Podcast appearances and mentions of Benjamin Markovits

Benjamin Markovits grew up mostly in Texas. He left an unpromising career as a professional basketball player to study the Romantics – an experience he wrote about in Playing Days, a novel. Since then he has taught high school English, worked at a left-wing cultural magazine, and written essays, stories and reviews for, among other publications, The New York Times, Granta, The Guardian, The London Review of Books and The Paris Review.He has published seven novels, including Either Side of Winter, about a New York private school, and a trilogy on the life of Lord Byron: Imposture, A Quiet Adjustment and Childish Loves. In 2009 he won a Pushcart Prize for his short story Another Sad, Bizarre Chapter in Human History. Granta selected him as one of the Best of Young British Novelists in 2013. Markovits lives in London and is married, with a daughter and a son. He teaches Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.His latest novel, The Rest of Our Lives, has been praised by Sarah Hall, Clare Chambers, Lucy Caldwell, The Guardian, the Observer, TLS and many more. Get the book here or at your local bookshop. What's left when your kids grow up and leave home? When Tom Layward's wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact.He is also on the run from his own health issues, and the fact that he's been put on leave at work after students complained about the politics of his law class – something he hasn't yet told his wife.So, after dropping Miriam off, he keeps driving, with the vague plan of visiting various people from his past – an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son – on route, maybe, to his father's grave in California.

“It's my mum's favourite book that I wrote!” Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he's moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across America. He takes  in the sights, sounds and basketball games of the American heartland and beyond. But he's deferring some health issues and it seems like it's only a matter of time before his body asks him to stop and slow down, some of which was inspired by Ben's own experiences.   Ben's novel, You Don't Have to Live Like This, won the James Tait Black Prize for fiction. He was a Granta Best of Young British Novelists. His writing has featured prolifically in mainstream publications.  We discuss: Are families about power dynamics? Hear about Ben and I reflecting on our family life Is Steph Curry Benjamin's new obsession instead of Michael Jordan? Why is Syme, Ben's first novel, his mum's favourite novel?   ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE REST OF OUR LIVES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages

‘The people I like to write about are what I would describe as moderately successful failures.' Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he's moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across America. He takes  in the sights, sounds and basketball games of the American heartland and beyond. But he's deferring some health issues and it seems like it's only a matter of time before his body asks him to stop and slow down, some of which was inspired by Ben's own experiences.   Ben's novel, You Don't Have to Live Like This, won the James Tait Black Prize for fiction. He was a Granta Best of Young British Novelists. His writing has featured prolifically in mainstream publications.  ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE REST OF OUR LIVES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Rippling Points 2.42 - Why Tom goes on a roadtrip 4.12 - Feelings of failure and sport 7.10 - Constructing the narrator 9.00 - Tom's difference to other narrators of Ben's 11.30 - Pick-up basketball 15.15 - East Coast privilege 16.00 - The NBA - basketball and race 21.20 - Katharina Volckmer in conversation  22.45 - Tom's relationship with his children 23.57 - Tom and Ben's illness 26.58 - Matters of life and death 28.10 - Doctors and writers 29.45 - Ben's next steps Reference Points Philip Roth John Updike Ben's novels The Syme Papers Playing Days You Don't Have to Live Like This The Sidekick

In this episode of Lit with Charles, I sit down with Benjamin Markovits to discuss his latest novel, The Rest of Our Lives. This beautifully reflective book follows Tom, a middle-aged father who, after dropping his youngest daughter at college, keeps driving, embarking on an unplanned journey that forces him to confront the unresolved trauma of an affair, a failing marriage, and a mysterious health condition. Blending the themes of a road trip novel, midlife crisis, and personal reckoning, Markovits crafts a story that is much more than the sum of its parts—meditative, intimate, and profoundly moving.Markovits, a British-American novelist and former professional basketball player, has a long and acclaimed bibliography, including You Don't Have to Live Like This, which won the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction in 2016. In this conversation, we explore his own transatlantic upbringing, how his writing is influenced by his experiences, and why midlife transitions make for such compelling literary themes. The Rest of Our Lives is set for release in the UK in late March, and I wholeheartedly recommend adding it to your reading list.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and follow me on Instagram (@litwithcharles) to keep the literary conversations going. Let's get more people listening—and reading!

This week James B sits down with former player and award winning author, Benjamin Markovits, to discuss the Draft, its number one prospect Victor Wembenyama, playing against a young Dirk Nowitzki and Ben's latest novel, The Sidekick.  Rate and review people, because the temperature is rising. 

Ahead of the NBA finals next month, LRB contributor, novelist and former basketball player Benjamin Markovits talks to sports journalists Ben Cohen and Kevin Arnovitz about the role of data in the game. Why did it take teams so long to realise the value of the three-point shot? What's the difference between a 32% shooter and a 37% shooter? And is there anything more exciting in sport than watching Steph Curry's pre-game warm-up?Find further reading on the episode page: https://lrb.me/nbapodSubscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: https://mylrb.co.uk/podcast20bTitle music by Kieran Brunt / Produced by Anthony Wilks See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Thea Lenarduzzi and Lucy Dallas are joined by Benjamin Markovits, the novelist, critic and teacher of creative writing, to discuss 100 American essays spanning 300-odd years (‘have we got any better at it?'); the sinologist Rana Mitter discusses the supremely difficult, and controversial, job of adapting the Chinese script for the modern age; plus, ‘Edelweiss', a poignant new poem by Fiona Benson‘The Glorious American Essay: One hundred essays from colonial times to the present', edited by Phillip Lopate‘Kingdom of Characters: A tale of language, obsession, and genius in modern China' by Jing TsuProduced by Sophia Franklin See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peace, prosperity and formica - that's one way of describing the vision on show at the Festival of Britain in 1951. But domesticity had a radical side and in this Free Thinking conversation, Shahidha Bari talks to researchers Sophie Scott-Brown and Rachele Dini and looks at the domestic appliances selected for display in the newly re-opened Museum of the Home, talking to Director Sonia Solicari about how ideas about home, homelessness and home-making have shaped what is on show. Museum of the Home, previously the Geffrye Museum re-opened on June 12th 2021 https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk/ Producer: Luke Mulhall Part of BBC Radio 3's programming tying into the London Festival of Architecture. Madeleine Bunting recorded a series of Essays considering different ideas about home, homesickness, homelessness and Homelands which is being broadcast this week on BBC Radio 3 and available on BBC Sounds. You might be interested in a Free Thinking discussion called Fiction in 1946 recorded at London's Southbank Centre with Lara Feigel, Kevin Jackson and Benjamin Markovits https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wrq03 Enid Marx, Edward Bawden and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are discussed in this episode called Designing the Future https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b2mgpl

Caryl Emerson on Tolstoy’s art, ideas and life, and the extent to which these came together; Benjamin Markovits returns to a treasured childhood book: The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook; Eve Babitz – a “fizzy”, “fabulous” chronicler of 1960s and 70s Los Angeles – is mid revival. Megan Marz fills us in.Lives and Deaths: Essential stories by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Boris DralyukLeo Tolstoy: A very short introduction by Liza KnappLeo Tolstoy by Andrei ZorinThe Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook by Gary GygaxI Used To Be Charming: The rest of Eve Babitz, edited by Sara J. KramerHollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz and the secret history of L.A., by Lili Anolik See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Benjamin Markovits, PG Wodehouse, Family rows in novels and child prodigies

On November 7, 2019, two novelists appeared at Gelf Magazine's Varsity Letters at The Gallery at Le Poisson Rouge to read from and talk about their books on squash and tennis. Talking about their work in a conversation with Gelf Magazine co-founder Carl Bialik in this episode: Benjamin Markovits—teacher of creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of nine novels, including Playing Days, about his experience playing pro ball in Germany—read from his pair of novels A Weekend in New York and Christmas in Austin, which follow the fortunes of a large family of Texan Jews, including Paul Essinger, a retiring tennis player. Christmas in Austin is being released the night of Varsity Letters. Alexander Tilney—a graduate of the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers who has written for Gelf Magazine, among other publications—talked about and read from his new novel, The Expectations, about a pair of squash players and roommates trying to make it through their first year of boarding school.

On November 7, 2019, two novelists appeared at Gelf Magazine's Varsity Letters at The Gallery at Le Poisson Rouge to read from and talk about their books on squash and tennis. Reading from their work in this episode: Benjamin Markovits—teacher of creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of nine novels, including Playing Days, about his experience playing pro ball in Germany—read from his pair of novels A Weekend in New York and Christmas in Austin, which follow the fortunes of a large family of Texan Jews, including Paul Essinger, a retiring tennis player. Christmas in Austin is being released the night of Varsity Letters. Alexander Tilney—a graduate of the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers who has written for Gelf Magazine, among other publications—talked about and read from his new novel, The Expectations, about a pair of squash players and roommates trying to make it through their first year of boarding school.

Novelist Benjamin Markovits rejoins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about his two books that touch on tennis: "A Weekend In New York" and its sequel, "Christmas in Austin." On the publication day of his latest book, and after a tennis match with his podcast host, Markovits describes how solitary an athlete's existence can be, whether in career or out, in a team sport or an individual one; how a retired tennis pro in the midst of a breakdown can make a lot of reasonable points; and how a career of competition can into an entire life viewed through the lens of competition. Have a suggestion for a Thirty Love guest? Email Carl at bialik@pm.me Music by Lee Rosevere: "Credit Roll" and "Glass Android."

The second specially-commissioned work to mark this year's BBC National Short Story Award

Novelist Benjamin Markovits joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about his two books that touch on tennis: "A Weekend In New York" and its forthcoming sequel, "Christmas in Austin." Markovits explains how his professional basketball career turned him off from team sports, shares his favorites from the tennis memoirs he read to prepare for writing about the game, and reflects on the agony of having a number next to your name that defines your place in your profession and the world. Music by Lee Rosevere. Markovits's website: http://www.benjaminmarkovits.com/

Anne McElvoy, former Colonel Lincoln Jopp MC & novelist Benjamin Markovits on the new TV Catch-22. Jade Halbert on recycling fashion. Poet Fred D'Aguiar on winning the Cholmondeley Prize and Wu Mali on socially engaged art. Producer: Zahid Warley

Leena Norms talks to Richard Powers - author of twelve novels who lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and is author of the Pulitzer Prize winning literary novel, The Overstory.Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/vintagebooksSign up to our bookish newsletter to hear all about our new releases, see exclusive extracts and win prizes: po.st/vintagenewsletterMusic is Orbiting A Distant Planet by Quantum Jazz http://po.st/OrbitingADistantHe has recently been awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his latest book, The Overstory. It's the story of an artist who inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, and a winding collection of strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, who are brought together in a last stand to save it from catastrophe.We sat down with Richard to talk about our ancient connection to trees, the importance of 'long books' and why falling in love with nature will make reluctant activists of us all. WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018 A wonderous, exhilarating novel about nine strangers brought together by unfolding natural catastrophe as climate change becomes an ever-growing concern. ‘The best novel ever written about trees, and really, just one of the best novels, period’ Ann Patchett ‘Breathtaking’ Barbara Kingsolver, New York Times An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. An Air Force crewmember in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. This is the story of these and five other strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, who are brought together in a last stand to save it from catastrophe. ‘It’s not possible for Powers to write an uninteresting book’ Margaret Atwood‘Dazzlingly written’ Robert Macfarlane ‘It’s a masterpiece’ Tim Winton ‘An astonishing performance’ Benjamin Markovits, Guardianpulitzer prize winning books 2019 man booker shortlist 2018 climate change tree woods wood woodland forest historical american literary metaphysical visionary myths folklore international nature trees ecology fiction twentieth century environment book robert macfarlane underland old ways lost words anything is possible my name is lucy bartlett elizabeth strout milkman anna burns esi edugyan washington black in our mad and furious city guy gunaratne daisy johnson everything under rachel kushner mars room sophie mackintosh water cure michael ondaatje warlight robin robertson long take sally rooney normal people from a low and quiet sea donal ryan paul auster ian mcewan sebastian faulks julian barnes hidden life of trees peter wohlleben ministry of utmost happiness arundhati roy orfeo the time of our singing the echo maker gain generosity the gold bug variations See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Richard Powers, one of America’s greatest novelists, often compared to Pynchon and Roth, read from and talked about his twelfth novel ‘The Overstory’ (Heinemann). Powers has always been remarkable for the seriousness with which he takes science and nature and their intersections with literature, and in ‘The Overstory’, which stretches in time and place from antebellum New York to the Pacific North West timber wars in the late 20th century, he provides us with an arboreal equivalent to Moby Dick, and a book that will permanently change – and for the better – the way you view the world around you. Powers was in conversation with the novelist Benjamin Markovits. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At the height of summer, Matthew Sweet and guests turn their minds to tennis, beaches and walking. As Wimbledon continues, Benjamin Markovits and William Skidelsky consider the philosophy of tennis; New Generation Thinker Des Fitzgerald explores the geography of a little known beach in Cardiff city centre; Rachel Holmes goes on a walking tour of Eleanor Marx's Sydenham in south London. A Weekend in New York is by Benjamin Markovits Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession is by William Skidelsky Eleanor Marx: A Life is by Rachel Holmes The links between Japan and Wales, and the geography of a particular Welsh beach are explored by KIZUNA: Japan | Wales | Design opens at National Museum Cardiff runs until 9 September 2018. Des Fitzgerald is a lecturer in sociology at Cardiff University who studies the history of medicine, science and neuroscience and city life. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten academics each year who can turn their research into radio. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith.

After discovering that he was almost exactly 150 years younger than Charles Dickens, comedian Eddie Izzard set himself the task of reading all of Dickens' works aloud. The first to be turned into an audiobook is Great Expectations. The stand-up discusses his love of Dickens and the unique challenges that come with reading the author's work. Guitarist and singer Wilko Johnson is about to release Blow Your Mind, his first album of new material in 30 years, and the first since recovering from a mayor life-saving operation to remove a large cancerous tumour in 2014. Johnson looks back over the four years of his recovery, and performs some of his distinctive R&B.In A Weekend in New York, the latest novel by Benjamin Markovits, very little happens, but a great deal is revealed about the Essingers, a large close-knit family who are at their yearly get-together and the city of New York itself. Markovits discuses his motivation for the book and explains his desire to follow in the tradition of Philip Roth and Henry James. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May.

Greta Gerwig recently made history as the first woman to be Oscar-nominated for her directorial debut, Lady Bird. She tells Kirsty why she wrote a coming of age drama about a confused teenage girl growing up in her own hometown of Sacramento, and why she is now keen to write a play or act on the West End stage.Writer Benjamin Markovits was shortlisted for the BBC's National Short Story Award last year. This year he is one of the judges alongside television presenter Mel Giedroyc, poet Sarah Howe, BBC Books editor Di Speirs and last year's winner KJ Orr. Benjamin Markovits discusses the significance of the award now in its 13th year.Recent episodes of BBC One's Silent Witness have drawn praise from critics and audiences especially for Liz Carr role as forensic scientist Clarissa Mullery. The disabled actress has been in the series for 5 years, but this storyline put her at the heart of the drama as well as tackling the issue of abuse of disabled residents in a care home. Silent Witness writer Tim Prager tells us about creating the storyline and the reaction to the episodes, and we also talk to broadcaster Mik Scarlet and deaf actress Genevieve Barr about current opportunities for disabled actors across TV, theatre and film.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Kate Bullivant.

Stephanie Merrit and Benjamin Markovits discuss the idea of the Great American Novel.

Join John Wilson for a celebration of the power and possibilities of the short story as Chair of Judges Joanna Trollope announces the winner of the 2017 BBC National Short Story Award live from the Radio Theatre. The judging panel Eimear McBride, Jon McGregor and Sunjeev Sahota discuss the merits of the entries from the shortlisted authors. In contention for the £15,000 prize are Helen Oyeyemi, Benjamin Markovits, Cynan Jones, Jenni Fagan and Will Eaves.Radio 1 presenter Alice Levine will also announce the winner of the BBC Young Writers' Award and consider the strengths and emerging themes of the stories with fellow judge, the best-selling author Holly Bourne. The BBC National Short Story Award is presented in conjunction with BookTrust.Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Jack Dee talks to John Wilson about his new ITV1 sitcom Bad Move, inspired by the idea of downsizing to a supposedly idyllic life in the country. Joanna Trollope announces the shortlist for this year's BBC National Short Story Award: Will Eaves, Jenni Fagan, Cynan Jones, Helen Oyeyemi and Benjamin Markovits, who joins John in the studio. Sci-fi writer Lisa Tuttle reviews Electric Dreams, Channel 4's new drama series based on short stories by Philip K. Dick, starring Bryan Cranston.

A recording from the TLS’s 2016 London Lit Weekend at King’s Place, London: 2016 was the 200th anniversary of a dark and stormy night with an extraordinary literary legacy: Frankenstein. Frances Wilson and Benjamin Markovits recount the three days in June, 1816, at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva, when a group of young writers – among them Mary Godwin – sheltered from the gloom. Find out more at www.the-tls.co.uk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How have political ideologies and crises impacted families throughout history? With new austerity measures under discussion, a refugee problem continuing, the aftermath of the Brexit vote and more to come, it is one the most relevant questions today. How do writers reflect these pressures in characters, in their work? And how do they engage with alleged realities when creating fictional versions of their own? On 18 October 2016 novelists Benjamin Markovits and Joanna Kavenna came together at Free Word Centre to discuss these issues with John Freeman, editor of the literary journal Freeman's.

The novelist Benjamin Markovits, the literary historian Lara Feigel and the broadcaster and essayist Kevin Jackson join Matthew Sweet and an audience at Southbank Centre, London to explore some of the key books published in 1946 – a year in which Penguin Classics launched in the UK with a version of the Odyssey, Herman Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature, popular fiction included crime stories by Agatha Christie, Edmund Crispin and John Dickson Carr and children were reading Tove Jansson's Moomin series, the first of Enid Blyton's Malory Towers and the second Thomas the Tank Engine book.Their particular choices include Back, a novel by Henry Green, All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, Jill by Philip Larkin and The Moving Toyshop by Edmund CrispinRecorded in front of an audience at Southbank as part of Sound Frontiers: Celebrating seven decades of pioneering music and culture from Radio 3 and the Third Programme. Producer: Zahid Warley.

Mariella Frostrup with Raja Alem, Richard T Kelly and Benjamin Markovits and Nick Barley

Mariella Frostrup talks to Benjamin Markovits; reading Milan Kundera and Harper Lee.

'The past is a mosaic; we make it out of present materials.' Jonathan Lethem’s latest book Dissident Gardens (Cape) tells, in a ‘torrent of potent voices, searing ironies, popculture allusions, and tragicomic complexities’ the story of three generations of a radical New York family, at the same time painting a vivid portrait of the American Century. Jonathan Lethem was in conversation with Benjamin Markovits, author of A Quiet Adjustment and named by Granta as one of their Best Young British Novelists of 2013. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Benjamin Markovits is the author of six books: The Syme Papers, Either Side of Winter and Playing Days as well as a trilogy on the life of Lord Byron — Imposture, A Quiet Adjustment, and Childish Loves. He is also the only Granta Best of Young Novelists who is known to be able to dunk. In this podcast with Yuka Igarashi, he discusses his time playing minor-league basketball for a team in southern Germany, and the ways in which this and his other experiences inform his work as a writer. He also talks about his new novel, extracted in the issue, about a group of university friends who get involved in a scheme to regenerate Detroit.

Childish Loves (W. W. Norton) Novelist Ben Markovits will read and sign the third and final entry is his critically acclaimed trilogy of novels surrounding the life of Lord Byron. "This story-within-a-story-within-a-story poses questions about the very nature of fiction." --Booklist "I've been a keen reader of this unfolding trilogy, in its totality a work of high intelligence and canny storytelling. . . . With Childish Loves, his concluding novel, Markovits reaches well beyond the usual confines of historical fiction, breaking the boundaries of the genre, in a moving finale that raises this trilogy to a level of artfulness that deserves a wide audience and deep appreciation." --Jay Parini, author of The Last Station and The Passages of H.M. Benjamin Markovits grew up in Texas, London and Berlin. He left an unpromising career as a professional basketball player to study the Romantics. Since then he has taught high-school English, edited a left-wing cultural magazine, and written essays, stories and reviews for, among other publications, the New York Times, the Guardian, the London Review of Books and the Paris Review. His novels include The Syme Papers, Either Side of Winter, Imposture, and A Quiet Adjustment. Markovits has lived in London since 2000 and is married with a daughter and a son. He teaches creative writing at the Royal Holloway, University of London.

Novelists Daniel Kehlmann and Benjamin Markovits share interests in their work in biography, genius and failure, charisma and the question of how to give voice to real historical figures but have differences too; both make fuel for a very interesting conversation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.