a warm feeling of friendship and a feeling that comes just before crying. Italian is spoken in this episode, both well and badly. You can see some of Viviana's work here.

For the 101st Page One (which, as listeners of Page One 100 will know, is actually the 102nd episode of the podcast), Charles Adrian talks about the five novels he would take with him to a desert island, if he were forced to go. And allowed to take books. These books are essential. And long.

(Here, by the way, is Charles Adrian talking about The Folding Star on Steve Wasserman's podcast Read Me Something You Love)

For the 100th Page One (which, as Charles Adrian explains, is actually the 101st edition of the podcast), we are given a brainload of statistics. How many pages have been read in how many languages by how many people etc. If these and other questions have been exercising your attention, this episode is for you. Charles Adrian also shares something of his own (also to be found here) and he plays some funny music and some beautiful music.

“You are the music while the music lasts.” For the 75th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by pianist and Korean-American mutt SooJin Anjou to discuss the need for contradiction and art that contains the world (no small ambition). This will be the last of these Second-Hand Book Factories for a while so, in Groucho’s words, please hug yourselves for me. [On the question of classical music on the podcast, a clarification: of course, while I was editing this, I remembered that I played some Schubert for Ted Schmitz as part of the 30th Page One, which you can find here.]

A special vintage edition of Page One this week as Charles Adrian is joined by his little sister Lissa for the 28th Second-Hand Book Factory. Between sips of tea and mouthfuls of cake at the Chiswick House Café, they discuss their suspicion of people who haven’t read Harry Potter, their shared appreciation for the playfulness of Jasper Fforde and opium. Incidentally, Harry Potter fans might want to read this.

For the 74th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by playwright, performer and accidental sex-positivity educator, advocate and activist Cameryn Moore. They talk about the level of detail in some rich historical fantasy, some of the advantages of a really big tea cup and the realisation that people write creatively about their food experiences. [Note: apologies for the phone that buzzes at 5:50; this is the result of a schoolboy error on the part of the podcaster.]