Blackwell Online Podcasts

In the latest Blackwell Classics podcast special, we welcome Richard Buxton, Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of Bristol, to talk about his book 'Forms of Astonishment'. The book is an illustrated study of a number of Greek myths about the metamorphosis of humans and gods. Buxton explores how these transformations were present through a wide variety of contexts and asks whether the Greeks really took these tales seriously.

In this special Blackwell Classics programme, we are joined by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann, authors of the eagerly awaited new title, 'The Birth of Classical Europe'. The book presents a wide-ranging account of over 2,000 years of European history and reveals how we are the descendants of a 'classical Europe', using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures.

Daisy Hay joins us to talk about her debut book, 'Young Romantics', a group biography which describes the lives of a circle of second-generation Romantics including Byron, Keats and the Shelleys. In the book Hay dispels the myth of the romantic poet as a solitary, introspective genius, showing how the astonishingly young group drew inspiration from each other to produce their artistic triumphs.

David Aaronovitch is an author, journalist and broadcaster. His latest book, 'Voodoo Histories', focuses squarely on the modern obsession with the conspiracy theory, revealing why so many are willing to subscribe to them, and the dangers that this brings. From Kennedy's assassination and the moon landings, to Princess Diana's death and the 9/11 Truth Movement, Aaronovitch debunks with arguments born from meticulous research and logical reasoning.

James Shapiro is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, New York. A Shakespeare scholar, his latest book is 'Contested Will'; a fascinating search for the controversial reasons why many people, including such respected figures including Sigmund Freud, Mark Twain and Orson Welles, question whether the Bard really wrote his celebrated plays. In the book, Shapiro retraces a path strewn with fabricated documents, calls for trials, false claimants, concealed identity and bald-faced deception to irrevocably change the nature of the debate.

Alberto Manguel is a Argentine-born Canadian writer, translator, and editor. In his second appearance on our show, Manguel discusses his new book 'A Reader on Reading', in which he argues that the activity of reading, defines our species. Manguel explores the crafts of reading and writing, the identity granted to us by literature and the links between politics and books and between books and our bodies.

With his 2004 publication 'Voltaire in Exile', Ian Davidson looked specifically at the last 25 years of the French playwright, poet and philosopher's life following his exile at the hands of King Louis XV. Now, with 'Voltaire: A Life', Davidson presents an account of Voltaire's whole life, utilising the vast cache of written correspondence still in existence to paint a vivid portrait of the extraordinary man.

Helen Rappaport has specialised in nineteenth and twentieth-century history since the 1990s publishing several major reference works. Her latest book, 'Conspirator', focusses on Lenin, telling the story of his long and difficult years leading up to the Russian Revolution. Rappaport strips away the arid politics of Lenin's official life and reveals the real man in this fascinating biography.

Graham Robb is the author of the highly-praised 'The Discovery of France' as well as other titles on French literature and history. In his new book, 'Parisians', Robb presents a part history, part travel guide, yet also part memoir and part mystery, revealing the real Paris as seen through the eyes of the inhabitants themselves...

Claire Harman is an Oxfordshire-based writer and critic. In her latest major literary biography entitled 'Jane's Fame', Harman not only tells the captivating story of Jane Austen's life, and he rise to popularity, but also her literary legacy and more. The book is essential for anyone interested in Austen's life and work, as is this fascinating interview.

Tom Standage is business affairs editor at The Economist and an author of five history books. His latest, entitled 'An Edible History of Humanity', looks at the part that food has played in helping to shape and transform societies around the world through social transformation, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict and economic expansion.

Paul Davies is a physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist, and broadcaster. An author of numerous popular science titles, his latest book is 'The Eerie Silence'. In the book Davies tells the story of the search for extra terrestrial intelligence and asks, after 40 years of trying to no avail, whether we really are alone in the universe.

Paul Cartledge is Professor of Greek History at Cambridge, and a Fellow of Clare College. In his latest book 'Ancient Greece', Cartledge uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative themes in Ancient Greek history, from the first documented use of the Greek language and the glories of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the foundation of the Byzantine empire.

Christopher Kelly is a classicist and historian. In this special Blackwell podcast, Kelly discusses his book 'Attila the Hun' with our host George Miller, revealing that the story of Atilla and the huns is more complicated and interesting that the conventional stereotype of ruthless marauding barbarians.

Eric Kaufmann's book 'Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?' draws on demographic research and questions of multiculturalism, nationalism and terrorism to ask whether, in time, the population will be primarily religious. With indications suggesting that the more religious people are, the more children they are likely to have, what does this will mean for the future of western modernity?