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CEO James Daunt has now rescued two iconic bookstore chains: Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. He joins host Jeff Berman to discuss the turnarounds, plus how bookstores are preparing for an onslaught of AI-written content, his BookTok strategy, and why local control is the key to making great bookstores. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How can you tell where the real innovation in publishing is happening right now, and why is it emerging from the indie side first? How do you market your own book when you've spent 35 years marketing everyone else's? John Bond talks about Going Indie and what he's learned about authors who last. In the intro, my thoughts on writing with AI, Charles Dickens and encouragement for the 3-year-old dancing to K-Pop at the wedding, UK copyright law, The end of an era — Hugh Howey; Notre Dame, Paris; Today's show is sponsored by Bookfunnel, the essential tool for your author business. Whether it's delivering your reader magnet, sending out advanced copies of your book, handing out ebooks at a conference, or fulfilling your digital sales to readers, BookFunnel does it all. Check it out at bookfunnel.com/thecreativepenn This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn John Bond is the co-founder of Whitefox, a premium publishing services agency, and has over 35 years in traditional publishing, from bookselling to marketing and management. He's also the co-author of Going Indie: Publishing Your Book Your Way, with James Silver. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why 2012 was a watershed moment for publishing in the UK Whether the snobbery around self-publishing has finally gone How to co-write a book with someone, and why there's no formula The pride swallowing involved in getting endorsement quotes for your own book The shadow economy of indie sales that no industry chart measures The hallmarks of writers who build a long-term career You can find John at wearewhitefox.com. Transcript of the interview with John Bond Jo: John Bond is the co-founder of Whitefox, a premium publishing services agency, and has over 35 years in traditional publishing, from bookselling to marketing and management. He's also the co-author of Going Indie: Publishing Your Book Your Way, with James Silver. So welcome back to the show, John. John: Thank you, Jo. Thanks so much for having me. Jo: You were last on the show in 2022. You've been on a couple of times, but just set the scene. Tell people a bit more about you and your long background in publishing. John: I suppose I could say I started as a marketing manager at Penguin back in the early 1990s in London, and that role eventually evolved into running sales and marketing, as it often does. I did that at Penguin and at HarperCollins. Then I ran one of the publishing divisions at HarperCollins, including 4th Estate, and published Hilary Mantel and Jonathan Franzen and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and others. I left that in 2011 and set up Whitefox in 2012, and it's a classic startup story. It was somebody I worked with at HarperCollins. We sat around a kitchen table, came up with an idea for a business, which was Whitefox, and that's grown into the creative agency that it is today. Jo: So back then, did you think, “I can do this better”? Was that the impetus, “I can do publishing better than Penguin and HarperCollins”? John: No, I thought we would solve a problem. There's something very attractive about that whole startup mentality and beginning something from scratch. I mean, I was in my early 50s. I'd had a long career in traditional publishing. On the plus side, I knew a lot of people, and I thought I could get meetings, people would reply to my phone calls or my emails. On the downside, I didn't necessarily have the energy of a 20 to 25-year-old. I knew a lot of people and I knew quite a lot of things, and I also knew what problems something like Whitefox could solve. We set up with this idea that if we could galvanise and organise the diaspora of freelancers in the publishing space and make them available to anybody that wanted to make a book, that that would be quite a powerful thing. These incredibly creative, wonderful people who were below the radar and were not particularly valued or managed or utilised properly. I thought if we could access that and make that available not just to traditional publishing people who know about these people, but to individual authors, businesses, brands, people that wanted to make a book, and if you added a layer of our expertise from traditional publishing, that could be quite powerful, I suppose. That's what I was thinking back then. Jo: It's funny, though. You said these wonderful freelancers who were not particularly valued or managed or utilised properly. That could also apply to a lot of authors in traditional publishing. John: Totally. Totally. But if I'm honest, I don't think I was thinking about that. What's really evolved since we started, even in that 2011, 2012 period, is so much has happened to independent writers, indie authors. The whole ecosystem has become much more vibrant, and what is accessible to those writers is much greater. I'd like to think we've played a part in that. What that's done is put power back into writers' hands, and that quickly became apparent in the business as a byproduct of what we'd set up. Jo: Yes, and 2012 I do think in the UK was a pivot point, because I got into self-publishing in 2006/2007 when the Americans did with the beginning of the Kindle and the iPhone. Really the American ecosystem grew first. I happened to be in Australia, and so I think I was able to escape the negativity of the vortex in the UK, which took a number more years to embrace self-publishing as a force to be reckoned with as opposed to an embarrassing thing in the corner for vanity press. Do you see 2012 as a changing point in UK publishing? John: I think we'd just come out of the Kindle moment, hadn't we? There were all sorts of conversations going on about how that was going to change things forever. I think no one quite knew what the upshot of that was going to be, but we knew that it was incredibly disruptive. In 2012, Penguin, as it was then, before Penguin Random House, had offered to buy Author Solutions for $115 million, presumably seen as some kind of defensive measure as to what the market was going to evolve into. I think it felt like a real period of change. In the UK, James Daunt took over running Waterstones, and he was then ultimately going to run Barnes & Noble. It felt like a bit of a watershed. I think we were lucky in that sense, that maybe in the UK and in London, what we were creating coincided with an opening up of opportunity and creativity, and people wanting access to more tools to be able to do things themselves. Getting this idea that you invest in your own talent and what that could mean for your ability to do things quicker, better. Some of it was happenstance, but lucky for us. As you say, we then became aware that in a sense a lot of these things had come to fruition earlier on the US side. In London, that whole idea of setting up something that wasn't a traditional rights-owning model, but where you wanted to be working with people creatively, felt actually really exciting and timely. Jo: And when you started to work with independent authors, probably a couple of years after that, you started to work with a lot more indie authors and things really started to change in terms of the business side. Did you feel any of the snobbery from the traditional industry? Like you mentioned, you have a lot of contacts, a lot of connections. I came to your wonderful launch party and there were just people from all over the industry. I wondered if you got any kickback, or if anyone raised their eyebrows a little bit at who you were choosing to work with? John: Oh, definitely. And I would say I really think that's gone. You may think differently, Jo, but from my perspective, I think there has been such an evolution in the nearly 15 years that we've been going. So any of that residual snobbery, looking down your nose at people that were going DIY, producing multiple books, learning from every single publication. We've spoken about this before. I remember you sat on the panel of a FutureBook conference in the UK, which was run by a trade magazine, with this idea of looking at the, in quotes, “digital future of the business.” It felt like there were a lot of things being talked about, but not a lot of action on the traditional side. I suppose some sort of awe that there was some magic going on with people who were making a success of self-publishing. But then quite a lot of people looking down their noses at things that shouldn't get through the gatekeepers. I do think that's gone. Or if it's not completely gone, I can see it on the way out of the door, because there's no room for that when agents are struggling to sell books to publishers because publishers are looking at the next indie author, the next Freida McFadden, the next Sarah J. Maas, the next Rebecca Yarros. So whoever it may be, or wherever they're publishing, whatever they're doing now, wherever they may be, knowing that a lot of those people will already be publishing and be on not their first, second, third or fourth, but potentially their 10th or 11th book. It's a race to see who can help those authors, as a traditional publisher would see it, amplify what they're doing. I think the idea that there's an us and them, if it did exist then, which it certainly did in certain publishing quarters, is gone. I used to go to those conferences, like the FutureBook Conference, and certain publishers would talk about publishing, and when they meant publishing, they meant a really tiny area of quite literary, traditional imprints. That's what publishing meant. They didn't even mean publishing to mean educational publishing, or children's publishing, or academic publishing, and certainly not Kindle or POD or whatever. So I think that's had to change for very good, sound, commercial, economic reasons. Jo: Yes, you're right. I definitely have heard, as we go to similar events sometimes, and you do hear agents used to talk a lot more about finding books very occasionally in a slush pile, or doing courses so you could meet people and do pitch events and all this. Now it's often build an audience on BookTok or whatever, and sell lots of books, and traditional publishing as an amplifier, as you said. That's how I always hear them pitch it now, the question of— What can traditional publishing still do when indie authors can do so much? It does seem to be, well, we can amplify you, we can get you into traditional press, we can get you in traditional bookstores, we can help you with film and movie deals, that kind of thing. So that's really interesting, because that's actually changed quite a lot. They don't now seem to say, “Oh, well, we can make sure we pay you,” or, “We are editorial success as such.” John: I think they don't say editorial success or quality or indeed marketing, because that was what used to be said. I think there's an understanding that a lot of indie writers are better marketeers of their own books than traditional publishers, and if you go into the publishing machine, then you'll get your slot. It lasts for a certain period of time and then that moves on to another book. Whereas obviously if you're writing your own book and you're marketing your own book, you're able to do that yourself 24/7 wherever you are in the world, and you will know more about your readers and your audience and how that evolves than a traditional publisher would. What they probably mean now is, as you said, as much as anything, distribution, or even physical distribution. Because to be part of that process, I think that is still where a large conglomerate is able to wield some muscle, with this idea that if you physically want to see your book in bricks and mortar retailers in X outlets around the world, that's potentially easier to do if that is your aim, via a traditional publisher. So it is constantly evolving, because it used to be that marketing was the silver bullet, and I don't think that's the case anymore. Jo: No. We'll come back to marketing, shall we? Struggling with marketing. So let's get into your book. You recently co-wrote Going Indie with James Silver, Publishing Your Book Your Way. Obviously you already knew a lot about indie authors, so I wonder, what did you discover in the process of researching the book and the interviews you did? And I was one of your interviews. Did anything come up that surprised you, since you're already pretty embedded in the world? John: I would say some of it was reinforcing what I knew. So how everything is so intertwined, how in some ways unlinear everything is. People are doing lots of things in a different order to the way that traditionally writers would perceive this relay race of a manuscript gets passed to an editor, an editor passes on. That's just not how it is or needs to be anymore. I still think there is—not even a misconception—but I think there's a received wisdom that when you're talking about self-publishing, you're talking about fiction. The majority of books that Whitefox produces are not fiction, they're non-fiction. Some of them are quite mainstream, some of them are quite niche. That idea of connecting to your audience and your followers, and being slightly more scientific about how you find readers in your non-fiction niche, I think is still unspoken about in a way, in that genre fiction tends to be what people automatically assume the conversation is about. This probably doesn't surprise you, but I was pleasantly surprised to have it confirmed to me quite how much swapping and sharing there is of skills and knowledge in that space. I'm not saying indie writing is egoless at all, but there's quite a lot of sharing of knowledge and what works, and collaboration, which I think is great to see. Again, if you've, as I did many years ago, come out of corporate conglomerate publishing, traditional publishing, there's less of that by the very nature of the kind of organisation. And look, we just talked about marketing a little while ago. I do think this whole idea that the cutting edge of experimentation, it's not traditional publishing, it's indie writers. They are looking at not just how to find readers, but how to fulfil orders, how to make commercial sense of what they're doing from the absolute outset and get-go of what they're doing. And just how now the lines are blurring between what would be classified as traditional digital publishers and the writers who are doing their own thing, or doing their own thing on behalf of a few other writers. Those lines have completely blurred. There used to be this traditional hardback, paperback, X number of books a year, a year after hardback there's a paperback. This is the model we have been doing for centuries, and people doing things on their own. I think that's blurring massively, and the Venn diagrams of people's areas of expertise are just overlapping massively. Jo: Well, I think you're right there, and certainly the hardback special editions with sprayed edges and foil. A lot of us now are doing that first and not putting out the other, or putting out the rest of it at the same time. I dare say probably there are more indie authors with sprayed edge hardbacks than there are traditionally published authors. John: I'm sure that's right. And what's interesting is if you go to a traditional book printer, they are loving the direct communication with writers, that's not coming through traditional channels and traditional relationships. It's great business, it's interesting. I think that's something that's even developed in the last couple of years, that cutting out of some of the middle men required. Jo: Yes, and in terms of supporting freelancers and small publishing houses and printers and stuff, the other thing I've heard is that indie authors pay upfront, or they pay quickly, compared to some of these big publishers who are asking for long lead times and steep discounting. So actually a lot of these independent businesses are doing better under indie author work than they were under traditional. John: I think that's right, and that's what I mean also about the sharing of information and this collaborative idea of sharing creative knowledge. I mean, I'm making it sound like a kind of 19th century cooperative, which it isn't. I'm not suggesting that for a second. It's this idea that there's a lot of people learning a lot of things and there's a keenness to share some of that information, because if you've developed your own readership for your unique creative product, some of those learnings are very exciting. The printers I've spoken to love working on those kinds of things, because they are also being challenged to come up with new ways of developing ever more innovative physical product. Jo: Yes, I think it's a fun, creative time for sure. Things like Kickstarter, which you came on and talked about crowdfunding years ago, and I've obviously done. I think, what am I on now? Seven? I've just done my seventh. John: Wow. Jo: It's so much fun. But now what's happening is traditional publishers are arriving on Kickstarter and all that kind of thing. So we really see a blurring. Let's come back to your book, so Going Indie. You co-wrote it. Now obviously there are lots of positive sides of collaboration, but in terms of any challenges with collaboration and co-writing and the writing process of doing this? Because I've done this several times and I've found it very challenging. So tell us about the collaborative writing process. John: We thought a lot about it before we took it on. What I would say, having done it, is I am assuming there is no formula for how you do this. At Penguin I worked with a married couple who were crime writers, and they wrote books together. They merged their names so it appeared to be one name. I could not tell you, and they didn't share what that process was, whether they were writing different chapters or … I don't know. So I can only speak from my own experience. James is an established journalist. He's great with deadlines. He was very good at chivvying me along when I needed to be persuaded to hit the deadlines that I'd promised. I write blogs, I write newsletters, I write content for our website, but this is my first book. I've never written anything of this length. So in a way it started with the structure. It started with this idea that we would play to what we perceived as our respective strengths in terms of writing. We absolutely were not each writing every third word or anything like that. It was a process of trust in different parts. I thought, James had done some research and will be better at writing that. He deferred to me on areas that he took to be my areas of expertise. We did every interview for the book together. We went over the notes from those before they became part of the interviews for the book. And some of the book's elements are diagrammatic, so those are very easy to collaborate on. I think we tried to be professionally, creatively constructive with each other. So it was raising an eyebrow rather than shouting at each other if we didn't agree about something. A lot of it was down to the editing, and I don't know what your experience was like with a co-writer, but a lot of it came down to: here is something which is quite baggy. How do we, between us, make this as tight as we possibly can? I don't mean copy editing or proofreading. I mean the actual sort of, how do we get this into a pithy, usable, practical but discursive book? We didn't ever set out for this to be a pure reference book at all. We wanted to take a snapshot of what was going on. So a lot of it was genuinely trying to do some research and get people to feed into what was going on from lots of different perspectives, which is why we wanted to get mainstream traditional publishers, we wanted to get agents, we wanted to get indie writers, we wanted to get people who have all sorts of experiences and perspectives. That's what makes it what it is, which is, here's what we think are some of the interesting discussion points of what's going on now. Jo: It is a fantastic snapshot. I think it's really interesting—and obviously you also have seen my book, Successful Self-Publishing, which is on its fourth edition—this is one of the difficult things with snapshot type books. So have you already thought about that? I know this one has just come out, but have you thought, “Oh no, in five years we have to do it again”? John: Well, I think we thought we're going to have to address AI, which we do in the book, and we really tried to caveat that with saying, look, so much may change so quickly, and here we are talking about what we know now. We obviously tried to set the context for where we are now, and we tried as much as possible to make something which would last as long as we can. I think what we did think was, we have tried to make it as international a perspective as possible. But at the same time, we are a London-based agency, and a lot of the views will be from people based in the UK. So I think what I would like to explore is something that looks at potentially somewhere like the US, where I think there'll be different people that would perhaps have different perspectives on different things. So I think we thought about potentially there being future iterations of the book, but not yet. Jo: Not yet. This is the challenge with non-fiction, of course. On that, I would say what you just said around the US and stuff, the successful UK authors all use the same systems as the US. So I wouldn't say that the US … I mean, we all have the US companies we all use. I say Kobo is obviously Canadian, but I would say that we use the same ways of doing things. Obviously you might interview a different author, but … John: That was all I meant. I meant interviewing. Because we've interviewed agents and authors and publishers and they are largely UK based. So it was the idea that maybe there are some perspectives on things rather than systemic. Jo: Differences. John: Yes. Just that. Jo: So then I guess another challenge, we've kind of nodded to it so far, is marketing. So let's talk about the challenges of getting this book out in terms of publishing and marketing. Because you've been on the inner circle side, trying to do that for other people's books, but your own book, this is a whole nother thing. So tell us about that. John: Well, how do you do it, Jo? I mean, honestly, I've loved some of it. I get how you become completely obsessed with your book and trying to make sure that you can get it into the hands of the people that you want to get it into the hands of. We've got some great endorsement quotes, which was a task that, how can I say this? I would call it pride swallowing. The idea that you really try and get people to say nice things about your book and, if they don't reply, you think, “How much do I pester them? How much do I annoy them by asking them again nicely?” And the absolute sheer unadulterated joy when they come back with something positive that you can use and utilise in some way. So that whole process of waiting for feedback, I suppose, and hoping that people are going to like what you've done and help you spread the word for it. We had a launch event, we've given books away. We've published the book as ebook and POD. I think one of the great things about that is it's enabled us to be completely adaptable and make changes right up until the last minute. That drove everybody in my team completely crazy because we were making changes up until the last minute. So, is the book definitely going to be available on publication date? What's it going to do? You know, all of that kind of stuff. Also, just getting this idea that I suppose you can never stop. Is that a very obvious thing to say to a writer? It probably is. You just can't stop, because if you go, “Right, well, I've done it,” complacency is the enemy. Just as soon as you've got that quote, or someone said that they're going to give you an opportunity to talk about it on a platform, it's just another day and you've got to keep thinking about how you can spread the word and tell people that it exists. Jo: Yes, well, I think that's right, and particularly non-fiction, which unless it's very timely and you must get it out right now. But other than that— Most books you just have to keep marketing for years. Then just as you say, when do you stop? Well, you kind of never stop unless you want to, unless you want to retire and just give up, basically. Dean Wesley Smith, who's a big writer in the US and a kind of a mentor of mine in past years, he talks about it as this massive sea of books. And when a book arrives, he pictures it coming down and landing on the water. So the day you launch, it's landed on the water, and then it begins to sink. Then there are all these other books coming down. It's like this rain of books, and your book is sinking as soon as it lands. And your job is to keep it afloat somehow. John: Keep it afloat. Jo: Yes. John: I think you're right, and it's such an interesting perspective for us, who work with a lot of people who have one book. You know, they've spent 10 years writing it. It's their life story. It's their memoir. It's their self-help book. It's their book that accompanies them on their speaking journey, or whatever. Then there are the people who are writing constantly and can't stop writing because they're exercising that creative muscle all the time and wanting to get better, and wanting to improve and learn and understand why this works and why that hasn't worked. Just getting a glimpse into what it must be like for that person for whom writing is not a hobby. I kept saying to myself, “This is not something you're doing as a hobby.” I want this book to be of value to people, and if I'm investing that time and effort into something that I want to get out there, you've got to commit to whatever it is you need to do to make sure you're not sinking. Jo: Yes. John: I will now not be able to get that image out of my head. Jo: Yes. I know there's people listening who don't have a mind's eye, which I always find fascinating, but for those of us with a mind's eye, you can now picture that and you will never forget it. The other thing, I guess, is that, having done a lot, over 40 books now, the inevitable thing is you cannot keep pushing all of those books back up to the surface. So when you do get the bug as such of writing, the most interesting thing for all of us is always the next book. It's always like, ooh, the next thing I'm doing, I'm very excited about. So you do have to pick your battles on marketing. So have you got the bug, do you think? Are you thinking of other books in general? Because as you said, you must be, I guess, in your 60s. John: I am. Jo: You could retire. John: I am. You were talking about that long career. I could. I mean, I really love doing it, and I would love to do more. I think one of the things that surprised me was just how many ideas came up while we were doing the book about tangents that one could take it. I have no desire to write a novel. I don't want to do that. I wouldn't be very good at that. I do think there are some interesting spaces around where there's a kind of intersection of creativity and learning, and how you can develop books that would help people who are trying to achieve different things in different sectors of publishing. So without getting too granular about it, this book doesn't really address brands who want to become publishers, and I think that is something that our business has developed into working with, not just individuals, but businesses and brands. I think there's definitely spin-offs of this book which are not about repeating what we've done so far. And this whole idea of what you've been doing for a long time, what we've been doing since 2011, 2012, it's evolving now at such a speed. I mean, who would have known what was going to come out of TikTok? As you talk about TikTok to Shopify, that whole kind of new ways of finding readers, of taking books to market. As you said, Kickstarter, crowdfunding. There's all sorts of things that I think will emerge, because in a funny sort of way traditional publishing at the moment feels quite conservative with a small c. I mean, the bestsellers. Dan Brown is number one in the bestseller list this week in the UK as I speak, who has been a bestseller forever. And obviously new writers come along the whole time, but the market feels a little bit as if it's waiting now for innovation. I think if that innovation's going to happen, it's probably going to happen in the indie space before it happens in mainstream publishing. So people are coming to us and thinking, does that represent a trend? Does that represent something which could be a way of looking at something a little bit deeper, doing some research around and creating something which is not a long book, not a massive thesis, but something which is indicative of something which could be useful for people. Jo: Just coming back on the Dan Brown is in the bestseller list. I think this is completely to do with the way that traditional publishing measures things. For many years, more than a decade, probably since the beginning of Kindle, certainly the beginning of Kindle Unlimited, there is a shadow economy, I call it, or a parallel economy. I would say that almost zero of my own personal sales are measured by any industry standards. Anyone who makes any money from Kindle Unlimited or Kickstarter or Shopify, or selling direct in any form, or selling books at conventions, none of this is measured by any traditional things. As you know, the New York Times list, for example, does not include Amazon sales in their bestseller list. So you've got indie authors in the UK who are incredibly successful who have to decide, say, someone like LJ Ross, for example, decides, “Okay, I'm going to set up a proper imprint with Gardners or whatever so that I can get in bookstores so that I can hit a Sunday Times list or something.” So I would say that seeing things like Dan Brown on a bestseller list has almost no meaning in the shadow indie economy. John: No, you're absolutely right. We're not even able to see audiobook sales. Jo: Yes, audio. Any kind of borrows, like Spotify. John: No, you're completely right. I suppose I was making a broader cultural point, that it doesn't feel like there's an enormous amount of innovation going on or risk taking within what I would call mainstream trade publishing. And there doesn't seem to be the need to be, because there will be more consolidation. Small companies will be bought by big companies, so there's growth through acquisition. There's still a hope that something will take off that is a surprise, and there's still an enormous reliance on established brands who, even through the traditional metrics of how you measure them, are probably selling less, but still at the top of the pile. I suppose that's what I was meaning. Jo: Yes, and I agree with what the industry looks at as signals. It's just, as we said, a lot of these signals are invisible. So coming onto innovation, at London Book Fair this year there were a lot of sessions on AI, and you mentioned AI briefly, and there is a chapter in Going Indie on generative AI. And of course there's a lot of negativity and drama and lawsuits and this, that and the other. But at the same time, at London Book Fair, a lot of traditional publishers talking about using it, and of course they always say, “Oh, we use AI only in marketing and business, not with the creative or editorial.” Everyone makes this distinction. What are your thoughts on what's happening and where's it going with AI? Is a lot of this stuff not happening in public and just going on behind closed doors? John: I think so. We do have a chapter in the book on AI. We've generated summaries of every chapter using AI, which we explicitly said in the book as well. We've got our Ten Commandments of what we think are useful guidelines. I think that there has to be an enormous amount being done, whether it's experimentation or speeding up for efficiency's sake, or things that slow you down, within mainstream publishing. There has to be more than just the guardrails around the creative process. And clearly when we're talking about metadata, book description, cover copy, presumably royalty calculations, presumably if you're trying to grow your newsletters. There has to be an enormous amount of activity going on. We're driven by the market, so we do not commission. Writers come to us and they either want to work with us and we want to work with them, or that doesn't happen. So we're in a sense seeing what the market is seeing, and that is a whole range of things. As I've said before, there's a lot of sweeping generalisations out there, which if you look back to that Kindle moment, we were talking a little while ago about what was going on in 2010/2011, about the enormous broad brush strokes that were being perceived as a result of Kindle. Kindle has affected some areas of publishing, it's affected some not at all. I think it will be absolutely fascinating when the sweeping generalisations stop and there becomes, I suppose, even more transparency. The thing that people are looking for, isn't it? A little bit less opaqueness as to what is really being done. Because everybody's being so careful about what they say they're doing and what they're not doing. I suppose ElevenLabs is the one where people are openly engaging on the audio side. I mean, everyone is being so careful and cautious. Jo: Me too. John: What do you think? We spoke a bit about AI within the book, and I'm interested to know what you think. Jo: Well, I've obviously been openly talking about it since 2016. I openly talk about using it, and I've got my Patreon community where we talk about how we're using it, and tips on how to use it. But then, because I have been writing and publishing since 2007, 2008, I'm very strong in my creative voice. I'm very strong in my understanding of what I consider to be my level of output, and what I publish under my own name is what I publish under my own name. John: Totally. Jo: So the problem is for people who are less confident, I think, in what they're doing creatively perhaps. I know some people feel like they're scared it will take over or something. When you're as strong-minded as me, it's not taking over anything. John: It's not going to take over anything. And the other side of the coin is how many people are finding Whitefox using ChatGPT. Jo: Mm. John: I'm thrilled that we are emerging, through very detailed briefing of AI, as something that is worth engaging with. Jo: Positive marketing. John: Yes, exactly. As you say, I think there's a lot of negativity, and I think it will settle down eventually. I think less hysteria. Jo: Yes, hopefully sooner rather than later. So as we come to an end, you've been in the publishing industry a long time and seen a lot of people who have disappeared, but also those who've lasted. I wondered if maybe you could comment on those who last, because I definitely feel like I'm in my 50s now, and I want to keep doing this. I'm pretty obsessed with— What are the hallmarks of people who have a long-term career? So reflections on that. John: Oh, that's such a good question. I think there's some common characteristics and themes. So I think authenticity, I think this idea of being continually curious. I think there are people who can't help but create, and this idea that once you've sort of expelled once, that's enough. I think there's people that just can't stop creating, whatever you do with it. But this idea that the more you do, the better you get, the more you evolve and keep an open mind. I think there's definitely entrepreneurial writers who love this idea of keeping their readers engaged, and how that conversation is something that evolves and that collaboration evolves, is fascinating. I think if you love that, and you listen, there's always an opportunity to keep building on what you do. I love the writers who we work with. I can think of a writer who we're working on his fourth novel at the moment, and he is a bundle of positivity. No matter the trials and tribulations, the things that have gone wrong, his expectations definitely not being met with his first book. He definitely has this idea that he wants to keep writing, he wants to get better, and he is getting better. It isn't a journey that has a beginning and an end. It's something that will continue for as long as he wants to write. Every single book that he has published, he has learned and gained confidence, gained a network of connections that he's utilised himself now to not make the first half a dozen mistakes he made on the first book. Who knows where it will end up? But certainly the satisfaction he's getting, and the sales he's getting, are growing as he becomes savvier and quicker to make the right choices and decisions. So I think that's my honest answer to that. I think there are definitely people who think, “Phew, I have really wanted to do this book. Now I can rest easy. I've done my book.” Then there are people who really, whatever their objective, whatever the definition of success is from the get-go, just can't help creating. I do love that and respect that. I don't think our book falls quite into that category, because I think it's a slightly different thing. I think there are people who are still making a success of what they do and redefining that as they go on, and who are really open to ideas and input from different people and are not closed off. I love working with those people. Jo: So where can people find Going Indie and everything you do online? John: Well, Going Indie is available online at all good bookshops. It's available at Amazon and anywhere you buy books online as ebook and POD. Our website is wearewhitefox.com, and you'll find information about not just our book there, but a lot of other things that we're doing on that site. Jo: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, John. That was great. John: Thank you so much, Jo. It's been a pleasure. The post Going Indie, Publishing Innovation, And The Challenges Of Book Marketing With John Bond first appeared on The Creative Penn.

ou can follow Ava on Instagram @avaglassbooks. Her books are available wherever fine books are sold. Whenever possible support local bookshops, but if you MUST order onlines: the UK, Waterstones; in the US, Barnes & Noble or Amazon; in Canada, McNally Robinson or Amazon.caIf you liked the show, consider leaving a 5 star review on your podcatcher of choice. The more reviews we have, the more we show up in searches. Somehow. Magic I think. Follow me on social media and spread the word!Or, tell a friend. Word of mouth is still an effective advertising tool. I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

In Episode #234 of The Happiness Challenge, join Klaudia to explore five tiny, science-backed experiments you can try this week to boost your happiness and wellbeing inspired by the guests who joined the show so far.Think of these as a mid-year reset when you take a moment to pause and reflect before the second half of the year.Get involved: ⬇️ Download: 26 Science‑Backed Micro‑Habits You Can Try Next (Sleep, Movement, Mindfulness, Connection, Purpose — all under 60 seconds) https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/store

Simon and Rachel speak with the journalist Jeff Maysh. Jeff's work, specialising in narrative non-fiction with cinematic structure, and focusing on untold true stories, has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek and the Financial Times. With over 30 stories in development for film and television, he's been called "the most optioned writer working today". His story from 2018 about the McDonalds Monopoly fraud became the subject of a bidding war, won by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for a record $1 million. Jeff has projects in development at studios and streamers including Netflix, Fox Searchlight and Universal, and he has recently launched a course teaching non-fiction writers how to apply screenwriting techniques to longform storytelling and navigate optioning their work to the entertainment industry. We spoke to Jeff about moving from British to American journalism, developing his pipeline of articles to film and TV, and the roots of his interest in crime. In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.   We've also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we're now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you heard the story of Henry Hugh Manvers Percy? This 19th century member of the Percy family won a Victoria Cross for his actions in the Battle of Inkerman, one of the crucial fights during the Crimean War, and his story is told in the book 'A Bearskin's Crimea' by Algernon Percy, newly re-released in an expanded an illustrated edition.We are joined by the author on this episode of the Alnwick Castle Podcast, where he explains who Henry Percy was, some of his actions in the Crimea, and the origins of the Victoria Cross, among many other things. If you are interested in this period of history, this episode and the book are definitely for you; and if you have not heard anything about the Crimean War beyond names like Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole or the Charge of the Light Bridge, well, we hope this episode and the book are for you too!You can get a copy of 'A Bearskin's Crimea' now. Buy directly from Alnwick Castle at alnwickcastle.com/shop , or you can also order it online through Waterstones.And don't forget to look out for Henry Percy's sword on display in the State Rooms next time you visit Alnwick Castle!

Lucy Upton is a Registered Paediatric Dietitian with 15+ years' experience, author of The Ultimate Guide to Children's Nutrition, and the voice behind @childrensdietitian. In this conversation we cover:

Philippa sits down with Robert Peston — ITV political editor, bestselling author, and reluctant biscuit convert — to talk about The Kill Switch, the third and final book in his Gil Peck thriller trilogy, and why he felt compelled to put artificial intelligence and the fragility of democracy at its heart.

This week is a truly madcap sniffathon HOPEFULLY encompassing [*takes adeep breath*] wild seascapes, fragrant ghosts and a notorious rake; a spicysummer scent to set your senses tingling; a fruity treat based on a perfumer'sfavourite breakfast; a splendiferous peacock strutting its scented stuff; a stunningsueded rose; perfumes pulled straight from the vegetable patch; Harrodsexclusives to swoon over; a seriously affordable new niche house; a mesmerisingmyrrh, and Alice du Parcq's book pre-order discount code…AND if all that wasn't enough, we're also answering a #listenerprescription for ajasmine fragrance to remind her of a dance while wearing jasmine garlands.Phew!Can we possibly fit it all in without going off-topic? Listen along and find out!BeauFort London continued: Following on from last week's fascinating interviewwith founder Leo Crabtree, Nicola tries a trio of intriguing scents:Cape Wrath‘Cape Wrath Eau De Parfum. Named after the rugged area of coastline on themost North Westerly tip of Britain, Cape Wrath pulls inspiration from this wild,treacherous seascape. The remote landmark - named after the old Norse wordfor ‘turning point' has for centuries been used by sailors to safely navigate thecoast of Britain, yet its treacherous waters have claimed countless vessels.Character: Powerful; wild; windswept

 THE WEARING EXPERIENCETop Notes: Pink Pepper, Elemi, Galbanum, Angelica Root
Opens with a blast ofbracing ocean air.Heart Notes: Frankincense, Mastic, Geranium
Resinous smoke and geraniumadd both warmth and austerity.Base Notes: Ambergris, Vetiver, Ambrette, Seaweed, OakmossAbsolute
Mossy oceanic base which powerfully lingers.Perfumer: Euan McCallAbsent Presence‘‘O absent presence, Stella is not here'The fifth and final instalment of the Revenants collection draws inspiration fromthe Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney. In his Sonnet sequence ‘Astrophel andStella' Sidney develops and captures the essence of a haunting… the presenceof one that is always felt but never seen.‘Now I, wit-beaten long by hardest fate,So dull am, that I cannot look intoThe ground of this fierce love and lovely hate,Then some good body tell me how I do,Whose presence absence, absent presence is;Blesst in my curse, and cursed in my bliss.'Comprising the highest level of natural ingredients of any BeauFort fragrance,Absent Presence explores its themes with typically ‘overdosed' concentrations ofviolet leaf absolute, vetiver bourbon oil, smoky leather and black pepper oil. Aswith all the Revenants family, Absent Presence is presented as 30% Eau DeParfum.Character: Dark; enveloping; waves.THE WEARING EXPERIENCETop Notes: Bergamot, Galbanum, Pepper
Fresh, green, and fleeting felt but outof reach.Heart Notes: Jasmine, Violet
 Jasmine and violet bloom with intensity.Base Notes: Leather, Sandalwood, Musk, Amber, Cedarwood 
Warm leather,woods, amber and musk linger like a ghost on the skin, the violet heart returningin waves.Perfumer: Julie Dunkley.'Rake & Ruin‘Rake & Ruin Eau De Parfum is inspired by the works of satirist William Hogarth,this fragrance summons his characters from a gin soaked 18th century London.This debauched Eau De Parfum incorporates the botanical ingredients of gin;dark woods, civet, musks and amber bringing to life 'all manner of Vice andWickedness.'

THE WEARING EXPERIENCETop Notes: Angelica, Liquorice, Juniper, Coriander, Szechuan Pepper, PinkPepper, Orange, Lemon
Opens with a sharp, gin-like freshness, spiced andeffervescent.Heart Notes: Cypress, Pine Needles, Castoreum, Labdanum, Cade Oil, Costus,Violet Orris
Bowing to a heart of smoky woods, animalic tones and powderedflorals.Base Notes: Dark Woods, Ambrarome, Sandalwood, Musk
Dark woods, muskand animalic. Ambrarome complete the seductive yet slightly sinister finish.'Alice du Parcq's book: The Philosophy of PerfumePre-order at Waterstones for £10 (25% off with code SUMMER26)https://tinyurl.com/AliceWaterstones‘The Philosophy of Perfume is a fun, warm, thoughtful and practical book allabout fragrance, which looks at its origins and how it's made, how we smell andhow best to shop for perfume. It is an adventure into the facts, folklore andfantasies surrounding perfume, delving into how it has evolved through the erasand decades as an artform, reflecting our cultural patterns through history. In thebook, you'll meet perfumers who share insights into their fascinating creativeprocess; you'll learn the science behind how we smell and the wild emotionalvoyage from smell to soul! There are tales of scented superstitions, and theliterary and historical figures who inspire perfume, plus the ways in which AI isimpacting the future of fragrance and a helpful guide on how to shop for perfumeand find The One(s!). It was so important to me that this book was not for perfume experts, but forfragrance lovers of all ages who want a moment of enchantment laced withinteresting facts, a sprinkle of science and some practical guidance when on theirnext scent shopping safari.'AKRO Heat‘HEAT is our addictive chili fragrance.Chili is not just a spice. It is a rush. A burn you think you can handle. The firsttime you smell it, it hits, it wakes you up. Then it warms you. Then you want itagain.The best chili doesn't just flavour. It ignites. It makes your skin tingle. Yourtemperature rise. Your pulse quicken. Your senses sharpen.HEAT is that moment when warmth turns into craving. When your body asks formore. A vibrant indulgence. A dopamine shot you keep coming back to.HEAT is a scent that sets you on fire and makes you love the burn.TOP: CORIANDER SEED, LEMON, RED CHILIMIDDLE: CARDAMOM, GINGER, JUNIPERBASE: CEDARWOOD, AMBROX, MUSK.'Jeroboam Oud MorningBy Vanina Muracciole‘Oud Morning from Jeroboam is the perfect balance of brightness and depth.Opening with an unexpected burst of blueberry, saffron and resins, thecomposition moves into a heart of Indian oud, softened with leather and agedwoods. Sandalwood, ambroxan and white musk anchor it into a smooth, sensualbase, finishing the creation on an intimate note.Top Notes: Blueberry, Gurjum Balsam, SaffronMiddle Notes: Indian Oudh, Leather, Dry Wood, VioletBase Notes: Sugar, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, White Musks.'Alexandre J Royal Peacock (Harrods Exclusive)‘At the turn of the 20th century, Art Nouveau reshaped the decorative arts.Mucha, Gallé, Tiffany, Lalique, all drew on nature to invent a new grammar ofcurves, stylised plants and extraordinary birds. Among them,the peacock reigned supreme: its iridescent eyes and regal bearing embodiedthe movement's core belief in beauty for beauty's sake.The opening evokes an Italian espresso served with Viennese pastry. Roastedcoffee dialogues with hazelnut in a frankly gourmand accord, before maplesyrup brings its unmistakable amber roundness, sweet without cloying, almostwoody. Caramel amplifies the indulgence, while violet casts a powdery floral veilthat keeps the composition from tipping into excess. The vanilla-almond basesettles into a lasting, addictive warmth.'Ormonde Jayne Suede Silhouette‘Bathed in crimson and violet, Suede Silhouette reflects the warmth of saffron,the richness of raspberry and the quiet confidence of suede. Exclusively atSelfridges.'Jo Malone London Veggies collection:Celine Roux says: ‘We just loved that people, even in the middle of cities likeLondon, can grow their own carrots and herbs – the fact that everyone wants tohave a grasp on nature from wherever they are. This [collection] takes that ideaof something homegrown and unmanicured but gives it a fresh take'Velvety Butternut:‘The path ahead is smooth, just like a velvety butternut playfully plucked from theveggie patch. Notes of smooth butternut, warm tonka bean and patchouli createa woody gourmand scent.Top - GingerSpicy and fresh with a zingy lemon quality, it opens the fragrance with livelybrightness.Heart - ButternutSmooth and nutty, notes of butternut imbues the fragrance with a deliciouswarmth and creaminess.Base - PatchouliGrounded in patchouli, a sensuously deep woody note that enhances thelongevity of the fragrance.'Carrot Blossom:‘Life is sweet, just like carrot blossom gloriously gathered from the veggie patch.Notes of subtly sweet carrot, orange flower and white musk create a fresh floralscent.Top - FennelHerbaceous with hints of aniseed, it adds a dewy sweetness to the top notes.Heart - Carrot BlossomLightly floral and sweet, with an earthy accent, complementing the powdery notesof orris.Base - PatchouliGrounded in patchouli, a sensuously deep woody note that enhances thelongevity of the fragrance.'Suzy's favourite: Scarlet Beetroot‘Colour is all around, just like a scarlet beetroot splendidly spied in the veggiepatch. Notes of beetroot, vibrant blackcurrant and a dash of...

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) may be the greatest innovation in American philanthropy in the last generation. DAFs solve real problems. They allow donors to contribute appreciated assets without triggering capital gains taxes. They simplify recordkeeping. They help families think strategically about generosity. Those are real-world benefits. But there are also real-world problems that need to be fixed. Before we get to solutions, though, a little history is in order. The good news is this problem is not all that difficult to solve, though it will take significant political will. Three reforms deserve serious consideration. First, Congress should require that assets contributed to donor-advised funds be distributed within a reasonable period. I would suggest three to five years. But any limit — 10 or 15 years — would be better than no limit at all. Such a limit would preserve flexibility while ensuring that charitable dollars eventually accomplish charitable purposes.  Second, DAF sponsors should publish far more detailed information about inactive accounts, median payout rates, and how long assets remain before grants are recommended. Better transparency would reward sponsors that encourage active generosity while strengthening public trust. Third, Christian donors should treat donor-advised funds as conduits rather than warehouses. This recommendation is particularly aimed at Christian foundations. The National Christian Foundation has seen its assets under management double in the past five years, to $6 billion. Waterstone, another large Christian foundation, now has nearly $1 billion under management, also doubling in the past five years. The Signatry has grown tenfold during that time, from $81 million in assets to more than $800 million. MinistryWatch tracks 29 Christian foundations, and almost all of them have experienced dramatic growth. Charitable dollars help no one while the money sits in investment accounts — except for the highly paid executives who manage those accounts. Donor-advised funds remain a valuable tool. But tools exist to accomplish work. They are not ends in themselves. The measure of Christian stewardship has never been how much we reserve for charity. It has always been how faithfully we put those resources to work.

Rachel and Simon speak with the literary agent Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. Vicki set up The Bright Agency in 2003; today the company represents authors and artists from across the world. Its clients include Benji Davies (the creator of the "Storm Whale" series and the illustrator of the "Bizzy Bear" books), David Litchfield (the author and illustrator of the "The Bear & the Piano" series) and the estate of Shirley Hughes (whose books have sold more than 11.5 million copies). For the past 22 years, Vicki has been the agency's principal author/illustrator agent and she has been nominated for Literary Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards three times - in 2016, 2021 and 2025. We spoke to Vicki about her early entrepreneurial efforts and setting up Bright in her 20s, representing children's authors and illustrators and the importance of getting youngsters to read. In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.   We've also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we're now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week is the last Friday 5pm pod for a while, as we'll be on the road! Join us to talk about London Craft beer Festival's Top 50 Beers list, Jonny's foraging exploits, and why Jubel is the sign of craft's struggles.WATCH THIS WEEK'S VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VkDx4iyXWoSupport the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

When British foreign correspondent Richard McColl purchased, on a whim, a ruined colonial building in the rural Colombian town of Mompós, he imagined a lifestyle of relaxation, with idle afternoons reading the works of Gabriel García Márquez, writing glib observations and enjoying the hypnotic momentum of a Caribbean tropical narrative, swaying in a hammock and the promise of an ice cold beer never far away. He was mistaken. His first restoration yields a hostel, which later becomes a hotel and then spirals into further projects including the restoration of three more colonial houses, experiencing challenges that make him reconsider his upbringing, education and outlook on how he fits into his adopted homeland. With two hotels in Mompós, he experiences the joy of new friendships and a despair over the predictability of guests. With a journalist's eye for a story, McColl navigates the history of Mompós and how its society is a microcosm of today's Colombia, with its feudal system still very much in place, inherent prejudices, stigma surrounding the politics, the people and the past, all coming to the fore.   Buy the book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/ezGbsP3 Or in selected bookshops in Bogota, Cartagena, Santa Marta, at Waterstones and Daunts in the UK. 

Why do so many women reach their 30s and 40s feeling more critical of their bodies than ever before? In this honest and thought-provoking episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson sits down with eating disorder specialist and author Elle Mace to explore the complex relationship women have with food, body image and self-worth. From the pressures of social media and the rise of weight-loss injections to perimenopause, ageing and the unrealistic expectations placed on women, this conversation unpacks why so many of us still feel we're never quite enough—and, more importantly, how we can begin to change that. Email us at info@mybaba.com Follow us on Instagram @mybabainsta and @mybabagram Show notes Parental Control, Ep 134: Why Are Children Worrying About Their Bodies So Young? Instagram: @iamellemace Food Freedom is available from 27th August at £14.99 via major retailers including Penguin, Amazon and Waterstones. What is My Baba? My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting. Visit mybaba.com  The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

This week we give all the juicy details of our trip to Berwick on Tweed to see Golden Promise in the fields, Jonny heads to the Nicholas Nickelby in Finsbury Park, and we discuss whether the PerfectDraft is killing pubs.WATCH THIS WEEK'S VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8dNnaZ3dUSupport the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and screenwriter Tom Rob Smith. Tom wrote his first novel, "Child 44", about a serial killer in Soviet Russia, at the age of 26. After publication in 2008, the novel went on to sell over two million copies, with translations in 35 languages. It won the International Thriller Writer Award for Best First Novel, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and became the first thriller to be longlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2015 "Child 44" was also turned into a film starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman. Tom's other novels include "The Farm", "Cold People" and most recently "Twenty Years Together". His work for the screen includes the BBC show "London Spy", which was nominated for a Bafta, and the FX series "American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace", which won a Golden Globe. We spoke to Tom about his bestselling debut, his screenwriting projects, and going in a different direction with his new book.  In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.   We've also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we're now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel.A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twelve years ago, Dr Janey Lowes went to Sri Lanka on a holiday, and never really came home. Today she runs WECare Worldwide, a hospital that treats the island's three million street dogs to a standard that you'd like your pet treated - from the worst trauma cases you can image do a highly efficient desexing service.  And then, a few times a year, she flies back to locum in clinics that look a lot like yours.This one's about what it's like to live on both sides of that line that separates the reason we became vets, and the job most of us ended up with.We get into:Do-or-die medicine in a place where you're the only optionHow being the last line changes your perspectives, and what that does to your goalposts when you go back to first-world practiceThe bits of ‘normal' practice that Janey misses the most (no, it's not the fancy equipment)Charity vetting as a viable career option, not just a gap year - the good and the bad Support WECare Worldwide:This work runs on donations, and Janey's currently raising for a new hospital by running six hundred kilometres, the length of Sri Lanka. (She's not actually a runner…)Website and donations: https://wecareworldwide.org.ukThe charity takes volunteers and offers longer-term work Volunteer and work with WECare: https://wecareworldwide.org.uk/volunteer/WECare on Instagram: @wecare_srilankaFind Janey:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeythevetYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@janeythevetHer book, Janey the Vet: Saving Sri Lanka's Street Dogs, is on Amazon, Waterstones and WH SmithMore from The Vet Vault:Everything we do lives at https://www.thevetvault.com, including our clinical CE podcasts and resourcesCome learn with us in person at Vets on Tour: https://vetsontour.comTopics and Time Stamps03:20 Going Viral, and the Unexpected Backlash08:24 The Love-Hate of Social Media10:17 The Birth of WeCare13:24 75% of Dogs Are Unowned13:53 Courage or Naivety?16:35 Mid-Roll Break18:31 Regrets? & Life in Sri Lanka21:30 Two Lives: Sri Lanka vs UK36:15 Are We Too Quick to Euthanise?39:55 What We Underestimate and Undervalue in ‘normal' Vet Life43:22 Volunteering at WeCare49:03 Charity Vetting as a Career55:10 Rapid Fire Questions59:21 Advice for New Grads

This week Jonny and Brad are nursing hangovers after a special day filming at The Kernel, but they still manage to pay homage to the late Humphrey Smith, and to talk about the last two videos!WATCH THIS WEEK'S VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lWC4_VuhQ8Support the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

Julie Owen Moylan's debut novel, 'That Green Eyed Girl', was a Waterstones' Welsh Book of the Month and a runner up for the Paul Torday Memorial Prize. She followed that up with '73 Dove Street' and 'Circus of Mirrors'. Her short film, 'Baby Cakes', won the Celtic Media Award and won at the Swansea Film Festival. She's inspired by finding the fiction in history, thoroughly researching a time, so she can dive right in and create her own world. Her new novel is 'Elizabeth and Marilyn', which takes us back to the summer of 1956. It looks at the intertwining lives of Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe, two of the 20th Century's biggest icons, and why for a brief moment they were neighbours. We discuss how art inspires her writing, and reminds her she's done the hard stuff before. You can hear why she doesn't believe in writers' block, why the idea came from, and how she has figured out her best writing process.Get a copy at uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineSupport the show -patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode #233 of The Happiness Challenge, join Klaudia to discover how to speak up when it counts—using science-backed insights and practical tools that help you move from holding back to saying what you actually mean with clarity and calm.Whether you stay quiet in meetings, lose your words when the stakes feel high, get interrupted and don't reclaim your point, or soften your message to avoid conflict, this episode will help you understand why speaking up can feel so hard—and how to use a simple method to take up space without forcing confidence.Get involved: ⬇️ Download: 26 Science‑Backed Micro‑Habits You Can Try Next (Sleep, Movement, Mindfulness, Connection, Purpose — all under 60 seconds) https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/store

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and essayist Siri Hustvedt. Born in Minnesota in 1955 to a Norwegian mother and American father, Siri grew up bilingual. On a family trip one summer, she read voraciously and decided she wanted to become a writer. In 1981 Siri published her first poem in the Paris Review and a small collection emerged two years later. In 1992 she published her debut novel, “The Blindfold”, which was translated into 17 languages. Six more novels followed - “The Enchantment of Lily Dahl”, “What I Loved”, “The Sorrows of an American”, “The Summer Without Men”, “The Blazing World” (longlisted for the Man Booker Prize) and “Memories of the Future” - as well as several collections of essays. Alongside her writing, Siri has studied psychoanalysis, neurology and psychiatry and in 2015 she was appointed a lecturer in psychiatry at Weill Cornell medical school. We spoke to Siri about making her way in poetry and publishing, her interest in the sciences and her latest book, “Ghost Stories”, a memoir about her marriage to the late novelist Paul Auster. In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.   We've also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we're now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Thanks to our sponsor, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99 (one is left). This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Huberman Biography Flash a weekly Biography. Andrew Huberman has spent the past few days doing exactly what is reshaping his long term biography: expanding from celebrated podcaster and Stanford neuroscientist into full spectrum health authority and soon to be mass market author. Waterstones, the major UK bookseller, reports that his first comprehensive book, titled Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body, is set for global release on September 15, 2026, positioning him not just as a podcast educator but as a mainstream health reference author with a formalized system of daily protocols for mental and physical performance. On TikTok, the official Huberman Lab account has been pushing a preorder campaign for that book, describing it as an operating manual for the human body and emphasizing its protocol based, highly actionable structure, a clear sign that his team is gearing up for a major cross platform publishing push. On the content front, YouTube clips from his ongoing collaboration with former Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf have been rolling out over the last few days, packaged as short, highly shareable lessons in discipline, focus, and anxiety reduction. One recent segment, How Micro Discipline Compounds Into Elite Success, features Huberman explaining how repeated small hard choices drive structural brain changes in regions like the anterior mid cingulate cortex, linking mundane habits to the neuroscience of so called super agers and reinforcing his brand as the scientist who can decode high performance. Another clip, How to Improve Focus and Decrease Anxiety With One Simple Practice, highlights his use of the Influence versus Concern framework, an exercise that has him literally asking listeners to draw a line down a page and sort worries from actions, then radically shrink phone screen time, tying mental health advice to real world behavioral experiments. Across social media, Huberman continues to be name checked as an authority. A recent Instagram post by Waterstones again promotes his upcoming book as a truly empowering guide to mental health, physical performance, and sleep, while a TikTok creator credits Andrew Huberman with helping avoid bad camera buys by pushing better lighting over expensive gear, an example of how his advice increasingly leaks into creator culture and not just neuroscience circles. Internationally, a Portuguese language Instagram carousel from a podcast account recaps the Huberman Lab episodes that led thousands of listeners to quit alcohol, chase morning light, and use a single physiological sigh to reset stress, underscoring his growing status as a global behavior change catalyst. On X, Huberman's main account has stayed focused on research, podcast promotion, and book related messaging; no credible outlet has reported any major controversy, new personal scandal, or large business acquisition tied to him in the past few days, and any rumors beyond that are unconfirmed and should be treated as speculation. The real story this week is continuity and escalation: a steady drumbeat of science based clips, an aggressive rollout toward his September book launch, and a widening echo chamber of creators, bookstores, and international podcasts framing him as the go to brain and body strategist for the self optimization era. Thanks for tuning in to Andrew Huberman Biography Flash. Thank you for listening, and be sure to subscribe to never miss an update on Andrew Huberman and search the term Biography Flash for more great biographies. Thanks for listening. This has been a Quiet Please production. Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta

This week we're recording on a Wednesday, which leads to lots of confusion. Did England beat Croatia? Is lager really piss? Only the future will tell us.Support the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

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 are the writers that have most excited our experience booksellers and we can't wait for you to discover your own favourite. Join us for a freewheeling conversation about technique, tenacity and turning inspiration into something tangible.

Join Klaudia Mitura to explore what it really means to embrace your own voice and how simple voice practices can help regulate your nervous system, calm stress, and lift your mood in minutes.Whether you notice your throat tighten under pressure, your voice rush when you're overwhelmed, or you struggle to sound like yourself in important moments, this episode is packed with practical, science-backed tools you can use immediately (and that Klaudia tests herself).Learn how a longer exhale can signal safety to the body, why humming can help you feel more grounded fast, and try a short “voice reset” you can repeat for three days to track your mood, stress, and energy before and after.Get involved: ⬇️ Download: 26 Science‑Backed Micro‑Habits You Can Try Next (Sleep, Movement, Mindfulness, Connection, Purpose — all under 60 seconds) https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/store

Jackie Mitchell talks to Tracy Cook, local author about her first novel “Wings Over Valletta” set in Malta in World War 2. As bombs fall across the island, Kitty Campbell is haunted by the daughter she was forced to give up for adoption years before. Tracy will be signing copies at Waterstone's bookshop, Walton on Thames, on Saturday 20 June at 10.30am. www.tracycookauthor.com

Body image worries are starting younger. Diet culture may have changed its clothes, but it certainly hasn't gone away — it's simply rebranded as wellness, self-improvement and "health optimisation," all while our children scroll through TikTok, influencers and impossible appearance standards in real time. In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson is joined by Elle Mace, eating disorder expert, coach, author of the upcoming book Food Freedom, and someone whose own struggles with body image and disordered eating began at just 10 years old. Together, they explore the early warning signs parents may miss, how to tell the difference between normal food fussiness and something more concerning, the everyday language around food and bodies that can accidentally cause harm, and what today's obsession with wellness, weight-loss drugs, and appearance culture is doing to young minds. A thoughtful, honest and hugely important conversation for any parent raising children in a world obsessed with bodies. Email us at info@mybaba.com Follow us on Instagram @mybabainsta and @mybabagram Show notes Instagram: @iamellemace Food Freedom is available from 27th August at £14.99 via major retailers including Penguin, Amazon and Waterstones. What is My Baba? My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting. Visit mybaba.com  The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/

Your voice doesn't always feel steady, and in high-stakes moments, it can feel like it has a mind of its own. In this episode, Klaudia Mitura sits down with Judith Quin, voice coach and vocal confidence specialist, to explore what it really means to liberate your voice and speak with presence, not perfection.This is a conversation about taking up space without getting louder, understanding what a “small voice” sounds like when we feel we don't belong, and using Judith's practical vocal resets to calm the nervous system fast.Get involved: ⬇️ Download: 26 Science‑Backed Micro‑Habits You Can Try Next (Sleep, Movement, Mindfulness, Connection, Purpose — all under 60 seconds) https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/store

This week CBC has exploded into action with six videos being filmed, a beer festival visit and some homebrew going on!Support the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

The perfect gift for Father's Day! Barry Appleton investigated some of the most notable crimes of the twentieth century, from multi-million pound robberies to cold-blooded killings that shook the world. Walking the beat of the crime-ridden East End under the rule of the Krays, Barry went toe-to-toe with the underworld, earning multiple commendations for his courage. Following a series of high-profile murder cases, he was assigned to the Flying Squad and went undercover to investigate the assassination of Martin Luther King. Life in the ‘Sweeney' was dangerous and the detective's dedication to the job saw him injured in the line of duty, pushing him and his family to the limit. After 20 years' exemplary service with the Met, Barry's crimefighting adventures continued when he achieved overnight success as the lead scriptwriter of The Bill, adding gritty realism to 50 episodes of the groundbreaking drama. Now Barry has taken on one final case to unravel his own incredible life story. How did a boy from the Welsh valleys end up in a shootout on the streets of London? What made a hard-nosed cop swap his snub-nosed Smith & Wesson for a second-hand typewriter? And who was the angel always by his side? Featuring dramatic flashback sequences and never-before-told behind-the-scenes stories from Britain's longest-running police procedural drama, Twentieth Century Cop is an extraordinary true crime memoir that vividly captures life as an old school copper, on the streets and on the screen. This special countdown trailer - featuring the titles for all 50 of Barry's episodes of The Bill - is narrated by one of his favourite actors from the series, the mighty Jon Iles (DC Mike Dashwood) ⁨ "Twentieth Century Cop" is OUT NOW in hardback from Pen & Sword Books: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Twentieth-Century-Cop-Hardback/p/57380 Also available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twentieth-Century-Cop-Flying-Detective/dp/1036199517/ Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/twentieth-century-cop/barry-appleton/oliver-crocker/9781036199517 Or order through your local bookshop.

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and journalist John Lanchester. John has written six works of fiction including "The Debt to Pleasure", "Capital" and "Fragrant Harbour" and four of non-fiction including "Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay". His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award, the E. M. Forster Award and the Premi Llibreter, been longlisted for the Booker Prize and translated into 25 languages. The television mini-series adaptation of "Capital" won an International Emmy Award. He is a contributing editor to the London Review of Books and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. We spoke to John about his long relationship with the LRB, his state of London novel "Capital" and his new novel, "Look What You Made Me Do."  In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.   We've also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we're now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Thanks to our sponsor, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99 (one is left). This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel.A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest today is someone whose life reads like a series of things most of us would consider utterly impossible. Vicki Anstey is a world record holder, a human performance coach, an entrepreneur and an adventurer — and that only scratches the surface. She was one of the first women to reach the final stages of SAS Who Dares Wins, rowed the mid-Pacific unaided, and in 2024 cycled 3,000 miles across America in one of the toughest endurance races on the planet. She has raced 250 kilometres across the Arctic in minus 35 degrees and across the Savannahs of Kenya in 50 degree heat. Vicki is also a passionate advocate for girls and young women through her role as UK Ambassador for Inspiring Girls International. She is a perfect Midpoint guest because at the heart of everything she does is a belief that we are all capable of so much more than we think — and her own life is the proof. Her brilliant new book, Other People Are Like The Weather, is published by Northside House and is out on the 17th of June in hardback from Waterstones and Amazon. You can also pre-order a signed and dedicated copy —https://vickianstey.co.uk/product/other-people-are-like-the-weather/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...in which we return to 19th-century Maryport in the company of author Simon Francis Brown to explore the world of regional shipbuilding through the exquisite illustrated journals of master shipbuilder Kelsick Wood. Starting our walk at the Shipping Brow Gallery overlooking the River Ellen, we set the historic context for Kelsick's arrival in Maryport in around 1818 – Britain as a maritime superpower, the age of empire, the political endgame of slavery – and paint a picture of the town's bustling harbour, its numerous taverns, the lavish dinners held for Lord Senhouse, the squalor of many residents. Battling weather on the harbour wall, we introduce Kelsick Wood, the Workington-born shipbuilder who travelled the world before acquiring the family yard at Maryport and starting the illustrated journals (excerpts below) that Simon discovered in a Greenwich archive. Sheltering from the gale in a harbourside ginnel, we discuss the business of shipbuilding: the crafts required to bring together a finished brig; the unforgiving economics of timber imports; the impact of Cumbrian weather on operations; and the insurance stranglehold held for a time by London shipbuilders. Retiring to the Golden Lion – where Kelsick spent many of his working hours entertaining potential customers and networking with the Maryport elite – we learn about the politically progressive family man who grieved the loss of a wife and six children, before winding down the podcast considering the numerous pressures which built on domestic shipbuilders – from overseas competition to the introduction of iron hulls – signalling the end of the age of sail. The Vanishing Age of Sail can be bought from Bookends in Carlisle and Keswick, and other local bookshops. It is also available from Amazon and Waterstones.

Brad's back, we're back, and we're straight in with some spicy takes and creamy Milds. Sorry about the audio, always and forever.BUY JONNY'S BOOK: https://bit.ly/OneMoreRoundBookWATCH THIS WEEK'S VIDEO: https://youtu.be/eyAmXoLfcdcSupport the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

We called them cheats. The reality is far more complicated. There have been plenty of books written about drugs in sport. Confessions, memoirs, exposés. But this one is different. James Witts is a sports journalist and former editor of 220 Triathlon Magazine — someone I've known for well over a decade. His new book, Dope, isn't a first-person account of falling from grace. It's a proper state-of-play analysis of where the battle between dopers and anti-dopers actually stands in 2025 and 2026. Who's winning? How are athletes sidestepping detection? And what's driving people to dope in the first place — because it's rarely as simple as wanting to win.   We talk about Colin Chartier, David Millar, Team Sky, TUEs, blood bags, the Enhanced Games, AI, and why this issue reaches much further than elite sport. Including age-group athletes who will go to extraordinary lengths just to qualify for Kona. This is a nuanced conversation that will change how you see this subject.   5 KEY POINTS Doping is rarely just about winning — identity, imposter syndrome, financial pressure and team dynamics all play a significant role. TUEs are widely exploited — therapeutic use exemptions are legitimate in principle but have become a well-documented route to legal performance enhancement. The Enhanced Games raises an uncomfortable question — if records aren't broken when athletes can openly dope, what does that say about clean sport? Social media is a direct pipeline for dangerous substances — young athletes are being targeted by adverts for drugs like DNP, linked to over 30 deaths in the UK alone. AI cuts both ways — it could help create novel undetectable drugs, but also help anti-doping agencies crunch data faster than ever before. 3 TAKEAWAYS Look beyond the headlines — calling athletes cheats and moving on ignores the complex web of pressure and identity that leads many there. The line is rarely clear — from TUEs to grey-area supplements, the boundary between legal and illegal is often deliberately blurred. This isn't just an elite problem — age-group athletes and recreational competitors operate in the same ecosystem, with more similar pressures than we'd like to think.   KILLER QUOTE  "It's so damning if someone is found to have taken a prohibited substance — it almost feels worse than murder. At least with murder there's a sense of rehabilitation."   CONNECT with James James Witts is a sports journalist and author specialising in cycling and endurance sport. His new book Dope is available now from Waterstones and all major booksellers. X/Twitter: @jameswitts LinkedIn: James Witts Buy the book: Dope - available at Amazon, Waterstones and all major booksellers   James's favourite book: Racing Through the Dark by David Millar   LINKS & RESOURCES Mentioned in the episode: WADA Prohibited List 2026 Enhanced Games   Other blogs, Videos etc you might want to check out Honest Sport Substack - Edmund Wilson Icarus documentary - If you haven't seen this you must. Film maker and amateur cyclist Bryan Fogel sets out to investigate the furtive world of illegal doping in sports and ends up revealing the biggest international sports scandal in living memory. The hidden cost of doping sanctions on Kenyan athletes   FREE Download

The Guilty Feminist 485. Waterstone's Book Club: Bimbo Presented by Deborah Frances-White with very special guest Ashley James. Recorded 14 April 2026 at Waterstone's Picadilly. Released 1 June. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Ashley James https://www.instagram.com/ashleylouisejames https://www.waterstones.com/book/bimbo/ashley-james/9781529958775 For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show Road to Gilead Open Space. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-guilty-feminist-presents-road-to-gilead-open-space-tickets-1990526915588 Guilty Feminist at Ventnor Fringe. https://purchase.vfringe.co.uk/EventAvailability?EventId=37801 Edinburgh Fringe previews at Soho Theatre. https://sohotheatre.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-edinburgh-preview-showcase/ Edinburgh Fringe. https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:6708/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Elizabeth are discussing: Bookish Moments: overseas bookstores and book resources Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: Meredith and Elizabeth imagine books in their own bookstore Before We Go: our new segment featuring a bookish friend post and Elizabeth updates us on her grandbabies Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site). . . .   1:53 - Ad For Ourselves 2:12 - Currently Reading Patreon 3:20 - Bookish Moments of the Week 4:19 - Waterstones 4:22 - Barter Books 4:37 - Foyles 4:38 - Notting Hill Bookshop 5:10 - Goldsboro Books 6:10 - Booklist magazine 8:27 - Current Reads 9:42 - The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (Elizabath) 14:19 - Where are the Children by Mary Higgins Clark (Meredith) 18:54 - Loves Music, Loves to Dance by Mary Higgins Clark 19:43 - The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff (Elizabeth) 19:47 - The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff 21:51 - Sarah's Bookshelves Live 23:12 - Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Meredith) 24:23 - Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 29:39 - Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves (Elizabeth, pre-order releases July 7, 2026) 30:00 - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 32:35 - Theo of Golden by Allen Levi 32:37 - Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo 32:50 - Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin 32:57 - Page & Palette 34:30 - The Astral Library by Kate Quinn (Meredith) 37:29 - Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend 37:30 - The Book Wanderers by Anna James 40:21 - The Rose Code by Kate Quinn 40:22 - The Alice Network by Kate Quinn 40:59 - A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross 43:36 - Deep Dive: Books We'd Stock In Our Own Bookstores 44:37 - God of the Woods by Liz Moore 44:38 - Fabled Bookshop 44:49 - Roots by Alex Haley 45:56 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman 47:48 - The Iron House by John Hart 49:03 - I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes 49:53 - Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum 51:06 - The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 52:12 - Red Notice by Bill Browder 52:42 - Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge 54:40 - The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley 54:49 - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 54:50 - The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham 55:22 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 55:23 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 56:13 - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 57:26 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 58:03 - Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall 59:06 - Born To Run by Christopher McDougall  1:00:02 - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 1:00:52 - Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 1:01:17 - Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen 1:01:19 - Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert 1:01:30 - The Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini 1:03:00 - Before We Go Meredith highlights a bookish friend post Elizabeth brings an update and bookish support   Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. June's IPL is brought to you by one of our beloved repeat stores, Schuler Books in Grand Rapids, MI. Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads | Substack | Youtube The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Kathryn Stockett. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Kathryn moved to New York after university and spent almost a decade working in magazine publishing and marketing. In 2001, reeling from the 9/11 attacks and missing home, Kathryn started writing "The Help". The story of black maids and their white employers in Jackson in the 1960s became a sleeper hit in 2009 - it went on to sell 15 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a film in 2011. (The movie grossed more than $220 million at the box office; Octavia Spencer won an Oscar for her portrayal of Minny, one of the maids.) Kathryn spent over a decade working on her follow-up, "The Calamity Club", set in Oxford, Mississippi, in the 1930s. We spoke to Kathryn about magazine largesse in the 1990s, the huge success of "The Help" and the long road to publication of "The Calamity Club".   In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes. We've also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we're now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Thanks to our sponsor, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99 (one is left). This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Brad is on jury service so we welcome Neil Walker of SIBA for chat about how cask is making a comeback, and why beer influencing is harder than wine influencing.WATCH LAST WEEK'S VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESP7CI4LP3gSupport the showBrought to you by the team behind the Craft Beer Channel, The Bubble is a weekly podcast that gives you a way to wind down with your first beer of the weekend. Dig into craft beer, film and music culture as well as hearing what's going on in the wild world of Beer Tubing.BUY JONNY'S NEW BOOK! SIGNED COPIES: https://www.davids-bookshops.co.uk/products/the-meaning-of-beer-by-jonny-garrett-signed-pre-orderAMAZON: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Beer-Jonny-Garrett/dp/1838959947/WATERSTONES: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944SUPPORT US!Pledge on Patreon and get some cool merch & videos: https://www.patreon.com/craftbeerchannelCheck out our awesome sponsor The Malt Miller: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/Twitter – @beerchannelFacebook – http://www.facebook.com/thecraftbeerchannelInstagram – @craftbeerchannel

Stay connected with us at americangroundradio.com, on Facebook, and Instagram. You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for May 13, 2026. We open with the China story that keeps getting bigger — the day after we covered the Arcadia, California mayor who pleaded guilty to acting as a Chinese Communist Party agent, a man named Lou John Wang was convicted in New York City for operating a secret Chinese police station — kidnapping dissidents, pressuring critics of the CCP, and running what amounts to a foreign government's law enforcement operation on American soil. We connect it to Trump and Rubio's diplomatic trip to Beijing, explain what China's secret police stations actually do, and make the case that China's infiltration of American life — through supply chains, universities, real estate near military bases, and now city halls and police stations — is unlike anything any hostile nation has ever accomplished inside our borders. We ask the question every American should be asking — how much access has the Chinese Communist Party already built while we were telling ourselves economics and national security were separate conversations? In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, President Trump landed in Beijing with a delegation that included Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wang — arriving to a red carpet welcome and plans to push for Chinese market access for U.S. businesses. Then the U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve on a 54-45 vote — with Democrat John Fetterman the only crossover — signaling future interest rate cuts that sent equity markets surging. And Salem Communications — home to Hugh Hewitt, Joe Piscopo, Charlie Kirk, Mike Gallagher, and American Ground Radio partnerships in New York, D.C., and the Salem Podcast Network — has been acquired by Waterstone in a deal CEO David Santrella says will accelerate the company's faith-forward mission for years to come. Our American Mama Teri Netterville joins us to talk about country singer Eric Church's commencement speech at North Carolina — which she calls the single greatest commencement speech she has ever heard. Using the six strings of a guitar as his framework, Church walked graduates through faith as the foundational low E string, family as the A string, their life partner as the D string at the heart of the instrument, ambition and resilience on the G string, community on the B string — where he urged graduates to put down roots, volunteer, and build the thing their community needs even if the internet never sees it — and individual greatness on the high E string, the thinnest string most easily bent by outside pressure. We walk through every string and explain why this speech deserves to be heard by every graduating class in America. We dig deep into a new Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth report called From Learning Recession to Learning Recovery — which identifies a nationwide decline in student achievement in math and reading that began in 2013 and was just as severe before the pandemic as during it. The researchers blame social media. We disagree. We connect the timeline directly to Common Core — the untested, nationally imposed educational standards pushed by the Gates Foundation and adopted by 46 states by 2013 — that confused children, baffled parents who could no longer help with math homework, and produced exactly the results you'd expect from conducting a nationwide experiment on children with no prior testing. And we note that Louisiana — which abandoned Common Core's methodology and adopted the Science of Reading — now leads the nation in educational improvement. We also cover the DOJ's settlement with PayPal over their $530 million Economic Opportunity Fund — a 2020 program that tied eligibility explicitly to race and national origin in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. We make the case that you cannot achieve fairness by creating an unfair system, and that civil rights laws were designed to stop discrimination — not rebrand it. We also dig into Senator Tommy Tuberville's proposal to establish English as the official language of American schools — and make the case that a shared language is not about race, it's about unity, assimilation, and the Tower of Babel. For our Bright Spot, a Marine veteran with a concealed carry permit in Massachusetts was already going car to car helping people escape and exchanging fire with an active shooter on Memorial Drive in Cambridge before police arrived. The shooter — who had previously been given half the recommended prison sentence for shooting at cops in 2020 — was stopped before anyone was killed. Nobody's covering this story. We are. We also note that Rudy Giuliani has recovered from pneumonia, left the hospital after being on a ventilator and in the ICU, and remind listeners that God is not finished with us until He says so. And we close with Logan, Cody, and Brody — three high schoolers in Cooper City, Florida who pulled over to help a man they thought had a flat tire and discovered he was having a heart attack. They called 911. Emergency crews arrived. Diego survived. His son said, God didn't send angels with wings. He sent those boys. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the show today we discuss..Rob - New Thunderball Underwater Breather (Upcoming unboxing).Pete - Notices someone in the Spa has the same James Bond Flip Flops.NEWSCharlie Higson interviews Kim Sherwood about her new Bond novel, Hurricane  Room, at Waterstones, Piccadilly on Wed 20th May. LISTENER MAILWith thanks to Alex LamasFor listener mail : therewillbebond@gmail.comEpisode #128S2. EP#027SUPPORT THE SHOWThis show is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wilde & Harte⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Razors.Use TAILORS20 for a discount at W&H. https://wildeandharte.co.uk/You can tip the show with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me A Coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/therewillbebondYou can sign up to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more Bond magic. https://fromtailorswithlove.co.uk/newsletterYou can buy a ⁠London Bond Map⁠ to get a shout out. https://londonbondmap.co.uk/shop

The Guilty Feminist 478. Endometriosis Presented by Deborah Frances-White, guest co-host Heidi Regan and special guests Sanju Pal, Tulip Siddiq MP and Dr Rebecca Mallik Recorded 31 March 2026 at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. Released 13 April. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Heidi Regan https://www.instagram.com/heidi_regan https://linktr.ee/heidiregan More about Sanju Pal and Endometriosis https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/accenture-disability-discrimination-endometriosis https://www.kilgannonlaw.co.uk/ms-sanju-pal-succeeds-in-appeal-against-accenture https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/761186 https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/sites/default/files/2025-01/Menstral%20Health%20at%20Work%20-%20Endometriosis%20%20at%20Work_0.pdf https://www.instagram.com/sanjuthinks https://www.theendometriosisfoundation.org For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show Waterstone's Book Club. Bimbo by Ashley James. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-ashley-james/london-piccadilly Road to Gilead at the Museum of Comedy - Save the NHS from Palantir. https://www.museumofcomedy.com/the-guilty-feminist/ Guilty Feminist x The Nerve - The Epstein Files with Carole Cadwalladr https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/guilty-feminist-x-the-nerve-road-to-gilead/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Guilty Feminist 477. Ten for Ten #9 Presented by Deborah Frances-White with special guest Athena Kugblenu Recorded 26 March 2026 in London. Released 6 April. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White - https://deborahfrances-white.com - https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz - https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 - https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Athena Kugblenu - https://www.instagram.com/athenakugblenu - https://athenakugblenu.co.uk For more information about this and other episodes… - visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com - tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod - like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist - check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist - or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show - Welsh Election Special with Carol Vorderman. https://www.cardifftheater.co.uk/venues/new-theatre-cardiff - Waterstone's Book Club. Bimbo by Ashley James. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-ashley-james/london-piccadilly - Road to Gilead at the Museum of Comedy. https://www.museumofcomedy.com/the-guilty-feminist/ - Guilty Feminist x The Nerve. https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/guilty-feminist-x-the-nerve-road-to-gilead/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Guilty Feminist 476. Ten for Ten #8 Presented by Deborah Frances-White with special guest Celia Pacqola Recorded 17 March 2026 via Riverside. Released 30 March. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Celia Pacquola https://www.instagram.com/celia_pacquola https://www.threads.com/@celia_pacquola For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show Endometriosis Special. 31 March Bloomsbury Theatre. https://www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/03/guilty-feminist-live Welsh Election Special with Carol Vorderman. https://www.cardifftheater.co.uk/venues/new-theatre-cardiff Waterstone's Book Club. Bimbo by Ashley James. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-ashley-james/london-piccadilly Road to Gilead at the Museum of Comedy. https://www.museumofcomedy.com/the-guilty-feminist/ Guilty Feminist x The Nerve. https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/guilty-feminist-x-the-nerve-road-to-gilead/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing: Bookish Moments: books that grow as we read and book festival serendipity Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: partaking in bookish traditions Before We Go: our new segment featuring bookish friend posts and a sleeper hit brought by Meredith Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site). . . .   1:31 - Bookish Moments of the Week 2:46 - Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan 5:40 - All Systems Red by Martha Wells 5:49 - Sandwich by Catherine Newman 5:50 - Wreck by Catherine Newman 7:02 - Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb 7:03 - Honey Bee Mine by Sarah T. Dubb 8:02 - Current Reads 8:34 - The Inn at Penglas Cove by Lauren Westwood (Meredith) 13:08 - The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa (Kaytee) 17:37 - The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton 18:04 - Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McCallister 18:34 - The Extra by Annie Neugebauer (Meredith) 19:05 - Book Talk, Etc 20:08 - Talking Scared Podcast w/ Annie Neugebauer 23:50 - Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara (Kaytee) 24:01 - CR Season 7: Episode 16 29:10 - @wguidara on Instagram 29:34 - The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery (Meredith) 31:35 - An Unlikely Story 33:24 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett 34:27 - How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin 35:36 - The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow 36:18 - Waterstones 39:15 - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 39:24 - The Ten Thousand Doors Of January by Alix E. Harrow 40:24 - Deep Dive: Our Reading Traditions 45:27 - The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 45:29 - Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh 45:32 - Beauty by Robin McKinley 48:47 - BookPage 49:23 - Before We Go Kaytee highlights a bookish friend post 49:37 - The Better Mother by Jennifer van der Kleut Meredith brings a sleeper hit 51:09 - The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker   Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March's IPL is brought by our lovely friends at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA. Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads | Substack | Youtube The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

The Guilty Feminist 475. We Back Zack Presented by Deborah Frances-White with special guests Juno Dawson, Athena Kugblenu, Singing Resistance London, Lizzy Hardingham, Sarah Shaw and Zack Polanski Recorded 5 March 2026 at the Union Chapel in London. Released 23 March. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Zack Polanski and the Green Party https://www.instagram.com/greenpartyzack https://greenparty.org.uk/about/people More about our guests https://www.instagram.com/junodawson https://www.instagram.com/athenakugblenu https://www.msichoices.org/guiltyfeminist https://www.instagram.com/lizzyhardingham https://www.instagram.com/singingresistancelondon For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show Endometriosis Special. 31 March Bloomsbury Theatre. https://www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/03/guilty-feminist-live Welsh Election Special with Carol Vorderman. https://www.cardifftheater.co.uk/venues/new-theatre-cardiff Waterstone's Book Club. Bimbo by Ashley James. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-ashley-james/london-piccadilly Road to Gilead at the Museum of Comedy. https://www.museumofcomedy.com/the-guilty-feminist/ Guilty Feminist x The Nerve. https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/guilty-feminist-x-the-nerve-road-to-gilead/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Guilty Feminist 475. We Back Zack Presented by Deborah Frances-White with special guests Juno Dawson, Athena Kugblenu, Singing Resistance London, Lizzy Hardingham, Sarah Shaw and Zack Polanski Recorded 5 March 2026 at the Union Chapel in London. Released 23 March. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Zack Polanski and the Green Party https://www.instagram.com/greenpartyzack https://greenparty.org.uk/about/people More about our guests https://www.instagram.com/junodawson https://www.instagram.com/athenakugblenu https://www.msichoices.org/guiltyfeminist https://www.instagram.com/lizzyhardingham https://www.instagram.com/singingresistancelondon For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show Endometriosis Special. 31 March Bloomsbury Theatre. https://www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/03/guilty-feminist-live Welsh Election Special with Carol Vorderman. https://www.cardifftheater.co.uk/venues/new-theatre-cardiff Waterstone's Book Club. Bimbo by Ashley James. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-ashley-james/london-piccadilly Road to Gilead at the Museum of Comedy. https://www.museumofcomedy.com/the-guilty-feminist/ Guilty Feminist x The Nerve. https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/guilty-feminist-x-the-nerve-road-to-gilead/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Guilty Feminist 474. Waterstone's Book Club Presented by Deborah Frances-White with special guests Max Olesker and Jess Robinson Recorded 23 February 2026 at Waterstone's Piccadilly. Released 16 March. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Max Olesker https://www.instagram.com/maxolesker https://lnk.to/MakingTheCut https://maxolesker.com More about Jess Robinson https://www.instagram.com/jessrobinsonofficial https://jessrobinson.lnk.to/lifeisrosibook https://www.jessrobinson.co.uk For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT More Big Speeches workshops now available https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ Come to a live show Endometriosis Special. 31 March Bloomsbury Theatre. https://www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/03/guilty-feminist-live Road to Gilead at the Museum of Comedy. https://www.museumofcomedy.com/the-guilty-feminist/ Guilty Feminist x The Nerve. https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/guilty-feminist-x-the-nerve-road-to-gilead/ Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Guilty Feminist 471. The History of Queerphobia Presented by Deborah Frances-White and Abigoliah Schamaun with special guest Dr Harry Tanner Recorded 13 February 2026 at the Museum of Comedy in London. Released 23 February 2026. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Abigoliah Schamaun https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah https://abigoliah.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp1GBgUIMG4 https://linktr.ee/ndm_book https://podfollow.com/all-british-comedy-explained More about Dr Harry Tanner https://www.instagram.com https://harryjamestanner.com For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT Come to a live show Waterstone's Book Club, 23 February. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-jess-robinson-and-max-olesker/london-piccadilly Zack Polanski and Juno Dawson at The Union Chapel, 5 March. https://www.gigantic.com/the-guilty-feminist-tickets/london-union-chapel/2026-03-05-18-30 31 March Bloomsbury Theatre. https://www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/03/guilty-feminist-live Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Guilty Feminist 471. The History of Queerphobia Presented by Deborah Frances-White and Abigoliah Schamaun with special guest Dr Harry Tanner Recorded 13 February 2026 at the Museum of Comedy in London. Released 23 February 2026. The Guilty Feminist theme composed by Mark Hodge. Get Deborah's new book with 30% off using the code SIXCONVERSATIONSPOD https://store.virago.co.uk/products/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have More about Deborah Frances-White https://deborahfrances-white.com https://www.instagram.com/dfdubz https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/six-conversations-were-scared-to-have/9780349015811 https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/deborah-frances-white/the-guilty-feminist/9780349010120 More about Abigoliah Schamaun https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah https://abigoliah.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp1GBgUIMG4 https://linktr.ee/ndm_book https://podfollow.com/all-british-comedy-explained More about Dr Harry Tanner https://www.instagram.com https://harryjamestanner.com For more information about this and other episodes… visit https://www.guiltyfeminist.com tweet us https://www.twitter.com/guiltfempod like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiltyfeminist check out our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theguiltyfeminist or join our mailing list http://www.eepurl.com/bRfSPT Come to a live show Waterstone's Book Club, 23 February. https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-guilty-feminist-x-waterstones-book-club-jess-robinson-and-max-olesker/london-piccadilly Zack Polanski and Juno Dawson at The Union Chapel, 5 March. https://www.gigantic.com/the-guilty-feminist-tickets/london-union-chapel/2026-03-05-18-30 31 March Bloomsbury Theatre. https://www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/03/guilty-feminist-live Thank you to our amazing Patreon supporters. To support the podcast yourself, go to https://www.patreon.com/guiltyfeminist You can also get an ad-free version of the podcast via Apple Podcasts. The Guilty Feminist is part of the AudioPlus Network. If you'd like to work with us, please get in touch at hello@weareaudioplus.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices