This week, TLS contributors on what art and literature mean in a time of crisis; and we take a trip to the melancholy, beautiful, faded English seaside.

‘The Seaside: England’s Love Affair’, by Madeleine Bunting

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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

This week, Kate Simpson introduces us to the precarious and vital world of the gastropods; and James McConnachie plunges into the teeming waters of the St George’s Channel.

‘A World in a Shell: Snail Stories for a Time of Extinctions’ by Thom van Dooren

’The Turning Tide: A Biography of the Irish Sea’ by Jon Gower

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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

Abigail Green considers a panoramic account of the continent-wide outbreak of revolutions in 1848.

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/revolutionary-spring-christopher-clark-book-review-abigail-green/ 

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

This week, Ben Hutchinson takes us to Paris to survey the invention of type; and Joe Moran on giving your creativity a workout.

‘Imprimer! L’Europe de Gutenberg’, Bibliothèque nationale de France, until July 16

'Imprimer! L’Europe de Gutenberg 1450-1520’, edited by Nathalie Coilly and Caroline Vrand

‘The Imagination Muscle: Where good ideas come from (and how to have more of them)’, by Albert Read

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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

Tyler Cowen on the advantages of gradual reform over long-term thinking.

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-long-view-richard-fisher-the-lost-future-jan-zielonka-gradual-greg-berman-aubrey-fox-book-review-tyler-cowen/ 

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

This week, Lucy and Alex discover how James Shapiro created his landmark work on a formative year in Shakespeare’s life; and Miranda France on her spellbinding study of memoir and creative writing.

‘1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare’, by James Shapiro

‘The Writing School’, by Miranda France

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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

David Throsby on the ruthlessness of the consulting industry.

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/consulting-mckinsey-mariana-mazzucato-rosie-collington-walt-bogdanich-michael-forsythe-book-review-david-throsby/

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

This week, Laurie Maguire is in the audience for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet; and Lucy and Alex catch up with novelist Curtis Sittenfeld on her whistle-stop visit to the UK.

‘Hamnet’, an RSC production, from the novel by Maggie O’Farrell

‘Romantic Comedy’, by Curtis Sittenfeld

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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

Tristram Hunt revisits the monuments controversy. 

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/monumental-lies-robert-bevan-everyday-like-of-memorials-andrew-shanken-on-the-street-edwin-heathcote-book-review-tristram-hunt/

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

Historian Emily Baughan on two books chronicling the immense impact of the NHS and the welfare state on the lives of Britons; and a new film explores Patricia Highsmith’s hinterland.

’The Welfare State generation: Women, agency and class in Britain since 1945’, by Eve Worth

‘Poster, protests and prescriptions: Cultural histories of the National Health Service in Britain’, edited by Jennifer Crane and Jane Hand

‘Loving Highsmith’, a film by Eva Vitija

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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