Lit with Charles

Tom Williams, film producer


Listen Later

It’s the age-old question: was the book really better than the movie? For the last however many millennia, the book has been the unrivalled compendium of human knowledge. However, since the turn of the last century, there’s been a new kid on the proverbial block: the movie.


Today I got to speak to Tom Williams, a film producer based out of LA, whose 25 year film industry tenure has given us a brief window into the glitz, glamour, and (perhaps) practical realities of working in the biz. In this episode we cover a wide range of topics, and have a go at recontextualising the historic chasm between cinema and literature – not a brutal clash of deadly foes, but actually something rather symbiotic.


Find some of the books mentioned in the episode below:

  • His favourite book I’ve never heard of was The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, Alvaro Mutis (1992)
  • His favourite book from the last 12 months was Seven Empty Houses, Samanta Schweblin (2022)
  • A book he found disappointing was The Archivist by Rex Pickett (2021)
  • The book he would bring to a desert island was Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco (1988) 
  • The book that changed his mind was The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (1943)

  • Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Lit with CharlesBy Charles Pignal

    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6

    4.6

    7 ratings


    More shows like Lit with Charles

    View all
    The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker Radio Hour

    6,817 Listeners

    What Should I Read Next? by Anne Bogel

    What Should I Read Next?

    5,195 Listeners

    Ask Penguin by Penguin Books UK

    Ask Penguin

    143 Listeners

    Backlisted by Backlisted

    Backlisted

    593 Listeners

    THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST by ADAM BUXTON

    THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST

    1,126 Listeners

    Front Row by BBC Radio 4

    Front Row

    128 Listeners

    The Bookshelf by ABC

    The Bookshelf

    40 Listeners

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Higher Ground

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

    1,468 Listeners

    The Book Show by ABC

    The Book Show

    19 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    16,303 Listeners

    The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

    The Rest Is Politics

    3,357 Listeners

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker

    663 Listeners

    The Louis Theroux Podcast by Spotify Studios

    The Louis Theroux Podcast

    300 Listeners

    A Good Read by BBC Radio 4

    A Good Read

    39 Listeners

    Zero to Well-Read by Book Riot

    Zero to Well-Read

    593 Listeners