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The Waterstones Podcast

by Waterstones
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Latest episodes

  • Judi Dench: an encore!

    October 20, 2026 · 42 min

    The only thing better than talking to Judi Dench about her career in acting is to talk to her a SECOND time! We were delighted to be invited back to her home for a conversation alongside Brendan O'Hea about her work on stage, TV and film…

  • Elif Shafak

    October 13, 2026 · 30 min

    Taking inspiration from the life of Gustave Flaubert, the new novel from Elif Shafak flips expectations by giving voice to the women who shaped him. In an inspiring conversation about creativity in times of crisis and conflict, we spoke…

  • Louise Kennedy

    September 29, 2026 · 25 min

    Louise Kennedy has followed her Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize-nominated Trespasses with another brilliant novel, Stations, which follows the trajectories of two teenage friends as they leave '80s Ireland for London. We sat down with her…

  • Ann Patchett

    September 14, 2026 · 27 min

    After losing her best friend, Ann Patchett poured all that love into her new novel, Whistler. Bringing platonic love to the fore, alongside the unearthing of the past and a reckoning with our own mortality; we sat down to speak with her…

  • Xand van Tulleken

    September 9, 2026 · 41 min

    50% of people in the UK take supplements and the consumer blood-testing industry is now a $128 billion business. But does any of it work? In an increasingly confusing world Xand van Tulleken wanted to cut through the noise to sort fact…

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  • Rebecca F. Kuang returns!

    September 7, 2026 · 26 min

    In her most personal novel yet, Rebecca F. Kuang transports readers to Taipei, where Yale student Lily is working on her Chinese language to better connect with her Chinese family, only for loss to appear suddenly and change her…

  • Kate Atkinson

    September 1, 2026 · 26 min

    Kate Atkinson's latest novel beautifully combines her skills in historical detail and crime caper plotting for a story which assembles a motley crew of misfits attempting to curate 1951's Festival of Britain. We sat down to speak with her…

  • Rebecca Perry

    August 25, 2026 · 23 min

    Join us as we celebrate Rebecca Perry as the author of this year's Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize-winner, May We Feed The King. Over a glass of bubbly, we discuss the connections between her curator character and the art of writing…

  • Jon Ronson

    August 20, 2026 · 34 min

    Jon Ronson's latest journalistic adventure begins with a series of text messages from his son which then leads to an odyssey from reality TV, to influencers, to America's disenfranchised men to paint a portrait of masculinity in crisis as…

  • Alice Oseman

    July 1, 2026 · 26 min

    When Alice Oseman created the first volume of Heartstopper on her own, she couldn’t have foreseen what a phenomenon it would become. As the final volume hits shelves and the Netflix adaptation concludes with the film Heartstopper Forever…

  • Andrew Sean Greer

    June 23, 2026 · 18 min

    Andrew Sean Greer writes the kind of novels that you want to press into others' hands when what they need is a book filled with charm, comedy and a sense of romance. After the trials of his hapless author Arthur Less in his eponymous…

  • Meet the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2026 Shortlist Authors

    June 18, 2026 · 1 hr 12 min

    The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize Shortlist is here and it's time to meet the class of 2026. With books that take us from modern America to medieval Europe, from magical realism to modern satire, from private lives to open houses - these…

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About the show

Going beyond the book with a wide range of authors to discover the story behind the books we love.