The Back Half

Tom Gatti heads to a pub in New Cross, south London, to meet the six shortlisted authors for the Goldsmiths Prize, which is awarded annually to a work of fiction that breaks the mould. Will Self, Sara Baume, Kevin Davey, Nicola Barker, Jon McGregor and Gwendoline Riley each read from their books, as well as talking about what led them to experiment with the novel form. The winner of the 2017 prize will be announced on 15 November and the winning author will appear at Cambridge Literary Festival on 26 November.

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The shortlisted novels:

Phone by Will Self

A Line Made By Walking by Sara Baume

Playing Possum by Kevin Davey

H(A)PPY by Nicola Barker

Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor

First Love by Gwendoline Riley

For more details visit the Goldsmiths Prize website here.

Thanks very much to Ashley Simpson and Liron Zisser of Goldsmiths University.

Our theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

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On this episode of the New Statesman's new culture podcast, The Back Half, Tom Gatti and Kate Mossman discuss the BBC's torture-heavy Guy Fawkes drama Gunpowder. Then we hear an excerpt from Tom's conversation with Man Booker prize-winning novelist George Saunders, and finally celebrate the noniversary of the immortal Coolio song "Gangsta's Paradise".

Get in touch on Twitter and send us your noniversary suggestions via @ns_podcasts or @tom_gatti.

Relevant links:

Watch Gunpowder on the BBC iPlayer.

Get a copy of George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo.

Subscribe to the New Statesman now or buy a copy from your local newsagent.

Our theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of the New Statesman's new culture podcast, The Back Half, we welcome guest Philip Pullman to discuss his return to the world of His Dark Materials with new book La Belle Sauvage, the first instalment in The Book of Dust trilogy. Then hosts Tom Gatti and Kate Mossman discuss creepy BBC TV special Ghostwatch and celebrate the noniversary of that much-missed music format the CD single.

Get in touch on Twitter via @ns_podcasts or @tom_gatti.

Relevant links:

Get a copy of La Belle Sauvage.

Read Rowan Williams' review of the book in the New Statesman.

Buy tickets to see Philip Pullman discuss the book at the Southbank Centre on 20 October.

Kate's piece about Ghostwatch.

Subscribe to the New Statesman now or buy a copy from your local newsagent.

Our theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a break from regular programming this week to bring you Ali Smith's recent New Statesman/Goldsmiths Prize lecture on "why the novel matters in the age of Brexit and Trump". You can read an edited version of the lecture in this week's magazine - get your copy now. Tom and Kate will be back with a regular episode next week.

Get in touch on Twitter via @ns_podcasts or @tom_gatti.

Find out more about the Goldsmiths Prize here.

Our theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the New Statesman's new culture podcast, The Back Half, Tom Gatti and Kate Mossman discuss Morrissey's performance at 6 Music Live and David Simon's new TV show about the porn industry in New York in the 1970s, The Deuce. Plus, they celebrate the noniversary of the Garbage Pail Kids.

Get in touch on Twitter via @ns_podcasts.

Relevant links:

Listen to Morrissey at 6 Music Live.

Andrew Harrison's review of Morrissey's autobiography.

Watch The Deuce.

Emily Nussbaum's review of The Deuce.

Subscribe to the New Statesman now or buy a copy from your local newsagent to read Rachel Cooke's review.

Our theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Gatti and Kate Mossman from the New Statesman's culture desk discuss the Netflix true crime series The Confession Tapes and Tricky's new album ununiform. Plus, for their next noniversary, they celebrate "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something.

Get in touch on Twitter via @ns_podcasts and make sure you're subscribed on Apple Podcasts here so you don't miss the next episode.

The theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Gatti and Kate Mossman from the New Statesman's culture desk discuss the evolving cultural significance of emojis and the new Foo Fighters album Concrete and Gold. Plus, in the first of a series, they celebrate the noniversary of the Nineties teen slasher film Urban Legends.

Get in touch on Twitter via @ns_podcasts and make sure you're subscribed on Apple Podcasts here so you don't miss the next episode.

Clips from "The Sky is a Neighbourhood" and "Run" by the Foo Fighters courtesy of Roswell Records/RCA Records.

The theme music is "God Speed" by Pistol Jazz, licensed under Creative Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.