Page One

Sitting outside the Money Museum in Athens, Charles Adrian is joined by musician, performer and teacher Vicky Sachpazi for the 58th Second-Hand Book Factory.  They talk about the science of religiosity, the right way to behave in a room and Lawrence Durrell’s ‘poet of the city’. (Incidentally, if you haven’t already, check out the 55th Page One, in which Charles Adrian talks about Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet!) More information about Trio Tzane is here.

On top of Mount Parnitha just outside Athens, with a storm and a dog and some people in the background, Charles Adrian talks to performer Erifili Stefanidou (not to be confused with the other actress of the same name) for the 57th Second-Hand Book Factory. They talk about the most famous book in modern Greek, something splenetic by a famous Russian and something sweet by a relatively famous Frenchman. When Charles Adrian says ‘pilote’ he means, of course, ‘Pilate’.

Alison Windsor describes herself as a teaching artist with an interest in theatre and language, which is a neat shorthand for some of the kinds of things that she does. For the 56th Second-Hand Book Factory, she has flown from Sydney, Australia, to Athens, Greece, to talk to Charles Adrian about Kundera’s lightness of touch, the first play performed in (colonial) Australia and to swap stories about Paris. In the background you will occasionally hear the sound of next week’s guest… More information about Alison is here.

This week Charles Adrian puts on his poetry voice to read from some poetry pamphlets that he has found beneath Waterloo Bridge. That’s it. He encourages his listeners to embrace poetry.

Get ready for one of the classic key-changes of modern times kicking off this vintage Page One, in which artist and provocateur John Walter joins Charles Adrian in the Wilton Way Café in Hackney at a time when this podcast was still being made for London Fields Radio. John is currently raising money for Alien Sex Club, which is planned for July and August 2015 and aims to raise awareness of rising HIV infection rates among gay people. You can find out more and donate via his sponsume page here. His own website is here.

For the 55th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by Bernadette Russell, an artist who makes theatre pieces, books, objects, installations, radio plays and more or less whatever strikes her fancy. We talk about reactions to art, whether we should settle for reality as it presents itself and beds in bookshops. Find out more about Are You Sitting Comfortably and the 366 Days Of Kindness project here. You can read about the wonderful Wigtown Book Festival here. [Warning: edited for language]

Joining Charles Adrian for the 54th Second-Hand Book Factory is Ben Walters whose work life takes him to, between and around film, moving image, cabaret, performance and queer culture. They usher in the purple epoch of Hollywood, the fight against the patriarchy and a peculiarly loveable psychopath. Follow Ben on Twitter as @not_television. Oh, and there's a video of Justin Vivian Bond singing The Golden Age Of Hustlers here. [Warning: two instances of possibly offensive language]

Joining Charles Adrian in the Candid Arts Café near the Angel, Islington, for the 53rd Second-Hand Book Factory is writer, performer and clown doctor Anna Tobert. Live on air, they sign the form that puts an end to their dormant theatre company, The Same Person Ltd, and they talk about some things they know a lot about and some things they don’t. The first piece music is Anna’s choice but made after the podcast was recorded, which is why it is unannounced. Here is a link to the Mandela podcast Charles Adrian talks about. [Warning: there some offensive language during the CocoRosie track]

Charles Adrian is joined for the 52nd Second-Hand Book Factory at a noisy Royal Festival Hall in London by avid reader and mega-commuter Katrina Crear. They talk about art and value and Australia. Bill Bryson is mentioned. Charles Adrian wants to say Royal Opera House towards the middle of the episode and, instead, says Royal Festival Hall twice; he also seems to say E flat instead of B flat when describing the Corelli track. Of such mistakes are blushes made.

Charles Adrian shares his love for Fantasy literature this week and reads from some properly brilliant books. He also uses this as an excuse to pontificate on the function of art.