Read On - The Audiobook Show from RNIB
RNIB Connect Radio
A weekly show all about audiobooks recorded at the RNIB Talking Book studios.
We talk to your favourite authors and narrators, along with reviews and news about new audiobooks.
Presented and produced by Robert Kirkwood, you'll find a new episode here every Friday at 1pm plus bonus content such as longer uncut interviews and episodes of our occasional extra show, The Book Group.
Talking Books is a free service from RNIB giving access to over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. Find out more by searching for RNIB Library.
Get involved and join the conversation by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk or find Robert on Twitter @Talking_Books
Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio
Connect - Our main channel with news, features and articles on sight loss.
Conversations - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.
Tech Talk - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Sport - See sport differently.
The Happy Hour - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.
Tracks of My Life - Take a journey through our guest's life.
Support - Other podcasts from RNIB.
TV Guide - Daily audio TV listings
We talk to your favourite authors and narrators, along with reviews and news about new audiobooks.
Presented and produced by Robert Kirkwood, you'll find a new episode here every Friday at 1pm plus bonus content such as longer uncut interviews and episodes of our occasional extra show, The Book Group.
Talking Books is a free service from RNIB giving access to over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. Find out more by searching for RNIB Library.
Get involved and join the conversation by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk or find Robert on Twitter @Talking_Books
Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio
Connect - Our main channel with news, features and articles on sight loss.
Conversations - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.
Tech Talk - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Sport - See sport differently.
The Happy Hour - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.
Tracks of My Life - Take a journey through our guest's life.
Support - Other podcasts from RNIB.
TV Guide - Daily audio TV listings
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 11, 2019 • 58min
140: Chigozie Obioma, Elif Shafak and Margaret Atwood
In our second Booker Prize special,
Elif Shafak discusses her sensual novel ’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’. (Starts at 1.52)
Chigoze Obioma reveals the real-life tragedy that inspired his novel ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’. (19.43)
Margaret Atwood unveils her sequel to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. (30.14)
And we return to Elif Shafak for the Books of her Life (50.10)
Oct 4, 2019 • 58min
139: Live at the Wigtown Book Festival (2019)
In a packed show Red Szell and Robert Kirkwood report from the Wigtown Book Festival with ...
Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson on his book, 'In My Life: A Musical Memoir' (Starts at 1.34)
Kerry Hudson on Lowborn (Down the Chipper) (7.00)
Shaun Bythell has some 'Confessions of a Bookseller' (13.41)
Sarah Jane Douglas treats illness and grief as 'Just Another Mountain' (21.08)
Chair of RNIB Scotland Sandra Wilson on sponsoring a Talking Book (25.03)
Music from, and chat with, The Bookshop Band (27.08)
We go 'Under the Wig' with William Clegg QC (36.00)
Richard Frazer describes his 'Travels with a Stick' (41.04)
Jon Day races pigeons and combines memoir, philosophy and culture in 'Homing' (44.49)
And we get the Books of Your Life from stand up classicist Natalie Haynes. (51.03)
Thanks to @MarkMcKie1 for the cover picture depicting fireworks over Wigtown.
Sep 27, 2019 • 58min
138: Bernardine Evaristo, Lucy Ellmann and Joanna MacGregor
We’re checking out some of the titles short-listed for this year’s Booker Prize. Bernardine Evaristo reflects on the vibrant lives of 12 black, British women in her novel ‘Girl Woman Other’ (Starts at 1.00)Joanna MacGregor tells us about the tsunami of books she had to read as a Booker judge. (26.39) Lucy Ellmann takes us into the strange world of her eight sentence novel ‘Ducks Newburyport’ (36.30)And we return to Bernardine Evaristo for the books of her life. (43.30)
Sep 20, 2019 • 58min
137: Mary Beard, Chris McQueer, Andy Stanton, Booker Shortlist and an audiobook party
A packed show this week with Red Szell out and about at a party and a picnic ...
A chat with Eve Smith from the Booker Foundation at the 2019 shortlist party.(Starts at 1.14)
Chris McQueer tells Robert Kirkwood how he started writing. (8.35)
Mary Beard on history books and contemporary politics. (17.25)
From RNIB Library, Lynne Livingston gives us some new book recommendations. (28.28)
We hear some familiar voices enjoying The Audiobook Workers Picnic. (34.25)
And Mr Gum author Andy Stanton shares the books of his life. (48.05)
Sep 16, 2019 • 9min
Chris McQueer - narrating short stories n' that.
As his books 'Hings' and 'HWFG' are released in audio, author Chris McQueer joins Robert Kirkwood in the RNIB Talking Book Studios to chat about writing, narrating and ending up in Twitter jail.
Sep 13, 2019 • 58min
136: Booker Prize Retrospective
As the 2019 shortlist is announced, Robert Kirkwood and Red Szell listen back to some past Booker winners2018 - Red reviews Milkman by Anna Burns (Starts at 1.20)2017 - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (4.38)2016 - The Sellout by Paul Beatty (15.42)2015 - A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (23.58)2014 -The Long Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (33.10)2013 - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (44.50)... all interviews recorded before the winner of that year was announced.
Sep 6, 2019 • 58min
135: Celia Anderson, Jackie Kay and Christopher Scott
Today we’re exploring life’s long and winding road ... Celia Anderson transports us to Cornwall for a stroll down to '59 Memory Lane'. (Starts at 1.10) Jackie Kay traces her roots along ‘The Red Dust Road’. (16.45) Christopher Scott reflects on his career as a Talking Book narrator, and how it changed his life. (28.00)And we return to Celia Anderson for the books of her life. (46.30)
Aug 30, 2019 • 58min
134: Patrice Lawrence, Peter Robinson and Kate London
This week we’re investigating crime fiction:Patrice Lawrence discusses her eagerly anticipated new novel ‘Rose Interrupted’. (Starts at 2.04)Peter Robinson opens the case file on his best-selling detective DCI Banks. (14.10)Former Met Police Officer Kate London tackles knife crime in ‘Gallowstree Lane’. (29.40)Red investigates the crime story that made him want to become a writer. (37.00)And we return to Patrice Lawrence for the books of her life. (45.05)
Aug 23, 2019 • 58min
133: Hope Through Adversity
Harriet Shawcross explores the awkwardness of silence in her book “Unspeakable”. (Starts at 1.00)
Carolina Setterwall reveals how writing helped her navigate bereavement. (21.08)
Zena Cooper takes an upbeat look at what you can see when you can’t see. (35.38)
And we return to Carolina Setterwall for the Books of her Life. (48.43)
Aug 16, 2019 • 58min
132: All at Sea
Today we’re manning the boats and taking to the sea. Historian David Gange takes us on a journey of discovery around ‘The Frayed Atlantic Edge’ of Britain and Ireland. (Starts at 1.14) Robert Kirkwood plunges into some books about The Titanic. (19.50) Adventurer Mick Dawson recounts the highs and lows he encountered when rowing The Pacific. (31.30) Coastal dweller Joanna Streetly discusses her ‘Wild Fierce Life’ beside, and in, the sea. (43.00)And we return to David Gange for the books of his life. (49.39)
