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George Saunders (“Tenth of December”, “Lincoln in the Bardo”) is one of the finest American writers working today. With the release of his new book, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain“, we talk about combating cynicism (5:00), the power of Chekhov and Tobias Wolff (8:52), regarding literature as a fondness for life (12:30), a summer of Steinbeck (15:00), deconstructing the (male) mythology of Hemingway (26:45), and how starting a young family changed his life (35:00). On the back-half, we talk craft and process (39:00), his conversations with the late David Foster Wallace (42:15), and his aim to entertain any kind of reader (44:39). To close: he shares an excerpt from his short story, “Love Letter” (49:02), and the need to live urgently (53:43).  

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Ben Okri reads his story from the February 8, 2021, issue of the magazine. Okri is the author of eleven novels, including “The Famished Road,” which won the Booker Prize in 1991, and “The Freedom Artist,” which came out in 2019. His story collection, “Prayer for the Living,” was published in the U.S. this month. 

Hisham Matar joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “One Minus One,” by Colm Tóibín, which appeared in a 2007 issue of the magazine. Matar’s most recent book, the memoir “A Month in Siena,” came out last year.

To celebrate St Brigid's Day, 1st February, Manchán Magan reads accounts of St Brigid's Day traditions as collected by schoolchildren in the 1930s for The School's Collection.

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This is the second part of Manchán's conversation with environmental philosopher Matthijs Schouten. Manchán and Matthijs chat about how everything in the world – the natural world and the human-built world – is connected, and how this realisation can help us feel happier as individuals and less powerless in the face of the current climate crisis.

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Patricia Lockwood reads her story from the November 30, 2020, issue of the magazine. Lockwood has published two collections of poetry and the memoir “Priestdaddy,” which came out in 2017. Her first novel, “No One Is Talking About This,” from which this story is adapted, will come out next year. 

Salman Rushdie reads his story from the November 23, 2020, issue of the magazine. Rushdie has published twelve novels, including the Booker Prize-winning “Midnight’s Children,” “The Satanic Verses,” “The Golden House,” and, most recently, “Quichotte,” which came out last year. 

Manchán travels the breadth of Ireland for an uplifting chat with environmental philosopher Matthijs Schouten about how to reconnect our souls to the natural world. For more information on the NatureWise programme at Wageningen University in The Netherlands: https://cdn.naaee.org/sites/default/files/case-study/file/case_study_naturewise_0.pdf

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Psychoanalyst and paediatrician Donald Winnicott helped shape childcare in Britain through a series of BBC radio broadcasts in the 1940s and 50s. He suggested mothers did best when they followed their instincts, got to know their babies and ignored prescribed rules. He became most famous for developing the idea of what he called ‘the good-enough mother’. He also introduced the term 'transitional object' to describe the favourite teddy that babies cling to, He suggested it represented an important phase of development, helping babies develop a sense of self, separate from their mothers. Claire Bowes has been speaking to retired psychoanalyst Jennifer Johns, who knew Donald Winnicott.

PHOTO: A mother with her baby in the 1960s. Credit: BBC.

George Saunders reads his story from the November 9, 2020, issue of the magazine. Saunders won the Man Booker Prize in 2017, for his novel “Lincoln in the Bardo.” He is the author of four story collections, including “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” and “Tenth of December.”