Advertise on podcast: Behind the Bookshelves

The Yiddish Book Center was founded in 1980 by Aaron Lansky, a 24-year-old graduate student of Yiddish literature. He realized that many Yiddish books were being lost and he organized a campaign to save as many as possible. The Center, located in Amherst, Massachusetts, grew out of that campaign. Our guest is David Mazower, who is the Research Bibliographer and Editorial Director at the Yiddish Book Center. We learn about the books that arrive in boxes each day and how they are made available to readers of Yiddish.

We're talking about a new exhibition at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, which celebrates touching, tasting, seeing, smelling and hearing books. It looks at the sensory appeal of reading physical books from flip-books to pop-ups and even a book made from processed cheese slices. They even bottled the smell of books. Our guest is Kate Rudy, Professor of Art History at the University of St Andrews, who is one of the co-curators of this exhibition

We speak to retired bookseller Marius Kociejowski about his new book, A Factotum in the Book Trade. Marius began life in rural Ontario in Canada but moved to London where he embarked a long career in antiquarian bookselling with several notable firms. His book is a series of essays on the colleagues, collectors, literary figures and books that shaped his life from the 1970s onwards.

We are talking about collecting books and art associated with JRR Tolkien, the author who gave us The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Our guest is Mark Faith, who runs Festival Art and Books, a bookselling firm located near Machynlleth in Wales that has specialized in rare Tolkien books and fantasy art since 2001. From the impact of American paperback editions to the influence of Peter Jackson's movies, Mark reveals how demand for Tolkien's work has evolved over the decades.

Last November, Emma Littler could only look on in shock as her employer's warehouse filled with 400,000 books burned to the ground. The fire was devastating for Berwyn Books, located in Wales. But a new bookselling business, called the Berwyn Bookshop, is rising from the ashes. Emma and her husband Adam reveal how support from their local community helped to launch this new bookselling venture.

We are talking to journalist Oliver Milman about his new book, The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run the World. Oliver, who is the environment correspondent on The Guardian newspaper, addresses the shocking decline in the number of insects in the world. He outlines the overall importance of insects from the pollination of plants to their vital role in the food chain, and describes how bees, butterflies and countless other insects are simply disappearing due to the loss of their natural habitat, pesticides, and climate change.

We are talking about the art of reading dangerously with guest Iranian American author Azar Nafisi, who was written a book called Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times. In 2003, Azar’s memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran became a worldwide bestseller as she shared her experiences of living, working and reading in Iran under its repressive regime. Read Dangerously is composed of letters to Azar’s father. Azar addresses immigration, Donald Trump, The Handmaid's Tale, George Floyd and James Baldwin, and Pandemic existence, while also contemplating her former life in Iran.

Today we are learning about the David Ruggles Prize, which is a book collecting contest designed to encourage and support young collectors of color. Our guests are Sara Powell, who is one of the prize judges, and Pat Olson, who is Assistant to the Prize Jury.

On Gold Mountain by Lisa See was published in 1995. It’s a remarkable memoir that tells the story of one Chinese American family and their immigrant experience. The book is still making headlines today. It has been adapted into an opera with a new production planned for May, and it has also become a teaching resource. Lisa explains how the memoir has impacted her own family and influenced her career.

Author Neal Thompson is our guest as we discuss his latest book - The First Kennedys: The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty, which describes the early years of the family made world famous by John F Kennedy. We learn how two young Irish people arrived in Boston, met and married and created a family that would go on to shape American politics. The book’s principle figures are Bridget, one of those two immigrants, and her son PJ, who was JFK’s grandfather. PJ was the first Kennedy elected to public office.

Today we consider broken hearts. Our guest is journalist Florence Williams who has written a book called Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey. Sadly, Florence’s marriage unexpectedly collapsed after 25 years and she decided to investigate the science behind a broken heart and turned her learnings into a book. This is a podcast about love, loneliness and recovery.

In 1950, poet Gwendolyn Brooks became the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize following her second book, Annie Allen. We speak to Nic Caldwell from the Morgan Library & Museum in New York about their latest exhibition - Gwendolyn Brooks: A Poet’s Work In Community. We learn about Gwendolyn's Chicago roots, her passion for mentoring, and the importance of her poetry.