Episodes

  • Libraries under lockdown

    Libraries under lockdown
    May 28 2020
    Amid the pandemic, we hear from the British Library team ensuring crucial documents are delivered to public health services, a library that has exchanged books for food parcels, and a bridal studio, supported by our Business and IP Centre, who pivoted to ‘something new’ when the crisis hit.
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    29 mins
  • Joining the library: Steve Berry

    Joining the library: Steve Berry
    Mar 26 2020
    New York Times best selling Author Steve Berry joins us to talk about one of his favourite books, The Twisted Claw #18 in The Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon. This episode was recorded before the current global outbreak - we hope you are all staying safe.
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    8 mins
  • Uncovering mysteries and secrets

    Uncovering mysteries and secrets
    Mar 17 2020
    Hear how a Librarian solved a 33 year cold case, why the British Library is currently researching some mysterious toilet paper and how a library in Manchester is helping it's patrons uncover the secrets of their own past.
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    37 mins
  • Joining the library: Anne Fine

    Joining the library: Anne Fine
    Feb 27 2020
    Award winning writer of Madame Doubtfire and Goggle-Eyes, Anne Fine OBE joins us today to discuss ‘The Man Who Loved Children’ by Christina Stead (1940).
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    11 mins
  • Choose your own adventure

    Choose your own adventure
    Feb 13 2020
    Hear how Minecraft is opening up literary worlds, meet the young writers powering up their imaginations at Plymouth’s Plymstock library, and settle down for a read with the library that comes to you.
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    33 mins
  • Joining the library: Anab Jain

    Joining the library: Anab Jain
    Jan 30 2020
    The designer, futurist, filmmaker and educator tells us about one of her favourite books: The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin (1974).
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    11 mins
  • Do librarians dream of electric cranes?

    Do librarians dream of electric cranes?
    Jan 16 2020
    To start the new year, we take a look into the future. Meet the British Library’s robot assistants, get coding at Oxfordshire County Library and take the long view with Norway’s Future Library. Plus we visit our Flashback Project in Boston Spa, which ensures digital content is preserved and accessible even after the original technology has become obsolete.
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    30 mins
  • Joining the library: Blindboy

    Joining the library: Blindboy
    Dec 19 2019
    ‘He was writing in the way that I speak. He was talking about country roads that I know….it was me.’ Author and podcaster Blindboy tells us about the writing that made him: The Third Policeman (written in 1939 and published in 1967) by Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. Contains plot spoilers and some profanity.
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    8 mins