Lisa and I chat with Nigel Beale all about beautiful books, libraries worth visiting, and his love of literary tourism.

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Show Notes
I chat with Nigel Beale and my co host Lisa Dalton all about beautiful books this week. We take a journey into Nigel’s literary critic role, his podcast interviews and how they intersect with his love of literary tourism. Nigel discusses how the very visual nature of a book can be therapeutic in and of itself and how he collects a wide variety of books and book related items, all chosen for their beauty.

Things mentioned in the podcast:

Shakespeare
Bruce Taylor
Martin Amis
JM Coetzee
Cultural Amnesia by  Clive James
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
The Novel Cure: An A to Z of Literary Remedies by Susan Elderkin and Ella Berthoud
Think and Grow Rich by Andrew Carnegie
Harry Ransom Center  in Austin, Texas
Houghton Library at Harvard
Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale
British Library
Book of Kells at Trinity College Dublin

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Show Notes
I get the chance to chat with Dave Player, founder of Team BRIT and KartForce, and Andy Tucker, one of Team BRIT’s racing drivers all about the motosport team and the role of disability.

Team BRIT is a competitive motor racing team consisting of disabled drivers. They are a competitive racing team, not a charity, and they race against teams of able-bodied drivers on a totally level playing field — something that no other sport can offer. They aim to make racing history and take a team to the world famous Le Mans 24hr endurance race, becoming the first ever British all-disabled team to do so.

We talk about how Team BRIT has pioneered accessible driving controls that suit all of their drivers and their varying levels of disability. We also chat about the role the team has played in helping many of their drivers to rediscover themselves after injuries, become better at managing their disabilities, and how many past members have gone on to achieve great things after being part of the Team BRIT family. We visit the current and past cars Team BRIT race in and have an exciting bit of news about their upcoming season.

This episode highlights Team BRIT’s vision to support, inspire and motivate people facing physical and psychological challenges by demonstrating what can be achieved through motorsport.

If you’d like more information about Dave, Andy, and Team BRIT, check out:
Team BRIT’s website
Team BRIT’s twitter

Photo by Polly Antonia Barrowman

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Show Notes
I chat to the lovely academic librarian Megan Rosenbloom this week all about her thoughts on therapeutic reading, death positivity, researching human skin books, and how Ulysses has stayed with her and should be read as part of a community.

There is so much in this episode, brilliant ideas about librarianship along with a hidden gem of an archive open to the public. Megan’s constant journey to read all the books that she can, and how being a medical librarian affected her way of looking at books. There is book history and book anecdotes galore in this glorious extra long episode!

I would also thoroughly recommed Megan’s fantastic book Dark Archives.
Megan’s photo for this episode by Polly Antonia Barrowman.

Authors, works, and places mentioned:
Authors
Ernest Becker

Works
Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin by Megan Rosenbloom
A Cat’s Tale: A Journey Through Feline History by Baba the Cat and Paul Koudounaris
The Dreamsongs by John Berryman
Ulysses by James Joyce

Places
The Rosenbach – museum in Philadelphia
The Huntingdon Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens – in LA

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A fascinating episode with the bookseller James Daunt. We talk all about bookshops, libraries, the therapeutic nature of books for both humans and other books on the shelf. James tells us about why libraries and bookshops are essential and the changing nature of books when you re-read them.

Works mentioned:
Moomins by Tove Jansson
Harry Potter  by J.K. Rowling
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Fyoder Dostoevsky
The Little Grey Men by Denys Watkins-Pitchford “BB”
Grief Is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

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Show Notes
Claudia Rubenstein Director of Jewish Book Week Literary Festival chats therapuetic reading & what to expect from this year’s online festival. We talk about Claudia’s love of historical non-fiction and her go to books for comfort.

Authors:
Cynthia Ozick
Jean Plaidy
Isaiah Berlin
Delphine Horvilleur
Jay Rayner
Hermione Lee
Nicole Krauss
Howard Jacobson
Edmund de Waal
Simon Schama
Simon Sebag Montefiori

Works:
The Magician of Lublin Isaac Bashevis Singer
A Little History of the World E. H. Gombrich
An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood Neal Garber
The Lion in Winter
Jews Don’t Count David Baddiel
A Place of Greater Safety Hilary Mantel

Panels:
Karl Marx: Philosophy and Revolution Shlomo Avineri, chair: John Gray
Why Do Jews Love The Godfather? Harlan Lebo and Rich Cohen
Modern Jewish Literature Howard Jacobson, Dara Horn, and Adam Kirsch
You Talkin’ To Me E J White
The Language of Thieves Martin Puchner
Signatures David Pryce-Jones
How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division Elif Shafak
Burning the Books Richard Ovenden
Mending the Mind Oliver Kamm
The Lives of Lucian Freud William Feaver
The House of Fragile Things James McAuley
Survivors Rob Rinder and Rebecca Clifford
The Pandemic, the NHS and Me: Michael Rosen and Rachel Clarke