Best Meg Zhang Podcasts (2025)

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Moonlight Express: Monisha Rajesh on the Magic of Night Trains 58:35

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2d ago58:35

58:35

In this conversation recorded live at Shakespeare and Company, travel writer Monisha Rajesh talks about her new book Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train. From Paris to Istanbul, Scotland to India, the United States to Lapland, Rajesh explores the romance and realities of sleeper trains—where the carriages, the landscapes, and above a…

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

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

26d ago55:10

55:10

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

1M ago1:02:49

1:02:49

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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Katie Kitamura on Fiction’s Shifting Realities 55:22

2M ago55:22

55:22

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

2M ago1:04:03

1:04:03

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

2M ago54:48

54:48

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

2M ago1:05:38

1:05:38

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

3M ago1:03:57

1:03:57

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

3M ago1:05:08

1:05:08

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

3M ago53:30

53:30

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

3M ago1:09:14

1:09:14

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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On the Edge of the Real: Guadalupe Nettel on The Accidentals 51:34

4M ago51:34

51:34

In this rich conversation, Guadalupe Nettel joins Adam Biles at Shakespeare and Company to explore the themes of her short story collection The Accidentals. They delve into the complexities of perception and the uncanny, the deep strangeness embedded in familial relationships, and the porous boundary between nature and human nature. Nettel discusse…

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William Blake, Sea Monsters, and the Ecstasy of Art, with Philip Hoare 57:28

4M ago57:28

57:28

In this episode of the Shakespeare and Company Interview Podcast, Adam Biles welcomes Philip Hoare to the bookstore for a mesmerizing conversation about Hoare’s latest book, William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love. With characteristic lyricism, Hoare explores the mystic intersections between Blake’s visionary art and poetry and the siren call of…

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Overnight: Dan Richards on Sleep, Service, and the Secrets of the Small Hours 59:27

5M ago59:27

59:27

In this episode, Adam Biles is joined by writer Dan Richards to talk about his new book Overnight, a deep dive into the world of the night and the people who live and work while the rest of us sleep. From ferry captains and bakers to ICU nurses, researchers, and racing drivers, Richards explores the unseen rhythms and quiet heroism of nocturnal lif…

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Bruise, Heal, Repeat: Anna Whitwham on On Boxing, Loss, and the Female Body 45:45

5M ago45:45

45:45

In this episode, Adam Biles is joined in the bookshop’s writing studio by Anna Whitwham, author of Soft Tissue Damage, a raw and electrifying memoir of grief, boxing, and womanhood. Following her mother’s death, Whitwham trained and fought competitively as a boxer—an act of both healing and reckoning. She discusses how physical pain can become a la…

Meg Zhang Podcasts

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Beyond the Briefcase

Sarah Rosa & Meg Zhang

1
Love Island la Viva Voce

Adam Green & Meg Zhang

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Dunbarton Magical: A Medical Scandal

Adam Green & Meg Zhang

1
Livin' la Viva Voce

Adam Green & Meg Zhang

1
The Shakespeare and Company Interview

Shakespeare and Company

1
Moonlight Express: Monisha Rajesh on the Magic of Night Trains 58:35

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

1
Small Girl, Big Ideas: Getting to know Mafalda, with Samanta Schweblin and Frank Wynne 55:10

1
Calls May Be Recorded: Lipstick, Loneliness, and Late Capitalism with Katharina Volckmer 41:54

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

1
Katie Kitamura on Fiction’s Shifting Realities 55:22

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

1
Inside the Story Machine: Natasha Brown on Media, Power, and Fiction 54:48

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

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

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

1
The Book That Refuses to End: Catherine Lacey on The Möbius Book 53:30

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

1
On the Edge of the Real: Guadalupe Nettel on The Accidentals 51:34

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William Blake, Sea Monsters, and the Ecstasy of Art, with Philip Hoare 57:28

1
Overnight: Dan Richards on Sleep, Service, and the Secrets of the Small Hours 59:27

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Bruise, Heal, Repeat: Anna Whitwham on On Boxing, Loss, and the Female Body 45:45