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The Spectator
Literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented weekly by Sam Leith.
Total 402 episodes
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Alan Hollinghurst: The Sparsholt Affair

Alan Hollinghurst: The Sparsholt Affair

With Alan Hollinghurst, author of The Sparsholt Affair. Presented by Sam Leith.
17:1712/10/2017
The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914

The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914

With Simon Heffer, author of The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914. Presented by Sam Leith.
31:0105/10/2017
Robert Harris: Munich

Robert Harris: Munich

With Robert Harris, author of Munich. Presented by Sam Leith.
22:2328/09/2017
Anne Applebaum: Red Famine

Anne Applebaum: Red Famine

With Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine. Presented by Sam Leith.
24:4621/09/2017
Robert Webb: How Not To Be a Boy

Robert Webb: How Not To Be a Boy

With Robert Webb, author of 'How Not To Be a Boy'. Presented by Sam Leith.
26:0614/09/2017
Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker

Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker

With A.N. Wilson, author of Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker. Presented by Sam Leith.
29:2907/09/2017
World Book Club's 15th Birthday

World Book Club's 15th Birthday

With Harriet Gilbert, presenter of World Book Club on the BBC World Service. Presented by Sam Leith.
15:3031/08/2017
Clive James: Injury Time

Clive James: Injury Time

With Clive James, author of Injury Time. Presented by Sam Leith.
33:0124/08/2017
A century of Robert Lowell

A century of Robert Lowell

With Jonathan Raban. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:4817/08/2017
The Art of the Sequel

The Art of the Sequel

With Bonnie MacBird, author of Unquiet Spirits, and Anthony O'Neill, author of Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek. Presented by Sam Leith.
15:4610/08/2017
Harry Potter at 20

Harry Potter at 20

With Nick Hilton and Melanie McDonagh. Presented by Sam Leith.
16:0803/08/2017
Is monogamy dead?

Is monogamy dead?

With Rosie Wilby, author of Is Monogamy Dead? Presented by Sam Leith.
24:1927/07/2017
Summer Reads

Summer Reads

With Alex Clark and Damian Barr. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:2120/07/2017
Naomi Klein: No Is Not Enough

Naomi Klein: No Is Not Enough

With Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough. Presented by Sam Leith.
26:3313/07/2017
Living with the Living Dead: The wisdom of the zombie apocalypse

Living with the Living Dead: The wisdom of the zombie apocalypse

With Greg Garrett, author of Living With The Living Dead: The Wisdom of the Zombie Apocalypse Presented by Sam Leith.
23:4906/07/2017
Jonathan Meades: The Plagiarist in the Kitchen

Jonathan Meades: The Plagiarist in the Kitchen

With Jonathan Meades, author of The Plagiarist in the Kitchen. Presented by Sam Leith.
23:4029/06/2017
The Secret Lives of Julian Assange, Craig Wright and Ronald Pinn

The Secret Lives of Julian Assange, Craig Wright and Ronald Pinn

With Andrew O'Hagan, author of The Secret Life. Presented by Sam Leith.
33:0822/06/2017
First Novels: The shortlisted authors for The Desmond Elliott Prize

First Novels: The shortlisted authors for The Desmond Elliott Prize

With Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Kit de Waal, and Francis Spufford. Presented by Sam Leith.
25:0015/06/2017
Michael Wood on William Empson

Michael Wood on William Empson

With Professor Michael Wood. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:5308/06/2017
Will Self: Phone, psychosis and postmodernism

Will Self: Phone, psychosis and postmodernism

With Will Self, author of Phone. Presented by Sam Leith.
17:2401/06/2017
Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident

Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident

With Peter Stanford, author of Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident, and Peter Marshall, author of Heretics and Believers. Presented by Sam Leith.
29:1925/05/2017
The Art of Losing Control

The Art of Losing Control

Meditation, psychedelic drugs, charismatic Christianity, sex parties... all this, and more, in the search to lose control. With Jules Evans, author of The Art of Losing Control. Presented by Sam Leith.
25:4218/05/2017
The Lost Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Lost Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

With Anne Margaret Daniel, editor of I’d Die For You and Other Lost Stories, and Sarah Churchwell, author of Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby. Presented by Sam Leith.
27:2611/05/2017
Hamlet: Globe to globe

Hamlet: Globe to globe

With Dominic Dromgoole, author of Hamlet: Globe to Globe. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:2304/05/2017
Murray Lachlan Young: How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You?

Murray Lachlan Young: How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You?

With Murray Lachlan Young. Presented by Sam Leith.
26:1527/04/2017
Stiff Upper Lip: The best and worst of British boarding schools

Stiff Upper Lip: The best and worst of British boarding schools

With Alex Renton, author of Stiff Upper Lip, and Ysenda Maxtone Graham, author of Terms and Conditions. Presented by Sam Leith.
21:4020/04/2017
Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide

Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide

With Robert Newman, author of Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide. Presented by Sam Leith.
21:3713/04/2017
The Joy of Indexes

The Joy of Indexes

With Dennis Duncan. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:3306/04/2017
Charlotte Rampling: Who I Am

Charlotte Rampling: Who I Am

With Charlotte Rampling. Presented by Sam Leith.
15:5130/03/2017
Be Like The Fox: Machiavelli's lifelong quest for freedom

Be Like The Fox: Machiavelli's lifelong quest for freedom

With Erica Benner, author of Be Like The Fox: Machiavelli's Lifelong Quest for Freedom. Presented by Sam Leith.
18:2123/03/2017
Michael Morpurgo: From The Yellow Brick Road to the Second World War

Michael Morpurgo: From The Yellow Brick Road to the Second World War

With Michael Morpurgo, author of Toto. Presented by Sam Leith.
33:3816/03/2017
Stand Firm: Resisting the self-improvement craze

Stand Firm: Resisting the self-improvement craze

With Svend Brinkmann. Presented by Sam Leith.
25:1008/03/2017
The Story of Pain

The Story of Pain

With Joanna Bourke, author of The Story of Pain. Presented by Sam Leith.
24:2902/03/2017
From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds

From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds

With Daniel Dennett. Presented by Sam Leith.
28:3223/02/2017
Louise Doughty on Apple Tree Yard and Black Water

Louise Doughty on Apple Tree Yard and Black Water

With Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree Yard and Black Water. Presented by Sam Leith.
24:5116/02/2017
Rory Stewart: The Marches

Rory Stewart: The Marches

With Rory Stewart, author of The Marches. Presented by Sam Leith
21:3909/02/2017
Michael Rosen: The Disappearance of Émile Zola

Michael Rosen: The Disappearance of Émile Zola

With Michael Rosen, author of The Disappearance of Émile Zola: Love, Literature and The Dreyfus Case Presented by Sam Leith
30:3202/02/2017
Cosmosapiens: Human evolution from the origin of the universe

Cosmosapiens: Human evolution from the origin of the universe

With John Hands and James Le Fanu. Presented by Sam Leith.
27:4526/01/2017
Antonia Fraser: Our Israeli Diary

Antonia Fraser: Our Israeli Diary

With Lady Antonia Fraser, author of Our Israeli Diary. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:5116/01/2017
The War on the Old

The War on the Old

With John Sutherland, author of The War on the Old. Presented by Sam Leith.
25:5609/01/2017
Michael Lewis: The Undoing Project

Michael Lewis: The Undoing Project

With Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, The Big Short and his new book, The Undoing Project. Presented by Sam Leith.
26:1421/12/2016
Treasure Palaces: Great writers visit great museums

Treasure Palaces: Great writers visit great museums

With Maggie Ferguson, editor of Treasure Palaces: Great Writers Visit Great Museums. Presented by Sam Leith.
19:1112/12/2016
The Dahl Debate

The Dahl Debate

With Lucy Mangan, author of Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory, and James McConnachie. Presented by Sam Leith.
20:5805/12/2016
Can You Solve My Problems?: Alex Bellos on a puzzling history

Can You Solve My Problems?: Alex Bellos on a puzzling history

With Alex Bellos, author of 'Can You Solve My Problems?' Presented by Sam Leith
26:2528/11/2016
The Detection Club

The Detection Club

With Simon Brett and Andrew Taylor. Presented by Sam Leith.
17:0321/11/2016
The Biographer's Tale

The Biographer's Tale

With Richard Holmes and Frances Wilson. Presented by Sam Leith.
31:5614/11/2016
The Hatred of Poetry: Ben Lerner on the problem of verse

The Hatred of Poetry: Ben Lerner on the problem of verse

With Ben Lerner, author of The Hatred of Poetry and No Art. Presented by Sam Leith.
24:3807/11/2016
Far and Away: Andrew Solomon on a lifetime of travel

Far and Away: Andrew Solomon on a lifetime of travel

With Andrew Solomon. Presented by Sam Leith.
24:2930/10/2016
What's the point of the Man Booker Prize?

What's the point of the Man Booker Prize?

With Philip Hensher and Sam Jordison. Presented by Sam Leith.
23:1123/10/2016
The Return: Hisham Matar on the search for his father

The Return: Hisham Matar on the search for his father

With Hisham Matar, author of The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between. Presented by Sam Leith.
23:0217/10/2016