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Read This

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Read This Podcast

Read This is a show about the books we love and the stories behind them, hosted by Michael Williams. Every Thursday, you’ll hear insightful conversations with the smartest, funniest readers and writers we know and in-depth interviews with the best Australian and international authors talking about their lives and their work. You’ll never be left wondering what to read next.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Literary Giant Rodney Hall Wishes He Was Taller

    Rodney Hall might be the greatest Australian writer you’ve never heard of. He is a two-time Miles Franklin Award winner and has published dozens of books of fiction, poetry and memoir across his long career. Now 88, Rodney has just released his 14th novel titled Vortex and it might be his best. This week, Michael sits down with Rodney to discuss his new book and why writing is always a collaborative process between author and reader. Reading list: The Ship on the Coin: A Fable of the Bourgeoisie, Rodney Hall, 1972 Just Relations, Rodney Hall, 1982 Kisses of the Enemy, Rodney Hall, 1987 Captivity Captive, Rodney Hall, 1988 The Second Bridegroom, Rodney Hall, 1991 The Grisly Wife, Rodney Hall, 1993 The Island in the Mind, Rodney Hall, 1996 The Day We Had Hitler Home, Rodney Hall, 2000 The Last Love Story, Rodney Hall, 2004 Love Without Hope, Rodney Hall, 2007 Popeye Never Told You, Rodney Hall, 2010 A Stolen Season, Rodney Hall, 2018 Vortex, Rodney Hall, 2024 I Claudius, Robert Graves, 1934 Claudius the God, Robert Graves, 1935 The White Goddess, Robert Graves, 1948 An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis, 1961 The New Science, Giambattista Vico, 1725 Death at the Sign of the Rook, Kate Atkinson, 2024 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Rodney Hall

    31 min

  2. 21 AUG

    It’s Not Roxane Gay’s Job to Make People Happy

    Roxane Gay is a prominent American author, professor, and cultural critic known for her unflinching honesty, quick wit, and razor-sharp intellect. She has gained acclaim for her essays, fiction, and memoirs that explore identity, gender, race, and body image. This week, Roxane joins Michael for a conversation about what it means to be a public intellectual and how this has shifted throughout her career. Reading list: Ayiti, Roxane Gay, 2011 An Untamed State, Roxane Gay, 2014 Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay, 2014 Difficult Women, Roxane Gay, 2017 Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, Roxane Gay, 2017 The Banks, Roxane Gay, 2019 Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business, Roxane Gay, 2023 Jazz, Toni Morrison, 1992 The Source of Self-Regard: Essays, Speeches, Meditations, Toni Morrison, 2019 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Roxane Gay appears at Carriageworks in Sydney, as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (24-25 August) and at Melbourne Town Hall (27 August), presented by the Wheeler Centre and Now or Never. For more information head to their websites. Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Roxane Gay

    32 min

  3. 14 AUG

    The Multiple Belongings of Elif Shafak

    Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. She is a self-described “citizen of the world” and has become a notable public intellectual and human rights activist. Elif's latest novel, There are Rivers in the Sky, stretches across millenia, following a single drop of water. This week, Michael chats with Elif about her new book and why she is not just a storyteller but a silence teller, too. Reading list: The Bastard of Istanbul, Elif Shafak, 2006 The Forty Rules of Love, Elif Shafak, 2009 Honour, Elif Shafak, 2011 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In this Strange World, Elif Shafak, 2019 The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak, 2021 There are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak, 2024 Orlando: A Biography, Virginia Woolf, 1928 When Cops Are Criminals, Veronica Gorrie, 2024 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Elif Shafak

    32 min

  4. 7 AUG

    Eric Beecher Is a Media Mongrel

    Eric Beecher is a news man. As a journalist, he’s worked for some of the most well-respected newspapers in the world, including the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wall Street Journal. As his career progressed, Eric climbed the media ladder: he’s currently the head of Private Media, which runs the website, Crikey. This week, Michael sits down with Eric to discuss his new book, The Men Who Killed the News. Reading list: The Men Who Killed the News, Eric Beecher, 2024 Woo Woo, Ella Baxter, 2024 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Eric Beecher

    31 min

  5. 2 AUG

    Alexis Wright Is the 2024 Miles Franklin Winner

    Alexis Wright’s 2023 novel Praiseworthy has just been awarded the Miles Franklin Award. It also won the Stella Prize and has been described as “an astonishing feat of storytelling and sovereign imagination.” In this special episode, Alexis joins Michael for a conversation about Praiseworthy and reveals why she decided very early on in her literary career that she wasn't going to be trapped in anyone’s box. Reading list: Carpentaria, Alexis Wright, 2006 The Swan Book, Alexis Wright, 2013 Tracker, Alexis Wright 2017 Praiseworthy, Alexis Wright, 2023 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Alexis Wright

    31 min

  6. 31 JULY

    Evie Wyld Is Having More Fun Than You Think

    Evie Wyld writes dark and often trauma-informed books, but she also has a remarkable capacity to capture the tenderness of memory. Her novels have been a critical and commercial success, with her second, All The Birds Singing, winning the Miles Franklin and her third, The Bass Rock, taking home the 2021 Stella Prize. This week, Michael sits down with Evie for a conversation about her latest book The Echoes, which explores how we tell stories around, and into the absences that define us. Reading list: After the Fire, A Still Small Voice, Evie Wyld, 2009 All The Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld, 2013 The Bass Rock, Evie Wyld, 2020 The Echoes, Evie Wyld, 2024 Only Sound Remains, Hossein Asgari, 2023 Wall, Jen Craig, 2023  Anam, Andre Dao, 2023 The Bell of the World, Gregory Day, 2023 Hospital, Sanya Rushdi, 2023 Praiseworthy, Alexis Wright, 2023 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Evie Wyld

    32 min

  7. 24 JULY

    Michael Robotham and His Cabana of Cruelty

    Michael Robotham began his career as a ghost writer, working on more than a dozen bestselling books for people like Tony Bullimore and Geri Halliwell, before he published a novel under his own name. Twenty years later, he has just released his 18th book, a new crime novel titled Storm Child. This week, the two Michaels sit down together for a conversation about crime writing, truth wizards and what’s next. Reading list: The Suspect, Michael Robotham, 2004 Life or Death, Michael Robotham, 2014 Good Girl, Bad Girl, Michael Robotham, 2019 When She Was Good, Michael Robotham, 2020 Storm Child, Michael Robotham, 2024 Stalking the Feature Story, William Ruehlmann, 1977 For Life, Ailsa Piper, 2024 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Michael Robotham

    28 min

  8. 17 JULY

    Dylin Hardcastle Has Found Their Own Voice

    Dylin Hardcastle has been publishing their writing since they were 21, having now completed a memoir, a book of YA fiction and two novels. In their latest work, Dylin takes the reader back to 1972, and across three decades, explores the parallel lives of two women, shaped by their contrasting experiences of desire. This week, Michael sits down with Dylin Hardcastle for a wide-ranging conversation about this new novel, A Language of Limbs. Reading list: A Language of Limbs, Dylin Hardcastle, 2024 Below Deck, Sophie Hardcastle, 2020 Breathing Underwater, Sophie Hardcastle, 2016 Running Like China, Sophie Hardcastle, 2015 In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado, 2019 Voice of the Fish: A Lyric Essay, Lars Horn, 2022 The List, Yomi Adegoke, 2023 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store.  Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Dylin Hardcastle

    31 min
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Read This is a show about the books we love and the stories behind them, hosted by Michael Williams. Every Thursday, you’ll hear insightful conversations with the smartest, funniest readers and writers we know and in-depth interviews with the best Australian and international authors talking about their lives and their work. You’ll never be left wondering what to read next.

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