Secret Life of Books podcast

Secret Life of Books

Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides.The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking, occasionally hilarious weekly podcast starring Sophie Gee, an English professor at Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, formerly director of arts at the BBC. Every week these virtuoso critics and close friends take an iconic book and reveal the hidden story behind the story: who made it, their clandestine motives, the undeclared stakes, the scandalous backstory and above all the secret, mysterious meanings of books we thought we knew.-- To join the Secret Life of Books Club visit: www.secretlifeofbooks.org-- Please support us on Patreon to keep the lights on in the SLoB studio: https://patreon.com/SecretLifeofBooks528?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkinsta: https://www.instagram.com/secretlifeofbookspodcast/youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@secretlifeofbookspodcast/shorts Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides.The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking, occasionally hilarious weekly podcast starring Sophie Gee, an English professor at Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, formerly director of arts at the BBC. Every week these virtuoso critics and close friends take an iconic book and reveal the hidden story behind the story: who made it, their clandestine motives, the undeclared stakes, the scandalous backstory and above all the secret, mysterious meanings of books we thought we knew.-- To join the Secret Life of Books Club visit: www.secretlifeofbooks.org-- Please support us on Patreon to keep the lights on in the SLoB studio: https://patreon.com/SecretLifeofBooks528?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkinsta: https://www.instagram.com/secretlifeofbookspodcast/youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@secretlifeofbookspodcast/shorts Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

 

#99

Henry James 3: Turn of the Screw

Stephen King and Shirley Jackson agree that The Turn of the Screw is the GOAT of ghost-sto... more

02 Dec 2025

1 HR 13 MINS

1:13:43

02 Dec 2025


#98

Henry James 2: Colm Tóibín on Henry James

One of the world's favorite novelists, on his own favorite novelist. Colm Toibin has writt... more

25 Nov 2025

40 MINS

40:42

25 Nov 2025


#97

Henry James 1: The Portrait of a Lady

Many readers consider The Portrait of a Lady to be the greatest novel in English. But for ... more

18 Nov 2025

1 HR 27 MINS

1:27:45

18 Nov 2025


#96

Greece Lightnin': My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

SLoB is turning 1! To celebrate, Sophie and Jonty re-read one of their all time favorites,... more

11 Nov 2025

1 HR 02 MINS

1:02:47

11 Nov 2025


#95

American Horror 3: Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Salem’s Lot (1975) is Stephen King’s second published novel, and many would say it's his b... more

04 Nov 2025

1 HR 10 MINS

1:10:00

04 Nov 2025


#94

American Horror 2: Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Chocolate Mouse, anyone? Rosemary’s Baby was a smash hit on release - the best selling hor... more

28 Oct 2025

51 MINS

51:57

28 Oct 2025


#93

American Horror: The Haunting of Hill House

Who's afraid of American horror? Sophie and Jonty, for starters. To celebrate halloween, S... more

21 Oct 2025

1 HR 10 MINS

1:10:38

21 Oct 2025


#92

Montaigne pt2: A Montaigne out of a mole hill (with Rowan Tomlinson)

Jonty and Sophie were separated by an ocean while Sophie and her family went back to New Y... more

14 Oct 2025

48 MINS

48:32

14 Oct 2025


#91

Montaigne pt1: Climb Every Montaigne (with Stephen Greenblatt)

Sophie talks to one of the world's leading literary scholars, who co-founded a whole branc... more

14 Oct 2025

35 MINS

35:28

14 Oct 2025


#90

SLoB's Four (literary) weddings and a funeral

The label says what's in the tin: Secret Life of Books dives deep into weddings and funera... more

06 Oct 2025

59 MINS

59:38

06 Oct 2025


#89

Wilkie Collins 2: The Moonstone

With The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins published yet another giant sensation, this time pionee... more

30 Sep 2025

1 HR 11 MINS

1:11:54

30 Sep 2025


#88

BONUS: Jennifer Egan on the Woman in White

As part of our ongoing “That’s Classic!” series, we're joined by the wonderful Jennifer Eg... more

25 Sep 2025

37 MINS

37:37

25 Sep 2025


#87

Wilkie Collins 1: The Woman in White

The Woman in White was a sensation when it was serialised in Charles Dickens’ magazine All... more

23 Sep 2025

1 HR 19 MINS

1:19:36

23 Sep 2025


#86

SLOB Reads: The Sonnet with Paul Muldoon

For several weeks we've been recording a subscribers-only mini series on the history of th... more

18 Sep 2025

38 MINS

38:24

18 Sep 2025


#85

The Secret Life of Trains: how rail travel changed fiction - for ever

It was five o’clock on a winter’s morning in Syria. Alongside the platform at Aleppo stood... more

16 Sep 2025

1 HR 04 MINS

1:04:19

16 Sep 2025


#84

BONUS: Writing Virginia Woolf's life (with Hermione Lee)

In this final episode in SLoB's series on Virginia Woolf, Jonty talks to literary biograph... more

12 Sep 2025

43 MINS

43:40

12 Sep 2025


#83

Virginia Woolf 5: The Waves

We thought we’d be concluding our Virginia Woolf deep-dive with "A Room of One’s Own," but... more

09 Sep 2025

57 MINS

57:11

09 Sep 2025


#82

Virginia Woolf 4: A Room Of One's Own

Thank God, my long toil at the women’s lecture is this moment ended. I am back from speaki... more

01 Sep 2025

1 HR 09 MINS

1:09:41

01 Sep 2025


#81

Virginia Woolf 3: Orlando

Virginia Woolf wrote Orlando, a gender-defying historical romance, in 1927, when her intim... more

26 Aug 2025

1 HR 20 MINS

1:20:20

26 Aug 2025