Joining John and Andy this week are Natasha McEnroe, the Keeper of Medicine at the Science Museum in London, and novelist Lissa Evans, Backlisted's old friend and the show's Original Guest, both of whom are Betty MacDonald superfans. The Plague and I (1948) is the author's unflinching and hilarious memoir of the nine months she spent as a patient at a TB sanatorium in the Pacific North West of America. We discuss this book and the eventful life of its million-selling author (The Egg and I, Anybody Can Do Anything, Onions in the Stew), are exposed to a selection of TB-related public information films and music, and there is even a 'communicable disease in literature' quiz. Also in this episode Andy is grabbed by Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper (1943) by Donald Henderson, reputedly Raymond Chandler's favourite crime novel; while John has been enjoying Olivette Otele's recently published history African Europeans, which traces a long African European heritage via the lives of individuals both ordinary and extraordinary.

Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)
08:16 - Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper by Donald Henderson
15:49 - African Europeans by Olivette Otele
20:37 - The Plague And I by Betty Macdonald

* To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
* For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm
*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

The Plague and I by Betty MacDonald

Returning to Backlisted this week are literary agents Becky Brown and Norah Perkins, joint custodians of the Curtis Brown Heritage list of literary estates and previously our guests on episode #109, Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. This time we are discussing the work of crime novelist Dorothy B. Hughes and in particular her suspenseful and subversive novel In a Lonely Place (1947), freely adapted as a classic film noir by director Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. Also in this episode Norah and Becky pitch titles by Kay Dick, Stella Gibbons and R.C. Sherriff to Andy, John and Nicky. Make sure you have a pen and paper to hand...

Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)
15:00 - Starlight by Stella Gibbons
19:10 - The Fortnight In September
26:56 - In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes

* To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
* For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm
*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes

From the Literature education podcast series "Acting It Out" developed and produced by Diane Havens and Robert Jadah. This is a clip from the Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning episode. Robert Jadah's narration of Robert Browning's first letter to Elizabeth Barrett.

Robert Browning Letter to Elizabeth narrated by Robert Jadah

An old guitar idea I finally turned into a full song.  Vocals and lyrics by CP Roscoe Martin.  You can find him on Bandlab.  Song and all instrumentation by me.

What's in the Bag

Indespicable

Ambient track to sit back and dream with.  Trying to evoke that feeling of travelling, exploring and seeing the world.

Going Walkabout

Dozens of books on acting exist, but none of them quite like this. On Acting and Life provides both insightful acting advice and the memoir of an acclaimed actor of both stage and screen. Modelled after Stephen King’s bestseller, On Writing, the book is divided into two parts.

Part one takes readers on a seventy-year journey that begins with William B. Davis, at age twelve, riding his bicycle through the streets of Toronto to his first acting classes, and eventually leads to him starring in the long-running television series, The X-Files. From a summer theatre in Ontario to the National Theatre of Great Britain to the National Theatre School of Canada to the William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study in Vancouver, few have achieved such a colourful journey. Along the way, Davis met all sorts of familiar faces, including Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Albert Finney, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson, among others.

Although there is a lot about acting in part one, the heart of the book for an aspiring or working actor is in part two. What has Davis learned in seventy years of working both in the theatre and in film and television? A lot, as you will see. Davis’ grasp of the art of acting is vast and practical. And in some ways, original.

In his final chapter, Davis explores the underlying philosophy of acting and actor training and argues for bringing the work in to the twenty-first century.

Audiobooks: William B. Davis, "On Acting ... and Life," read by the author.

All Credit Goes To Smosh

www.youtube.com/user/Smosh
Make Sure To Subscribe To Them For More Awesome Songs And Videos!

Smosh - Anything You Can Do I Can Do Dumber

TheSkyIsEverywhere - Demo

Jan-Werner Müller's "What Is Populism?" - democracy depends on a shared understanding of what democracy is, and an understanding of what isn't democracy.

"Populism is not just antiliberal, it is antidemocratic—the permanent shadow of representative politics. That's Jan-Werner Müller's argument in this brilliant book. There is no better guide to the populist passions of the present."—Ivan Krastev, International New York Times

"The most useful work to comprehend Trump's appeal is What Is Populism? (2016) by Princeton University political scientist Jan-Werner Müller. In this essential [audio] book, Müller defines populism's most salient characteristics—anti-elitism, anti-pluralism, exclusivity—and explains Trump and other populists through that framework. It is a quick read , and worth every page."—The Washington Post

Download the audio book today! http://bit.ly/populism101

Audio Book: What Is Populism?, Jan-Werner Müller, narrated by Simon Vance (1)

WHERE HOPE PREVAILS - Demo

Post Hypnotic Press is an audiobook publishing company located in Burnaby, BC, Canada. We offer an eclectic mix of audiobooks made-up of classic to current fiction and non-fiction for all ages. All audiobook clips offered here are copyrighted to Post Hypnotic Press. Check out our web site: www.posthypnoticpress.com. Like us on Facebook and /orTwitter. 

Make sure to follow us on Twitter so we can PM you with your coupon. Or drop us a line through the contact box on our web site.

Audiobooks: William B. Davis, "On Acting ... and Life," read by the author.

Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

Related tracks