The Book Club

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Latest episodes

• Matthew Sweet: The Great Dictator

  October 6, 2026 · 45 min

  In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by author Matthew Sweet to discuss his new biography, The Great Dictator, about the bestselling novelist Barbara Cartland. They explore the extraordinary life behind Barbara Cartland’s…

• Steven Pinker: When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...

  September 30, 2026 · 37 min

  In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker to discuss his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows… Pinker explores the powerful idea of ‘common knowledge’ - not simply what we…

• John Sellars: Stoicism Is Not What You Think

  September 23, 2026 · 28 min

  In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by philosopher John Sellars to discuss his new book, Stoicism Is Not What You Think. Sellars explores the ancient philosophy of Stoicism and challenges some of its most common…

• Anand Gopal: Days of Love and Rage

  September 16, 2026 · 31 min

  In this week's Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by The New Yorker writer Anand Gopal, whose new book, long-listed for the Baillie Gifford Prize, is Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Revolution. What does freedom mean once the…

• Hannah Richell: An Ocean and a Day

  September 8, 2026 · 33 min

  In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by bestselling novelist Hannah Richell to discuss her new memoir, An Ocean and a Day. When Hannah’s husband died in a surfing accident, her life in Australia was shattered. Suddenly…

• James Marriott: The Dawn of a Post-Literate Society

  September 1, 2026 · 41 min

  In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by The Times columnist James Marriott, whose new book is The New Dark Ages: The End of Reading and the Dawn of a Post-literate Society. Are we witnessing the end of the reading age?…

• Simon Sebag Montefiore: The Cauldron

  August 25, 2026 · 39 min

  My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Simon Sebag Montefiore, the author of a number of fantastic books, including The Cauldron, which released this week. Simon and I talk about the making of the modern middle east, and how we…

• Celebrating 160 years of Beatrix Potter

  July 22, 2026 · 46 min

  This week marks the 160th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth. In this week’s Book Club podcast, I’m joined by Penny Bradshaw, author of An A–Z of Beatrix Potter, and the historian and biographer Kathryn Hughes, whose books include…