is there a full versionof this available to buy?

THE BLACK DOG is the exciting debut novel from one of Britain's most-loved comedians, Kevin Bridges

Declan dreams of becoming a writer. It's a dream that helps him escape the realities of his life - going through the motions at college and stacking supermarket shelves part-time, whilst fighting a battle with the ever-darkening thoughts in his head.

He has his pet Labrador for companionship and his best friend-turned-mentor, a pseudo-intellectual who works as a greenskeeper at the local municipal golf course, both of which help keep the worst of his anxieties at bay. But following a drunken row with local gangsters, Declan's worries threaten to spiral out of control.  

James Cavani - Declan's idol and his hometown's claim to fame - is a renowned writer, director and actor. But despite his success, his past hasn't relinquished its hold of him, and through his younger sister's battle with drug addiction, he finds himself returning to a world he thought he had escaped.

At face value, their lives couldn't be more different, but perhaps fate has a way of bringing kindred spirits together - and perhaps each holds the other's redemption in their hands.

The Black Dog

THE BLACK DOG by Kevin Bridges, read by Angus King

Listen to an excerpt of Carvell Wallace's ANOTHER WORD FOR LOVE, read by the author.

A transformative memoir that reimagines the conventions of love and posits a radical vision for healing.

In Another Word for Love, Carvell Wallace excavates layers of his own history, situated in the struggles and beauty of growing up Black and queer in America.

Wallace is an award-winning journalist who has built his career on writing unforgettable profiles, bringing a provocative and engaged sensitivity to his subjects. Now he turns the focus on himself, examining his own life and the circumstances that frame it—to make sense of seeking refuge from homelessness with a young single mother, living in a ghostly white Pennsylvania town, becoming a partner and parent, raising two teenagers in what feels like a collapsing world.

With courage, vulnerability, and a remarkable expansiveness of spirit—not to mention a thrilling, and unrivaled, storytelling verve—Another Word for Love makes an irresistible case for life, healing, the fullness of our humanity, and, of course, love. It could be called a theory of life itself—a theory of being that will leave you open to the wonder of the world.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Buy the audiobook

Another Word for Love by Carvell Wallace, audiobook excerpt

A leading national security expert, who publicly predicted Vladimir Putin's intention to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine months before it took place, lays out the case for why China's Xi Jinping is preparing to conquer Taiwan in the coming years and the dire stakes for America and the whole world if he is not deterred.

In World on the Brink, security expert Dmitri Alperovitch makes the case that we are already in the midst of Cold War II, with China, and that Taiwan is the perilous strategic flashpoint of this new conflict that risks triggering a devastating war between major nuclear powers in a similar role that West Berlin nearly played during Cold War I.

Laying out the comprehensive strategy to deter war and maintain U.S. place as the world's leading superpower in the face of rising China, Alperovitch breaks down not only the significant weaknesses that can prevent China from surpassing the United States, but also the key policies that will enable America to maintain primacy even as China ramps up its efforts. 

As Alperovitch explains, we must play to our strengths and address our weaknesses, using our leverage as the strongest nation on the planet to tactfully navigate the next Cold War. This sharp, timely book is the essential blueprint for doing just that.

WORLD ON THE BRINK by Alperovitch and Graff read by Will Collyer

This gripping fictional true crime podcast delves into the story of the enigmatic Dorian Gray, a vigilante who changed the world, rewriting history in the blood of her victims. Her targets were the titans of their era—billionaires, movie stars, politicians. Dorian said they had one thing in common: they had all committed crimes against women. They were rapists, abusers, master manipulators. Dorian left evidence of their heinous offenses with their bodies, and then she vanished without a trace.

To some, Dorian was a feminist icon, a #MeToo crusader who single-handedly rebalanced the scales of sexual power. To others, she was the worst terrorist of the 21st century. But who was the real Dorian Gray? A demon or an avenging angel? Was she even human? How did one woman manage to take down the most powerful men of her generation and win?

These and other burning questions echoed through the internet since Dorian's disappearance, until now. Speranza, a relentless young journalist, is determined to unravel the pure and simple truth on her podcast, The Crimes of Dorian Gray. Unfortunately for Speranza, the truth is seldom pure and never simple.

Written and directed by Arvind Ethan David and produced by Prodigal, The Crimes of Dorian Gray is a radical reinvention of Oscar Wilde's gothic masterpiece, exploring the question he asked 150 years ago: what does it mean for the powerful elite to live without consequences? What does it say about the society that allows them? Executive Produced by Milena Govich, Amanda K. Price, and Lexi Underwood, the show’s extraordinary cast includes Lexi Underwood, Lara Pulver, Richard Schiff, and Neil Brown Jr., and an original song by ASCAP winning composer Erran Baron Cohen, performed by Olivier Award winner Lara Pulver

The Crimes Of Dorian Gray - Chapter 1 Audio Excerpt

A common sense field guide to understanding, surviving, and thriving in our time of complex chaos and crises. Is this finally it? The end times?Because from COVID-19 to climate catastrophe to the looming AI revolution—not to mention the ever-growing background hum of rage, fear, and anxiety—it’s starting to feel like the party we call civilization is just about over. The good news? It’s always felt that way. Drawing on evolutionary psychology, history, brain science, game theory, and more, cooperation theorist (and, coincidentally, zombie expert) Athena Aktipis reassuringly explains how we, as a species, are hardwired to survive big existential crises. And how we can do so again by leveraging our innate abilities to communicate and cooperate. Pack a ukulele in your prep kit. Practice your risk-management skills. Enlist your crew into a survival team. And embrace the apocalypse. You might just enjoy it. Plus, it will help us build a better and more resilient future for all humankind.

THE BLACK DOG by Kevin Bridges, read by Angus King

Headline Books

Recent comments

Eleonora

Related tracks