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Close Readings

London Review of Books

Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books. Two contributors explore areas of literature through a selection of key works, providing an introductory grounding like no other. Listen to some episodes for free here, and extracts from our ongoing subscriber-only series.

How To Subscribe

In Apple Podcasts, click 'subscribe' at the top of this podcast feed to unlock the full episodes.

Or for other podcast apps, sign up here: https://lrb.me/closereadings

RUNNING IN 2026

'Who's afraid of realism?' with James Wood and guests

'Nature in Crisis' with Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith

'Narrative Poems' with Seamus Perry and Mark Ford

'London Revisited' with Rosemary Hill and guests

Bonus Series: 'The Man Behind the Curtain' with Tom McCarthy and Thomas Jones

ALSO INCLUDED IN THE CLOSE READINGS SUBSCRIPTION:

'Conversations in Phi

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Episodes

229 episodes

  1. Narrative Poems: ‘Enoch Arden’ by Alfred Tennyson 19:51
  2. The Man Behind the Curtain: ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce 52:04
  3. Nature in Crisis: ‘Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism’ by Thea Riofrancos 23:52
  4. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Shyness and Dignity’ by Dag Solstad 24:18
  5. London Revisited: The Monster 26:10
  6. Narrative Poems: ‘Amours de Voyage’ by Arthur Hugh Clough 13:55
  7. Nature in Crisis: ‘The Rise of Ecofascism: Climate Change and the Far Right’ by Alex Roberts and Sam Moore 15:38
  8. Who’s afraid of realism?: ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark 21:54
  9. London Revisited: Coffee, Satire and Bubbles 24:20
  10. Narrative Poems: ‘Childe Roland’ and ‘The Pied Piper’ by Robert Browning 18:01
  11. Nature in Crisis: ‘Lessons for Survival’ by Emily Raboteau 12:06
  12. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Pnin’ by Vladimir Nabokov 23:43
  13. London Revisited: Pepys, Plague and Fire 25:00
  14. Narrative Poems: ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ by John Keats 16:53
  15. The Man Behind the Curtain: ‘Middlemarch’ by George Eliot 35:43
  16. Nature in Crisis: ‘Impasse’ by Roy Scranton 15:37
  17. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Seize the Day’ by Saul Bellow 16:34
  18. London Revisited: The Road to Civil War 26:53
  19. Narrative Poems: ‘The Ruined Cottage’ and ‘Michael’ by William Wordsworth 16:56
  20. Nature in Crisis: ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer 15:19
  21. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Voyage in the Dark’ by Jean Rhys 20:06
  22. London Revisited: Shakespeare’s City 17:05
  23. Narrative Poems: ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 14:27
  24. Nature in Crisis: ‘Is a River Alive?’ by Robert Macfarlane 14:54
  25. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf 21:10
  26. London Revisited: The Protestant Capital 21:55
  27. What do you think of Close Readings? 0:27
  28. Narrative Poems: ‘Tam o’ Shanter’ by Robert Burns and ‘Peter Grimes’ by George Crabbe 21:36
  29. Nature in Crisis: 'Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth' by James Lovelock 28:44
  30. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ by Leo Tolstoy 23:23
  31. The Man Behind the Curtain: ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley 35:14
  32. London Revisited: Plague, Rebellion and Guilds 27:44
  33. Narrative Poems: ‘The Rape of the Lock’ by Alexander Pope 15:07
  34. Nature in Crisis: ‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith 12:54
  35. Who’s afraid of realism? Three stories by Anton Chekhov 23:50
  36. London Revisited: The Medieval Capital 24:29
  37. Narrative Poems: ‘Paradise Lost’ (Book 9) by John Milton 22:00
  38. Nature in Crisis: ‘Blue Machine’ by Helen Czerski 15:11
  39. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Notes from Underground’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky 20:17
  40. London Revisited: Mosaics, Archers and a Walled Garden 18:43
  41. Narrative Poems: 'Venus and Adonis' and 'The Rape of Lucrece' by William Shakespeare 19:10
  42. Nature in Crisis: ‘The Light Eaters’ by Zoë Schlanger 15:38
  43. Who’s afraid of realism? ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert (part two) 10:27
  44. London Revisited: Roman Beginnings 22:41
  45. Narrative Poems: 'Hero and Leander' by Christopher Marlowe 16:49
  46. Nature in Crisis: ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson 15:36
  47. Who's afraid of realism? 'Madame Bovary' by Gustave Flaubert (part one) 21:10
  48. The Man Behind the Curtain: ‘Don Quixote’ by Miguel de Cervantes 1:04:10
  49. Novel Approaches: ‘New Grub Street’ by George Gissing 17:23
  50. Novel Approaches: ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens 34:09