Best jonathan boyd Podcasts (2025)

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Twenty Writers, One Bookshop: The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews, now in paperback 1:18:21

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6d ago1:18:21

1:18:21

In this special episode of the Shakespeare and Company Interview Podcast, we celebrate the paperback release of The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews (Canongate), a compelling collection of literary conversations recorded live at our bookshop in Paris. Capturing a decade of rich, revealing discussions, the episode revisits unforgettable mo…

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Susan C. Boyd, "Heroin: An Illustrated History" (Fernwood, 2022) 45:23

16d ago45:23

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Dr. Susan Boyd is a scholar/activist and Distinguished Professor emerita at the University of Victoria. Her research examines a variety of topics related to the history of drug prohibition and resistance to it, drug law and policy, including maternal drug use, maternal/state conflicts, film and culture, radio and print media, heroin assisted-treatm…

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Small Girl, Big Ideas: Getting to know Mafalda, with Samanta Schweblin and Frank Wynne 55:10

19d ago55:10

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In this episode Adam speaks with translator Frank Wynne and Argentinian writer Samanta Schweblin about the first-ever English edition of Mafalda, the beloved Argentine comic strip by Quino (Archipelago Books). Together, they explore how this precocious, principled six-year-old girl—who challenged everything from soup to capitalism—shaped generation…

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Calls May Be Recorded: Lipstick, Loneliness, and Late Capitalism with Katharina Volckmer 41:54

1M ago41:54

41:54

Katharina Volckmer joins Adam Biles to discuss her biting, bleakly funny second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes. Set in a London call centre, the book follows Jimmie, a disillusioned former actor trapped in a soul-crushing job, a suffocating home life with his immigrant mother, and an alienating body. Volckmer disc…

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Melody Glenn, "Mother of Methadone: A Doctor's Quest, a Forgotten History, and a Modern-Day Crisis" (Beacon Press, 2025) 43:35

1M ago43:35

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Dr. Melody Glenn was a burned-out emergency physician who had grown to resent the large population of opioid dependent patients passing through her ER. While working at a methadone clinic, she realized how effective harm reduction treatments could be and set out to discover why they weren’t used more broadly. That’s when she found Dr. Marie Nyswand…

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Judith Grisel, "Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction" (Doubleday, 2019) 1:00:13

1M ago1:00:13

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By Marshall Poe

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Tricia Starks, "Smoking Under the Tsars: A History of Tobacco in Imperial Russia" (Cornell UP, 2018) 1:00:09

1M ago1:00:09

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How and when did Russia become a country of smokers? Why did makhorka and papirosy become ubiquitous products of tobacco consumption? Tricia Starks explores these themes as well as the connections between tobacco, gender, and empire in her latest monograph, Smoking Under the Tsars: A History of Tobacco in Imperial Russia (Cornell University Press, …

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The Shape of Survival: Eimear McBride on Love, Art, and the City 1:02:49

1M ago1:02:49

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In this textured conversation, author Eimear McBride joins Adam Biles at Shakespeare and Company to discuss her latest novel The City Changes Its Face. Set in Camden Town in the 1990s, the book revisits characters from The Lesser Bohemians as they navigate the complexities of love, art, aging, trauma, and parenthood. McBride explores the enduring i…

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Leading with Compassion: Nicholas Janni's Path from Drummer to Corporate Healer 43:12

1M ago43:12

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Send us a text The transformative power of bringing our full humanity into leadership takes center stage in this profound conversation with Nicholas Janni, award-winning author of "Leader as Healer." Nicholas shares his extraordinary journey from studying with master drummers in West Africa to becoming a transformational coach for corporate executi…

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Joseph Gfroerer, "War Stories from the Drug Survey: How Culture, Politics, and Statistics Shaped the National Survey on Drug Use and Health" (Cambridge UP, 2018) 57:27

2M ago57:27

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Joseph Gfroerer spent nearly 40 years working as a statistician for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Starting in 1988, when the American drug war was taking its current shape, he led the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), one of the federal governmen…

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Katie Kitamura on Fiction’s Shifting Realities 55:22

2M ago55:22

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Katie Kitamura joins Adam Biles to discuss her remarkable novel Audition. Centred on a middle-aged actress whose settled life is upended by a young man claiming to be her son, Audition blurs the lines between performance, identity, and narrative certainty. Kitamura reflects on the novel’s dual structure—a “rabbit-duck” ambiguity—and her fascination…

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Ben Westhoff, "Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic" (Grove Press, 2019) 45:03

2M ago45:03

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Ben Westhoff is an award-winning investigative journalist whose best-selling 2019 book Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic (Grove Press, 2019), was one of the first to take fentanyl seriously as both a social phenomenon and a national threat. Since its release, Westhoff has become a policy exper…

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Reclaiming Your Name: Camilla Balshaw's Journey of Identity and Healing 35:46

2M ago35:46

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Send us a text What happens when your name isn't truly yours? When your cultural heritage is erased? When doctors dismiss your pain? Camilla Balshaw's powerful story tackles these questions with remarkable vulnerability and wisdom. For the first 24 years of her life, Camilla answered to "Mandy" – a name her Jamaican mother preferred over the Nigeri…

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Renton Returns, Sick Boy in Love: Irvine Welsh Reimagines His Antiheroes 1:04:03

2M ago1:04:03

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In this electric conversation, Irvine Welsh joins Adam Biles at Shakespeare and Company to discuss Men in Love, the long-awaited sequel to Trainspotting. Picking up moments after Renton's betrayal, Welsh dives deep into the aftermath—friendship, love, addiction, class, and the cultural hangover of 1980s Thatcherism. The pair explore writing authent…

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When Your Hands Speak: A Journey Through Creative Healing with Caroline Born 30:22

2M ago30:22

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Send us a text What messages might our bodies be sending through illness, disability, or limitation? What wisdom lies beneath the surface of our physical challenges? Caroline Born, a movement practitioner with over four decades of experience, takes us on a remarkable journey through her 34-year relationship with a progressive hand disability. Rathe…

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Inside the Story Machine: Natasha Brown on Media, Power, and Fiction 54:48

2M ago54:48

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In this episode novelist Natasha Brown joins Adam Biles to discuss her daring second book, Universality. The conversation explores the novel’s structural audacity—opening with a fictional long-read article—and its thematic interrogation of class, race, media narratives, and the modern British middle class. Brown dives into her creation of Leni, a p…

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Singing Fields and Silent Wisdom: Chloe Goodchild's Journey 42:26

2M ago42:26

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Send us a text What happens when you discover your voice is actually a gateway to spiritual awakening? In this soul-stirring conversation, Malcolm Stern welcomes singer-philosopher Chloe Goodchild, founder of The Naked Voice, for a profound exploration of sound, silence, and authentic expression. From an unexpected beginning—childhood deafness that…

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Making Sense of Gertrude Stein, with Francesca Wade 1:05:38

2M ago1:05:38

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In this rich conversation, Francesca Wade joins Adam Biles to discuss her biography Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife. Wade explores the complexities of Stein’s life, legacy, and literary innovations, foregrounding Stein’s long-overlooked partner, Alice B. Toklas, as a powerful and persistent force behind the myth. They dive into questions of biography,…

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Transcending Trauma: One Woman's Journey to Enlightenment with Alina Panteleev 34:58

2M ago34:58

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Send us a text Alina's remarkable journey from the constraints of Soviet Ukraine to spiritual enlightenment reveals how profound suffering can transform into extraordinary wisdom. Born into poverty under communist rule, her early years were marked by material deprivation and the absence of spiritual frameworks. At just six years old, a traumatic ex…

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Geoff Dyer’s Homework: Family, Class, and Memory 1:03:57

3M ago1:03:57

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In this episode, Adam Biles speaks with acclaimed author Geoff Dyer live from Shakespeare and Company about his new memoir, Homework. Dyer reflects on growing up in 1960s Cheltenham, navigating family, class, and the formation of self. With characteristic wit and insight, he paints portraits of his quietly disappointed mother and parsimonious fathe…

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From Courtroom to Yoga Mat: Jonathan Sattin's Journey of Transformation 48:27

3M ago48:27

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Send us a text When a palm reader told high-powered lawyer Jonathan Sattin to quit his job during a lunch break reading, most people would have laughed it off. Instead, he handed in his notice that very afternoon. This seemingly impulsive decision marked just one pivotal moment in an extraordinary journey from corporate law to founding London's mos…

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Rebecca Solnit: Changing the Story, Changing the World 1:05:08

3M ago1:05:08

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In this powerful in-store conversation, Rebecca Solnit joins Adam Biles to discuss her new book No Straight Road Takes You There — a rallying call for hope, justice, and the reimagining of our collective future. With wit, clarity, and courage, Solnit explores how stories shape our world — and how changing them can change everything. Drawing on deca…

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Becoming Ordinary: The Extraordinary Journey of a Psychotherapist with Martin Pollecoff 42:07

3M ago42:07

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Send us a text What happens when we stop swimming against the current and allow life to show us where we truly belong? Martin Pollecoff, former chair of the UK Council of Psychotherapists, shares a fascinating journey that began in industrial Birmingham and wound through breakdown, transformation, and ultimately to becoming a gifted psychotherapist…

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Digital Sanctuaries: Creating Safe Spaces in an Unsafe World with John Wilson 42:15

3M ago42:15

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Send us a text Breaking free from a religious community that prays daily for the execution of outsiders leaves lasting wounds. But what happens when that same person harnesses their pain to create spaces where genuine connection can flourish? John Wilson, co-founder of Onlinevents, opens up about his journey growing up as a Jehovah's Witness and th…

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The Book That Refuses to End: Catherine Lacey on The Möbius Book 53:30

3M ago53:30

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In this episode of the Shakespeare and Company Podcast, Adam Biles speaks with acclaimed author Catherine Lacey about her daring new work The Möbius Book. Structured as a "Tête-bêche"—two intertwined texts printed back-to-back—the book pairs a memoir chronicling the fallout of a painful breakup with a novella that spirals into the psychological sus…

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Owen Flanagan, "What Is It Like to Be an Addict?: Understanding Substance Abuse" (Oxford UP, 2025) 40:47

3M ago40:47

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A powerful and important exploration of how addiction functions on social, psychological and biological levels, integrated with the experience of being an addict, from an acclaimed philosopher and former addict. What is addiction? Theories about what kind of thing addiction is are sharply divided between those who see it purely as a brain disorder,…

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Writing the Unspeakable: Neige Sinno on Abuse, Memory, and Language 1:09:14

3M ago1:09:14

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Trigger Warning: This episode contains detailed discussions of child sexual abuse, rape, trauma, and the failures of the justice system. In this powerful and deeply affecting conversation, Neige Sinno speaks with Adam Biles about her landmark book Sad Tiger, recently published in English in a luminous translation by Natasha Lehrer. A searing litera…

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