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The LRB Podcast brings you weekly conversations from Europe’s leading magazine of culture and ideas, hosted by Thomas Jones and Malin Hay, and featuring our fortnightly 'On Politics' podcast hosted by James Butler. From the LRB Subscribe to the LRB: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/subslrbpod Close Readings podcast: ⁠https://lrb.me/crlrbpod⁠ LRB Audiobooks: ⁠https://lrb.me/audiobookslrbpod⁠ Bags, binders and more... more

PublishesTwice weeklyEpisodes487Founded15 years ago
Number of ListenersCategory
Society & Culture

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Artwork for The LRB Podcast

Latest Episodes

According to their boosters, prediction markets such as Polymarket or Kalshi are ‘global truth machines’; their detractors say they’re just a glorified form of gambling. Either way, they’re zero-sum games with, as Geoff Mann put it recently in the LR... more

Tom McCarthy, writing in the LRB, described James Joyce's Ulysses as a ‘heavy book, a book full of weight, a fallen book’; a ‘properly obscene book’; ‘a book in which the central stake is the coming into being of the book itself’; a book for which ‘p... more

Perry Anderson once wrote that in Fredric Jameson’s account of postmodernism, ‘the vocation of Western Marxism has reached its most complete consummation.’ Praising the ‘spacious rhythms’ of his ‘complex, yet supple syntax’ and ‘sudden bursts of meta... more

For decades after the Roman legions left Britain in the early fifth century, people expected them sooner or later to return. ‘During this bizarre interregnum,’ Pablo Scheffer wrote recently in the LRB, ‘a veneer of romanitas was everywhere.’ But unli... more

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Recent Guests

Tom McCarthy
Novelist and artist who writes about literature for the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
Episode: Ulysses: James Joyce's properly obscene book
Toril Moi
Literary critic and scholar, and former colleague of Fredric Jameson at Duke University
Duke University
Episode: How Fredric Jameson became Fredric Jameson
Pablo Scheffer
Oxford researcher on environmental change and Icelandic sagas; consultant editor at the Times Literary Supplement
Oxford University, Times Literary Supplement
Episode: Who were the English?
Lea Ypi
Ralph Miliband Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
Episode: On Politics: What is political writing?
Naomi Klein
Author and activist, co-author of end times fascism concept
Author/Activist
Episode: Fascism in a time of AI
Astra Taylor
Writer, activist, documentary filmmaker, author of Democracy May Not Exist
Debt Collective
Episode: Fascism in a time of AI
David Trotter
Emeritus professor of English literature at Cambridge; author of essays on history of the microphone
Cambridge University
Episode: An Alternative History of the Microphone
Will Davies
Writer for The LRB, exile from the collapsing university system, contributing editor
The LRB
Episode: On Politics: What happened to the intellectual?
Colin Burrow
Senior research fellow at All Souls College Oxford; contributor discussing Vendler and literary criticism
All Souls College, Oxford
Episode: What’s the point of literary criticism?

Hosts

Thomas Jones
Host of The LRB Podcast
Malin Hay
Co-host of The LRB Podcast (mentioned in podcast description)
James Butler
Host of On Politics in the studio

Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars from 1.3k ratings
  • Ok

    …

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    melodie-c
    United States21 days ago
  • We don’t all live in Britain, James

    I absolutely love the politics podcast from the LRB, and find it enormously informative and interesting. I particularly enjoyed the episode on the US at 250. But, James, while the relationship between the US and the UK is important and interesting for all of us, it’s somewhat annoying for your many listeners outside the UK for you to introduce the podcast speaking about ‘we’ in relation to the UK. Why not say, for those of us in Britain… instead of assuming that all your listeners are British. I... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Steph in South Africa
    South Africa3 months ago
  • navel gazing

    what was an outward looking, cosmopolitan podcast is increasingly just Brits navel gazing.

    Apple Podcasts
    2
    amcqu
    Australia4 months ago
  • This is really great thank you.

    Podcast Addict
    4
    Eoin O'Mahony
    6 months ago
  • Its excellent. Just listen.

    .

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    TormodOtterJohansen
    Sweden6 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Audience appreciates cross-disciplinary guests and international perspectives, though some episodes skew UK-centric.
Guests are typically highly intelligent and bring depth to political and literary discussion.
Some listeners fault pacing or voice/hosting style in certain episodes, preferring tighter edits or different hosts.
The show is praised for thoughtful, well-contextualized conversations and rigorous analysis.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#74
United Kingdom/Society & Culture
Apple Podcasts
#237
Canada/Society & Culture
Apple Podcasts
#225
Australia/Society & Culture
Apple Podcasts
#59
Ireland/Society & Culture
Apple Podcasts
#86
Spain/Society & Culture
Apple Podcasts
#89
Finland/Society & Culture

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

How Fredric Jameson became Fredric Jameson
Q: How should readers and critics now follow Jameson?
Moi recommends learning from Jameson's independence of mind: read widely, do the hard intellectual work, learn from important thinkers and pursue questions that feel meaningful rather than following current fashions or imitating him.
How Fredric Jameson became Fredric Jameson
Q: Why is Sartre so important to Jameson?
Moi says Sartre was a leading left-wing intellectual who combined literature and philosophy, making him an ideal subject for Jameson's broad interests. Jameson's study also demonstrates his ambitious close-reading method and capacity to connect textual details to larger ideas.
Ulysses: James Joyce's properly obscene book
Q: How does Ulysses manage to contain the many associations and details of life?
McCarthy argues that the novel makes a banal day meaningful through its enormous architecture of associations. The book's scale and meaning emerge through active reading, rather than through a conventional, uplifting plot.
Ulysses: James Joyce's properly obscene book
Q: Does the novel by its title and some elements of its structure make the claim that Bloom is Odysseus?
McCarthy says Joyce creates complex, ironic correspondences between Bloom's ordinary life and the epic, including structural parallels, small details, figures of speech and actions. Bloom does not think of himself as Odysseus, and the parallels often work through comic bathos.
Fascism in a time of AI
Q: What role do local movements play in addressing these global risks?
Local organizing matters because it builds belonging and collective power, which counteracts the appeal of scapegoating and exitist politics. Yet the book also emphasizes the need for international norms and laws to rein in powerful tech actors and wealthy elites, creating a layered anti-fascist strategy.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
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Frequently Asked Questions About The LRB Podcast

What is The LRB Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The show offers in-depth conversations that blend politics, culture, and literary analysis through a transatlantic lens. Across episodes, listeners encounter rigorous debates on democracy, policy, and power, alongside close readings of poetry, classical literature, and historical events. The format often pairs prominent scholars, journalists, and policy thinkers with writers who bring historical context and intellectual depth to current affairs. A standout feature is the close-reading approach to literature and history, which sits alongside sharp political economy discussions and cross-continental comparisons. This mix makes it particularly valuable for audiences who want thoughtful, academically informed perspectives on politics, culture, ... more

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Which podcasts are similar to The LRB Podcast?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The LRB Podcast:

1. Close Readings
2. London Review Bookshop Podcast
3. Past Present Future
4. The TLS Podcast
5. Ones and Tooze

How many episodes of The LRB Podcast are there?

The LRB Podcast launched 15 years ago and published 487 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on The LRB Podcast?

Recent guests on The LRB Podcast include:

1. Tom McCarthy
2. Toril Moi
3. Pablo Scheffer
4. Lea Ypi
5. Naomi Klein
6. Astra Taylor
7. David Trotter
8. Will Davies

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