2018 Edinburgh International Book Festival

Arts & Culture Podcasts

In 2018, the Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest) offered audiences the Freedom to Think in over 800 events with some of the world’s leading writers and performers. Topics under discussion included the future of democracy, the role of radical women in shaping society, the state of our oceans and the environment, the legacy of Edinburgh literary legend Muriel Spark, and the freedoms that matter most to us in an age of political upheaval. More than 900 novelists, poets, illustrators, historians, politicians, journalists, scientists and performers arrived from 55 countries to entertain, educate, inspire and debate with our audiences, in another unforgettable year for the Book Festival. Listen to a selection of our favourite events from across the programme in this free podcast series – there’s something for every taste and interest.

Location:

United States

Genres:

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Description:

In 2018, the Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest) offered audiences the Freedom to Think in over 800 events with some of the world’s leading writers and performers. Topics under discussion included the future of democracy, the role of radical women in shaping society, the state of our oceans and the environment, the legacy of Edinburgh literary legend Muriel Spark, and the freedoms that matter most to us in an age of political upheaval. More than 900 novelists, poets, illustrators, historians, politicians, journalists, scientists and performers arrived from 55 countries to entertain, educate, inspire and debate with our audiences, in another unforgettable year for the Book Festival. Listen to a selection of our favourite events from across the programme in this free podcast series – there’s something for every taste and interest.

Language:

English

Website:

https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/

Episodes

Gerda Stevenson (2018 Event)

11/14/2018

GREAT WOMEN OF SCOTLAND In histories written by men, good women have rarely been given much credit. In Scotland, there’s a growing urge to redress the balance and, with her new collection Quines, Gerda Stevenson has produced a very necessary corrective. These unforgettable poems recognise the salt sellers, the fish-gutters, scientists and politicians who have made such a key contribution to Scotland’s history. Chaired by Jackie McGlone. Part of our Scottish Ideas series of events.

Duration:00:57:05

Guy Gunaratne & Imran Mahmood (2018 Event)

11/12/2018

EXPLOSIVE FICTION Meet two new writers whose debuts are turning heads. Guy Gunaratne’s In Our Mad and Furious City follows three young men in a London estate where riots are spreading after the killing of a British soldier. Imran Mahmood has spent his career as a barrister and he puts his experience to electric use in You Don’t Know Me, a courtroom drama which places the reader in the position of the jury.

Duration:00:58:44

Jo Swinson (2018 Event)

11/8/2018

ELIMINATING GENDER INEQUALITY As deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and a former Government minister, Jo Swinson has seen all too clearly how power can be concentrated in the hands of men right across the business, cultural and political spectrum. Equal Power is the East Dunbartonshire MP’s call to arms; a practical and optimistic guide to what we can all do to make society truly gender equal, and she shares her ideas today. Part of our Politics for Change series of events.

Duration:00:55:30

Sean Borodale & Ruth Padel (2018 Event)

11/7/2018

BLACK BLOSSOM OF MOURNING The exceptional emotional breadth of British poetry is on display in this event featuring Sean Borodale and Ruth Padel. Borodale, described by Carol Ann Duffy as ‘the most exciting new poet I’ve read since Alice Oswald’, brings Asylum, a new collection that nods to the Underworld. Prize-winning poet Padel presents Emerald, a beautiful elegy for her mother, who died at the age of 97.

Duration:00:59:02

Donal Ryan & Kamila Shamsie (2018 Event)

11/5/2018

CROSSING CONTINENTS Donal Ryan's novels are a thrilling journey into the psyche of everyday Irish folk, but From a Low and Quiet Sea departs from his previous three books by extending its setting beyond rural Ireland into war-torn Syria. Kamila Shamsie’s highly praised Home Fire is another transnational novel, a contemporary take on the Antigone myth, looking at why people become radicalised in the modern world.

Duration:01:00:24

Shahad Al Rawi & Michael Donkor (2018 Event)

11/2/2018

JUST GOOD FRIENDS Two coming-of-age tales come under the microscope in this event. Shahad Al Rawi’s poignant debut The Baghdad Clock takes us back to 1991 with the Iraqi capital under fire as two girls bond against the backdrop of military bombardment. Michael Donkor’s moving and unexpectedly funny debut novel Hold, switches between Ghana and Britain as a wayward girl finds kinship with a sensible teenager.

Duration:01:02:46

Sue Black with Val McDermid (2018 Event)

10/31/2018

THE BARE BONES Few people are as familiar with death as Professor Sue Black. As a forensic anthropologist she sees it in the form of human remains; at scenes of murder, at burial sites and in her lab. Black’s astonishing book, All That Remains, offers fascinating insights into mortality and the value of forensic science. Today she compares notes with crimewriter Val McDermid.

Duration:00:55:49

Tony Juniper (2018 Event)

10/29/2018

SAVE THE FUTURE It seems as if people have been trying to save the rainforests for a very long time. And while approximately half of their area has been effectively destroyed, it’s not too late to do the right thing by the other 50%. After all, it’s only the future of the planet that’s at stake. Environmental campaigner and author of Rainforest Tony Juniper has some answers about what can still be done. Part of our Our Planet and Us series of events.

Duration:00:58:08

David France (2018 Event)

10/26/2018

LIVING AFTER SURVIVING How to Survive a Plague is David France’s history of the fight against AIDS, the disease caused by HIV that has killed over 35 million people worldwide. Described as ‘subtle and searing', it won the Baillie Gifford Prize last year. Now the Book Festival and the Prize have commissioned France to write a new chapter, responding to what he’s learned since his book was published. Today, he presents that follow-up. Chaired by Steven Gale. Part of our Mind and Body...

Duration:00:57:32

Dag Solstad (2018 Event)

10/24/2018

NORWAY'S TOP PRIZE-WINNING NOVELIST One of Norway’s most celebrated contemporary writers joins us with his latest novel, T Singer. Set in the small Norwegian town of Notodden, Dag Solstad's story is a heartbreaking account of love and loneliness, which lays bare the existential questions of life in the author’s bleakly comic style. Solstad is the only author to have won the Norwegian Critics Prize three times – come and discover why. Supported by the Hawthornden Literary Retreat

Duration:01:00:10

Akala (2018 Event)

10/22/2018

THE RUINS OF EMPIRE Race and class have shaped the world of MOBO award-winning hip hop artist, poet and political commentator Akala. In Natives, his searing polemic on race in the UK, he considers his own experiences in both childhood and as an adult, and connects them to the social, political and historical context that have led us to where we are now. Part of our Freedom and Equality series of events.

Duration:01:03:02

Richard Holloway (2018 Event)

10/19/2018

MEMENTO MORI ‘Remember you will die’, said the slave to the Roman general. Richard Holloway’s new book, Waiting for the Last Bus, is a reflection on the final curtain we must all face. Thoughtful, engaging and often quietly moving, it’s a manual for dying elegantly and a plea to make the best of the days we have left. Join the good Reverend for a lighthearted look at death, and the lives we live before it. Chaired by Jane Fowler.

Duration:00:55:52

Yanis Varoufakis with Shami Chakrabarti (2018 Event)

10/17/2018

THE ECONOMICS OF LIBERTY Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has written several influential books and has co-founded ‘DiEM25’, a pan-European progressive movement which will be competing in next year’s European parliament elections. Adults in the Room was described as ‘one of the greatest political memoirs of all time’, while Talking to My Daughter About the Economy is a lightning-quick account of how capitalism works and how it fails. He discusses his ideas on democracy,...

Duration:00:57:56

David Walliams (2018 Event)

10/15/2018

Britain's biggest author, David Walliams, brings his unique sense of humour to the Book Festival as he shares with you his latest hilarious bestseller, Bad Dad. Be inspired to get writing your own funny stories as David explains how he became the fastest growing children's author in the UK. Author and BBC Radio 4's Zeb Soanes joins David on stage to tease out his best tales.

Duration:00:54:19

Juno Dawson: Clean (2018 Event)

10/12/2018

As a School Role Model for the charity Stonewall, Juno Dawson is well versed in communicating the nitty gritty to young adults. She returns to the Festival with her razor sharp novel about one young girl's rise from the lows of heroin addiction. A gripping and edgy portrait of addiction and tackling demons, Clean is an important and clever book. Juno discusses it today in her characteristic open and honest style.

Duration:00:56:20

Adam Kay (2018 Event)

10/10/2018

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? Working a 97 hour week doesn’t sound much fun for anyone, but when we’re talking about an NHS doctor, such a schedule could become a matter of life and death. In This is Going to Hurt, comedian and ex-junior doctor Adam Kay reflects on the often horrific conditions he was working under and what finally happened to make him hang up the white coat. Chaired by Lee Randall. Part of our Mind and Body series of events.

Duration:01:00:46

Stuart MacBride with Stephanie Merritt (2018 Event)

10/8/2018

CRIME FOR THE MASSES Just what does it take to write a page-turning bestselling crime novel? Dumbarton-born, Aberdeen-raised Stuart MacBride can offer plenty of advice on that front, given his Logan McRae series keeps on hitting the heights of popularity. Fellow writer Stephanie Merritt joins him to delve into The Blood Road, his 11th Logan mystery, out now. It’s time to get on board and see what the fuss is about.

Duration:01:01:46

Sophie Mackintosh & Leni Zumas (2018 Event)

10/5/2018

WHAT'S A WOMAN FOR? Fans of Naomi Alderman’s The Power will appreciate these ambitious political novels about women defying restrictions. Sophie Mackintosh’s The Water Cure centres on three women raised in total isolation and the men who come to find them. Leni Zumas’s Red Clocks sees four women drawn together in resistance in an imagined America where abortion is illegal and a new law grants property rights to every embryo. Vote for The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh in the First Book...

Duration:01:03:39

Patrick Gale (2018 Event)

10/3/2018

CELLOS BY THE SEASIDE Fans of Patrick Gale, and of Rough Music in particular, will be thrilled to learn that he launches his 16th novel, Take Nothing With You, in this conversation with Eleanor Updale. The story of a 50-something gay Londoner undergoing radiation therapy, remembering his eccentric 1970s childhood in Weston-super-Mare and a life-changing recital by a glamorous cellist is described by Gale as ‘a comedy of resilience and survival’.

Duration:00:58:48

Gina Miller (2018 Event)

10/1/2018

STANDING UP FOR JUSTICE Gina Miller came to prominence when she successfully took the British government to the Supreme Court, challenging its authority to trigger Article 50, the formal notification to leave the EU, without parliamentary approval. Guyana-born Miller became the target of racist and sexist abuse, and physical threats. Rise is an unflinching account of what it means to stand up for justice, and for yourself, no matter what the cost. She discusses her book and why she felt...

Duration:01:00:18