Find out the reading habits of thriller writer (and Guardian journalist) Jonathan Freedland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian journalist who has written 7 thrillers under the name Sam Bourne. To Kill the Truth springs from one question. What if, in this era of post-truth, someone tried to destroy all evidence of the past – starting with the records and documents by which we know what is true and what is false? Thanks to galloping technology – which now makes fake ‘archive footage’ possible, along with bogus sound recordings of historical figures saying things they never said – and governments bent on spreading fake news, the truth is under assault like never before. It no longer seems far-fetched to imagine a plot to kill it off forever.   The result is To Kill the Truth, a novel which opens with the murder of an eminent historian. Soon more historians are found dead, along with aged survivors of some of history’s greatest crimes. And then libraries – in America, in Britain and around the world – are burned to the ground, the archives they hold turned to dust.   Once again, at the centre of the action is Maggie Costello, the former White House operative who tried to avert an assassination in Sam Bourne’s previous bestseller, To Kill the President. She understands early that it’s not just buildings and digital databases that are the target of this mysterious plot. It is an attack on the knowledge we have about our world – and the very idea of truth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The author of "Last Train To Hilversum - A Journey In Search Of The Magic of Radio" talks us through his favourite books and authors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charlie Connelly is a bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster. His many books include Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast, In Search of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit and Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me. Three of his books have featured as Radio 4′s Book of the Week. His book Gilbert: The Last Years of WG Grace was shortlisted for the 2016 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year. The book he wrote with his friend Bernard Sumner, Chapter And Verse: New Order, Joy Division And Me was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the NME Awards, while his most recent co-writing project, Winner: A Racing Life with the champion jockey AP McCoy is shortlisted for Sports Autobiography of the Year. His latest solo effort is a love letter to UK radio - Last Train To Hilversum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The author of one of the most anticipated thrillers of 2019 - The Silent Patient Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to author Alex Michaelides talk about his favourite books and authors. His debut novel THE SILENT PATIENT has been sold to over 30 countries and the film rights have been optioned by the makers of 12 Years A Slave Alex studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Con is On (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Atlas of Happiness author tells Simon about her favourite authors, which include Kate Atkinson, Jill Murphy, David Niven, Naomi Alderman, Siri Hustvedt and Bill Bryson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Atlas of Happiness is a round-the-world trip through 33 international happiness concepts, from the bestselling author of The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell. Feeling terrified of that upcoming job interview? Take inspiration from the Icelanders and get some fietta reddast, the unwavering belief that everything will work out in the end. Lost your way in life? Make like the Chinese and find your xingfu, or the thing that gives you real purpose. Too much on your plate? The Italians can help you learn the fine art of dolce far niente, aka the sweetness of doing nothing at all. Overwhelmed by busyness and disconnected from nature? The Swedish have a solution – just find your smultronställe, or 'wild strawberry patch', your perfect escape from the rest of the world. From Australia to Wales, via Bhutan, Ireland, Finland, Turkey, Syria, Japan, and many more besides, The Atlas of Happiness uncovers the global secrets to happiness, and how they can change our lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legendary journalist John Simpson tells us about his favourite books and authors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Michael Parkinson talks us through his favourite books Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Robin Ince tackles our book Q&A. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A very thoughtful chat with Robin about his latest book - I'm A Joke And So Are You - A Comedian's Take On What Makes Us Human. Covering brains, death and the voices inside your head. Yes, your head. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An undiagnosed broken back, turning up to Woodstock in a VW Beetle, and 6 of the best on his bare arse. The legendary frontman of The Who tells all about his autobiography Thanks A Lot Mr Kibblewhite Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A taster from our next pod...about life on tour with The Who - and news of the new Keith Moon film Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Parky pops in to chat about his friend, the flawed footballing genius George Best- the focus of his new memoir. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Simpson has been the BBC's World Affairs Editor for more than half his fifty-two year career. The legendary journalist tells us about his new novel Moscow, Midnight. MP Patrick Macready has been found dead in his flat. The coroner rules it an accident, a sex game gone wrong. Jon Swift is from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight - and something about his friend's death doesn't seem right. Then days after Macready's flat is apparently burgled, Swift discovers that his friend had been researching a string of Russian government figures who had met similarly 'accidental' fates. When the police refuse to investigate further, Swift gets in touch with his contacts in Moscow, determined to find out if his hunch is correct. Following the lead, he is soon drawn into a violent underworld, where whispers of conspiracies, assassinations and double-agents start blurring the line between friend and foe. But the truth will come at a price, and it may cost him everything. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find out the writing and reading habits of this week's authors. Cressida is the multi million selling creator of How To Train Your Dragon. And Edward has compiled a book of maps which chart the rise of exploration. They talk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cressida Cowell is the multi million selling creator, author and illustrator of How To Train Your Dragon. Her latest book is the second in the Wizards Of Once series. Edward Brooke-Hitching is the author of the critically acclaimed books The Phantom Atlas and Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports . The son of Franklin Brooke-Hitching, collector of the largest and most comprehensive library of British exploration and discovery ever accumulated, he is also a writer for the BBC series QI and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His latest book is The Golden Atlas - charting the evolution of maps and exploration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The reading habits of bestselling author Ian Rankin - covering the likes of Charles Dickens, Alistair MacLean, RagnarJonasson...and Jilly Cooper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See if Matt can keep his sh*t together in front of his all time favourite author...Ian Rankin comes in to chat about his new bestseller In A House of Lies - the 22nd Rebus novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The author of the multi million selling Jack Reacher thrillers talks about his reading and writing habits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The multi million selling author of the Jack Reacher books pops in to the pod to talk coffee, movies and cotton buds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan and Anna from the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast discuss their Book of the Year - amazing facts from 2018. And explorer Levison Wood tells us about his latest adventure, which he has written about in his new book Arabia - 13 countries, 5000 miles...on foot, camel and tank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover the reading habits, loves and suggestions of explorer Levison Wood and the QI Elves Anna & Dan (No Such Thing As A Fish). Levison has written a book about his recent journey around the Arabian Peninsular - 13 countries & 5000 miles via foot, tank and camel. The Elves have released the Book of the Year - amazing facts that may have passed you by in the past 11 months or so. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two of the world's finest authors grace our studios...three if you include Simon. But even Matt would agree 4 would be stretching it. Markus Zusak's debut novel The Book Thief sold over 8m copies. His latest effort Bridge of Clay has been over a decade in the making. Anthony Horowitz has written books featuring Sherlock Holmes and James Bond (not together, yet...) His new novel The Sentence Is Death is a murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simon and Matt find out the reading habits of authors Anthony Horowitz and Markus Zusak. Plus your tweets, letters and suggestions. Anthony Horowitz is one of Britain's most successful writers - specialising in mystery and suspense. His work for young adult readers includes The Alex Rider series. His work for adults includes two Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty ; plus Magpie Murders and The Word Is Murder . He was also chosen to write James Bond novels by the Ian Fleming estate, starting with Trigger Mortis  which he then followed up with Forever And A Day. He was the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle's War, Collision and Injustice and the BBC series New Blood. Markus Zusak's breakthrough novel was The Book Thief. Published in 2005, it has been translated in to 30 languages, winning a host of international awards - and was made in to a film starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. His latest release - 10 years in the making, is called Bridge of Clay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heather's debut novel The Tattooist Of Auschwitz has become an international best seller. Based on the recollections of Lale Sokolov, who confided his life story to Heather back in 2003 - this is a love story in the most brutal of settings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simon and Matt chat to the best selling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz about her reading habits. Heather Morris' debut novel, at the age of 65, is an incredible piece of work based on her interviews with Lale Sokolov - about his experiences in the Holocaust, and the love of his life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our children's special, Chris Riddell talks about Beedle The Bard which he has illustrated for JK Rowling - one of 7 books he has out at the moment. In 2015 he was appointed the UK Children's Laureate. Radio presenter Dermot O'Leary talks about the second outing for his blind ninja cat Toto - in The Incredible Cheese Heist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dermot O'Leary & Chris Riddell talk about their reading habits, loves and recommendations. Plus your letters and tweets. (If you corresponded with us.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Take That frontman opens up about his life, his eating disorder, his songwriting and the stress of being an X Factor judge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gary will help you fall asleep. Full interview in the next show. If you are awake in time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graham Norton pops in to catch some germs from Simon and Matt - and to talk about his latest novel A Keeper. Graham is one of the UK's best loved broadcasters. He presents The Graham Norton Show on BBC1, has a weekly show on BBC Radio 2, and writes a column for the Telegraph. He is the winner of eight BAFTA awards. Born in Dublin and raised in West Cork, Norton now lives in London.  His debut novel HOLDING was a commercial and critical success, winning Norton the Irish Independent Popular Fiction award at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards in 2016. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(The failing...) New York Times Bestseller Ben MacIntyre pops in to chat at length about his latest effort The Spy and The Traitor. If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union’s top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. “The best true spy story I have ever read.”—JOHN LE CARRÉ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a (sort of) music special, journalist and broadcaster Mark Kermode and former Home Secretary Alan Johnson talk us through their new memoirs - which focus on their fledgling music careers, stolen instruments and failed bands. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's guests answer a quickfire Q&A on their reading habits including what book do you remember being read to you as a child? Is there a book on your shelf that you love and no-one else does? Is there a book you have used to impress a potential partner? And the book you would love to step inside of… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Boyne is one of a rare breed of authors who actually enjoy writing. He has written 11 adult novels - as in novels for adults, rather than the fruity kind. And 5 for young readers. His latest A Ladder To The Sky focuses on the life of an author who will stop at nothing for fame, adulation and respect. Shaun Usher is the writer and sole custodian of the popular blogs lettersofnote.com, listsofnote.com and speechesofnote.com. As a result, he spends much of his life hunting down words he’d like to share. His books, Letters of Note; Lists of Note and More Letters of Note, were all published to widespread acclaim and became international bestsellers. His latest offering is Speeches of Note, which includes addresses The Queen and Richard Nixon were to give if Armstrong and Aldrin were stranded on the Moon - or World War 3 began. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate joins Simon and Matt to chat about her new release Transcription. It tells the story of Juliet Armstrong, who is recruited as a young woman by an obscure wartime department. In the aftermath of war she joins the BBC, where her life begins to unravel. Kate won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum.Her four bestselling novels featuring former detective Jackson Brodie became the BBC television series Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs. Her 2013 novel Life After Life won the South Bank Sky Arts Literature Prize, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, and voted Book of the Year for the independent booksellers associations on both sides of the Atlantic. It also won the Costa Novel Award, as did her subsequent novel A God in Ruins (2015). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carnegie Medal winning author Melvin Burgess (The YA-Father!) on his latest book The Lost Witch. Plus twice named Sportswriter of the Year Michael Calvin on his new book State of Play - addressing areas of football which are not on the back pages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A historical fiction special! Manda Scott has written A Treachery of Spies, focusing on the French Resistance. And Tracy Borman's fiction debut is The King's Witch, set during the reign of James I. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former SAS/SBS hero Ant Middleton talks about his time in the Special Forces, alongside DB John whose latest thriller is set inside present day North Korea. Plus your letters, reviews, suggestions... and a remarkable poem from a youngster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simon and Matt are joined by Louis De Bernieres - the multi million selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, to discuss his new novel So Much Life Left Over. Also in the studio is President Obama's speech writer Ben Rhodes to talk about his memoir The World As It Is. Plus your letters, reviews and Bros. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices