Podcasts about autobiography and memoir

As a sociologist, my career couldn't be further from that of my father, who spent his life on the road as a truck driver. It's only in recent years, as illness has struck, that I've started to truly understand him. By José Henrique Bortoluci. Read by Felipe Pacheco. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Confusing and capricious, Trump started as he means to go on: chaos, dysfunction and a coalition of creeps; Ruby Franke was a social media star who made viral videos about her six children – until she was jailed for child abuse. Now her eldest daughter Shari is telling her side of the story; and No Dylan but loads of Coldplay! What the songs with a billion streams on Spotify tell us about music taste today.

The former PM probably hoped this book would make the country fall in love with him again, but it will only revive the resentment, John Crace tells Helen Pidd. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Weekend is taking a little break. So this week, we're picking some of our favourite pieces from the last few months just in case you missed them… Zoe Williams turns the tables on veteran interviewer Louis Theroux; how an app sparked a late-life gender transition for author Lucy Sante; and if you kill someone in your sleep, are you a murderer?

Weekend is taking a little break. So for the next two weeks, we're picking some of our favourite pieces from the last few months just in case you missed them… Actor Julia Fox unpacks abuse, fame, and dating Kanye; should you blame yourself for your bad habits? And what happened when one man's boat sank in the dead of night and he had to save his seven-year-old son.

Marina Hyde with her take on Dwayne ‘The Rock' Johnson's surreal US presidential bid (1m23s); Emine Saner meets the sociopath who learned to behave – and found happiness (8m05s); why Gen Z has fallen in love with Sex and the City (24m45s); and do our political opponents really hate us? (29m54s).

If Labour gets into government, the deputy labour leader Angela Rayner will be one of the most powerful women in Britain. ‘Bring it on,' she says (1m58s); and ‘I was having a much better time as a girl in that parallel life': why author Lucy Sante transitioned (29m08s)

Weekend is taking a little break. So this week, we've picked some of our favourite pieces from the last few months, just in case you missed them… Two stories about secrets, lies, and what happens when the people we trust turn out to have hidden motives: first, Joe Gibson reveals a troubling affair he had with his teacher that changed his life (1m48s); and comedian Michelle Brasier explains why she befriended her scammer (41m46s)

John Crace watches Rishi Sunak veer between dull and delusional in his conference speech (1m23s); actor Julia Fox unpacks abuse, fame, and dating Kanye (9m12s); plus the bizarre story of how an advert for a reality show led to a British TV mystery (35m01s)

The Weekend team are taking a break. So for the next two weeks, we're looking back at some of our favourite pieces of the year. Michelle Obama reads an exclusive extract from her book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times (2m05s); are you a stehpinkler or a sitzpinkler? Sam Wollaston extols the virtues of sitting down to pee (28m23s); and three decades on, the only survivor of a plane crash reflects on how the trauma changed her (41m23s).

We're doing something a bit different this week and bringing you an extended extract from Joe Gibson's memoir, Seventeen, about the troubling affair with a teacher that changed his life (10m53s); and after Rishi Sunak is quick to decry the Australian cricket team, Marina is quick to point out: well, that's just not cricket…(1m27s).

Marina Hyde considers what Prince Harry's memoir revelations say about us as a nation (1m26s); Kathleen Turner on navigating chronic illness and falling for Michael Douglas (10m19s); and Chloë Hamilton describes the heartbreak of fertility, shoulder to shoulder with her twin sister (25m20s)

In this discussion between Helen Garner and Michael Williams for Guardian Australia’s monthly Zoom book club, the author talks about the difficulties of publishing her diaries, and her fascination with systems of life and death. • Read an extract from One Day I’ll Remember This

In this discussion between Jimmy Barnes and music writer Andrew Stafford for Guardian Australia’s monthly Zoom book club, the pair talk about the open heart surgery they’ve both been through, the therapist who saved the rocker, and how the star slowed down to find beauty in calm Jimmy Barnes: ‘It’s criminal the way the government has treated the arts’ ‘My demons can fight among themselves. They don’t own me any more’ Barnes on finding calm amid chaos: ‘I’m really good at arranging flowers!’ – video

On this week’s show, the novelist explains how she came to write about her insomnia and we consider why indie bookshops are booming in the UK and Ireland. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

Ben Lerner and Meena Kandasamy talk about drawing on their most embarrassing and vulnerable moments to write fiction. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

A former member recalls growing up in ‘America’s most hated family’ and Claire McGlasson explains why we’re fascinated by cults. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

On this week’s show, Jamie talks about her new essay collection Surfacing and we hear a rare recording of the Cider with Rosie author. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

On this week’s show, we talk to Laura Cumming and Rhik Samadder about their memoirs, take a look at the Booker shortlist and give a verdict on Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

For Refugee Week, two writers discuss their experiences as asylum seekers and the challenges facing refugees around the world. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

This week we hear two contrasting approaches to eternal questions of belonging, plus regional differences in literature. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

The music journalist and writer takes Claire for a wander through Epping Forest as they discuss his book Out of the Woods. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/bookspod

When McBee stepped into the boxing ring at Madison Square Gardens to fight, he made history as the first trans man to do so – a journey he documents in his book, Amateur

From La Belle Sauvage to Lincoln in the Bardo, Claire and Sian review the most creative and compelling listening experiences and debate whether audiobooks are ‘cheating’

We step back in time for a stroll around the Tower of London with Chris Skaife, who looks after the landmark’s ravens; and we sit down with philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah to discuss identity

The BBC presenter talks about the travels in his memoir Step By Step, and the celebrated curator reflects on the beliefs explored in Living With the Gods

A trend for authors to use their real lives as a template for stories has been widely noted. Two writers who complicate this picture join us to look for the facts

Wendy Mitchell talks about her memoir of early onset dementia and neurologist Jules Montague explains how the brain shapes our sense of self

We talk to the Pussy Riot musician about her memoir and to journalist Omar El Akkad, about his move from journalism to dystopian fiction

Comedian and writer Robert Webb, star of Peep Show, discusses modern masculinity and his own boyhood in his new book ‘How Not to Be a Boy’

It's the tenth episode of Required Reading With Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it's worth its place in the canon. This time around, we are taking a break from our usual look at literature for our first "Tangent Special," which covers the genres of biography, autobiography, and memoir. We discuss what defines each genre and make recommendations. If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella) or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com

It’s the tenth episode of Required Reading With Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look [...]

It's the tenth episode of Required Reading With Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it's worth its place in the canon. This time around, we are taking a break from our usual look at literature for our first "Tangent Special," which covers the genres of biography, autobiography, and memoir. We discuss what defines each genre and make recommendations. If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella) or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com

The Pulitzer prize-winning author talks to Sarah Churchwell about his new memoir, Between Them: Remembering my Parents

We talk to the poet-turned-memoirist about Priestdaddy, her account of growing up with a Catholic priest for a father, and discuss our favourite funny autobiographies

Louis’s acclaimed debut The End of Eddy sparked a media hunt for the truth in France due to its blend of narrative and autobiographical fact. We speak to him about his novel’s reception, plus discuss the best and worst of autofiction

How life stories play out in memoir and fiction with the authors of family memoir I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This and YA award-winner Crongton Knights

Maggie Nelson explains the nuances of tackling gender and sexuality in her genre-bending memoir The Argonauts, while Chris Kraus talks about her 1997 feminist text I Love Dick enjoying a second life in 2016

Comedian Sara Pascoe explores how our experience is shaped by our physical form in Animal, and we track down a New Jersey pioneer with Amy Stewart

To celebrate the publication of his autobiography The Outsider, Frederick Forsyth gives a rare public interview discussing his life as a bestselling novelist and Cold War spy

To celebrate the publication of his autobiography The Outsider, Frederick Forsyth gives a rare public interview discussing his life as a bestselling novelist and Cold War spy

This week we find ourselves out of doors on the windswept islands of Orkney with Amy Liptrot and among the traffic-clogged streets of London with Emily Chappell

Alex Clark discusses the challenges of writing your own life story with the authors of Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? and H Is for Hawk

John Crace digests Hillary Clinton's latest autobiography, and picks it over for clues to vital questions – what does she really think of Obama?

John Crace digests Caitlin Moran's debut novel, How to Build a Girl, down to 600 words, and wonders what it adds to the autobiography that set her on the crest of the fourth wave of feminism

John Crace digests Stephen Fry's latest memoir, More Fool Me, down to 600 words, and finds the nation's favourite luvvie adrift in a blizzard of names and white powder

In the first of a daily series of digested reads, John Crace considers Russell Brand's political manifesto, Revolution More digested read podcasts