The TLS Podcast

Clive Stafford Smith, lawyer and campaigner against miscarriages of justice, joins us in the studio to discuss his time defending death-row prisoners in Guantánamo and elsewhere, the "integrity" of the system, why torture doesn't work, and whether the age of mass incarceration might finally be drawing to a close. We end with Helen Mort reading her new poem, "Glasgow".Presented by Stig Abell and Thea Lenarduzzi. Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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With Stig Abell and Thea Lenarduzzi – Paul Collier on the new "hard" pragmatism and the future of capitalism; Michael Chabon discusses his invigorating new novel, Moonglow; Mary Beard on women in academia (the troubles and the triumphs, past and present), and why the Trump inauguration protests were a step in the right direction.Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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With Stig Abell and Thea Lenarduzzi – Devoney "Stone Cold Jane Austen" Looser on the slew of Jane Austen reincarnations (and why it's nothing to worry about); David Wheatley on the long-awaited final volume of Samuel Beckett's letters and its "black diamonds of pessimism"; and J. Michael Lennon on the titan of publishing Robert Gottlieb, and the writer-editor relationship. Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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With Stig Abell and Thea Lenarduzzi – Eimear McBride on the dark side of bad sex writing and why a new anthology is nothing to be snickered at; Diana Darke on the stories of two young women who have fled war in the Middle East and the new pressures they face; and Jenny Hendrix joins us from New York to discuss new works of imaginative cartography that portray that city – indeed any city – in full, kaleidoscopic complexity.Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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With Stig Abell and Thea Lenarduzzi – Andrew Scull on the deeply unsettling – and surprisingly recent – history of lobotomy, and the sorry tale of Patient H. M.; Lisa Hilton on the sometimes mystifying appeal of the French Riviera and the vapid aristocrats who holidayed there; Kate Symondson on an all but forgotten novel by Joseph Conrad and a clutch of new books that scrutinize his philosophical and political scepticism – a man for our times?

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A recording from the TLS’s 2016 London Lit Weekend at King’s Place, London: Historians Simon Bradley and Rosemary Ashton and the architect Paul Williams (of Stanton Williams Architects) discuss the literary and architectural heritage of King’s Cross, London, an area which has seen tremendous upheaval in the past century.Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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A recording from the TLS’s 2016 London Lit Weekend at King’s Place, London: 2016 was the 200th anniversary of a dark and stormy night with an extraordinary literary legacy: Frankenstein. Frances Wilson and Benjamin Markovits recount the three days in June, 1816, at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva, when a group of young writers – among them Mary Godwin – sheltered from the gloom.Find out more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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A recording from the TLS’s 2016 London Lit Weekend at King’s Place, London: Cinema and television are brimming with literary adaptations. But how does the page translate to the screen? To discuss the ins and outs, successes and failures, we brought together Mary Beard, David Farr (whose screenwriting credits include The Night Manager), and the novelist and literary adaptee Alan Hollinghurst. Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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A recording from the TLS’s 2016 London Lit Weekend at King’s Place, London: Overrated/Underrated, a favourite TLS game in which a panel of critics (David Collard, Alex Clark and Michael Caines) select the esteemed writers they would like to build up or knock down a peg or two. Discover more at www.the-tls.co.uk

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With Stig Abell and Thea Lenarduzzi – James O'Brien on Brexit and the battle for Britain's soul; a (rather idiosyncratic) round-up of the best arts of 2016 with Arts editor Lucy Dallas; finally, in honour of the season, Philosophy editor and oenophile Tim Crane on the "champagne phenomenon"; see you in 2017.

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