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Midnight No-call Blues by Fiona Keane

Sean talks with Atlantic writer Charlie Warzel about the increasingly weird experience of being online. They discuss AI-generated content, bots, algorithms, the “dead internet theory,” and why so much of the web now feels artificial, manipulated, or unreal. They also explore psyops, conspiracy culture, social media, and the deeper question lurking beneath the AI boom: What are human beings actually for?

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)

Guest: Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel)

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Michael Feinstein, the pianist, singer and perhaps the greatest living interpreter of what is known as The Great American Songbook, is our guest today. He talks about his childhood, when his life was changed by his father's impulsive decision to buy a piano, which young Michael discovered he could play by ear. He talks about being an outsider, his belief in reincarnation, and his early enthusiasm for the classic songs of America's golden age. Michael talks about his deep friendship and working relationship with Ira Gershwin, and how that led him to meeting Rosemary Clooney, and later, Liza Minnelli. He talks about his relationship with Liza, and what makes it special - and what makes her such an electrifying performer.

This is a truly fascinating edition of Rosebud - remarkable for its honesty, openness and tenderness. We close with Michael's beautiful rendition of "My Love Is Here To Stay" by George and Ira Gershwin, performed by Michael Feinstein. If you love music, emotion and conversation, you'll love this episode.

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For more than 50 years, Anna Deavere Smith has pioneered a type of theater built from real people's words, interviewing hundreds of Americans and then performing their words verbatim. Now she's telling a story from her own family with ‘Basil Biggs.’ It’s about her great-great-grandfather, a free Black man, who reburied the Union dead at Gettysburg and prepared the ground for Lincoln's most famous speech. Smith spoke with Tonya Mosley about how ‘Finding Your Roots’ led her to this story and why she sees herself as an Americanist.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works from an evening with New Yorker author and cartoonist Roz Chast, inspired by Chast’s book I Must be Dreaming.  “The Wife on Ambien,” by Ed Park, is a sort of late-night fever dream.  It’s read by John Fugelsang.  In Tessa Hadley’s “Bad Dreams,” images than begin in dreams envelop a family in real life.The reader is Rita Wolf.  Tom Barbash’s “Stay Up With Me” charts the rocky path of an old love affair.  It’s read by Jason Ralph.  And stay tuned for Chast’s own weird dream life, some of which she shares in this episode.

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This is a catch-up version of James O'Brien's Mystery Hour. To join the game, call 0345 60 60 973, Thursdays at 12pm.

For many decades, Rupert Murdoch's global media empire has wielded immense power and political influence in Australia and abroad. A new book examines their tactics. 

Guests:

• Matthew Ricketson, Professor of Communication, Deakin University
• Andrew Dodd, Professor in the School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne

Co-authors of Getting Murdoched: How Murdoch’s Media Wields Power and Punishment

The writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and career. He started out as a screenwriter on the television soaps Brookside and Coronation Street, before publishing his debut children's novel Millions in 2004. The book won the prestigious Carnegie Medal and a screenplay version was made into a film by Danny Boyle. He also wrote five films for the director Michael Winterbottom, including Welcome To Sarajevo and Twenty Four Hour Party People. In 2012, Frank renewed his creative partnership with Danny Boyle as the writer of the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. After many bestselling children’s books including Framed, Cosmic and The Astounding Broccoli Boy, in 2024 he was appointed as the Children’s Laureate.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

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Epistolary novels used to be all the rage Think Clarissa, think Dracula, think the more recent We need to talk about Kevin. Last year saw another smash hit epistolary novel, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, published to wide acclaim and stellar sales, and shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Fiction prize . Three times a week, 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp sits down at her desk in her Maryland home to write her letters. Her correspondence has been, as she puts it, "the mainstay of my life". Virginia was in Dublin this June  for the Carlow University Pittsburgh's MFA in Creative Writing Program residency at Trinity College, Dublin and we’re thankful to poet and program director Tess Barry for allowing us to feature this interview on Books for Breakfast. The interviewer is noted writer Carlo Gebler who was also Virginia’s mentor during the year she spent on the creative writing MPhil in Trinity. So grab a coffee and sit back and listen to Carlo Gebler and Virginia Evans. 

'A warm, funny gem of a novel'
LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES

'Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved'
NEW YORK TIMES 

'Immensely enjoyable'
GUARDIAN

'The year's breakout novel no one saw coming'
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, 'Thou Shalt Not Carry' from The Hare's Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. 

Logo designed by Freya Sirr.

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After nearly five decades, United Nations peacekeepers are preparing to leave Lebanon, bringing one of the organisation's longest-running missions to a close. Established in 1978 following Israel's invasion of the country, the force has monitored hostilities, supported security efforts and helped protect civilians Who will fill the vacuum once the peacekeepers are gone?

• Guest: Ray Murphy – a former United Nations peacekeeper in Lebanon and Professor with the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway
• Producer: Ali Benton