Copy of Playing Under the Piano, written and read by Hugh Bonneville (Audiobook extract)

Have you ever walked home at night, keys in hand, ready to throw a punch in self-defence? That’s how it all started. The killing spree, I mean.

I sort of tripped into this role… Literally. The first one was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone. I pushed him, he stumbled, and fell onto his own broken wine bottle. Oops. It was such a waste of a good house white.

But now I can’t seem to stop and nor do I want to… I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

How To Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent, Read by Victoria Morrison

This exclusive recording includes 6 extended chapters that are unique to the audiobook

Hugh Bonneville is one of Britain's most accomplished actors, whose credits include Downton Abbey, W1A and the Paddington films. 

'Deliciously witty' Celia Imrie

'Utterly charming' Jack Whitehall

'Funny, touching, revealing' Gyles Brandreth

'A gorgeous book' Richard Curtis

'Beautiful. Touching. And funny' Gary Oldman

'Charming, joyous and entertaining' Griff Rhys Jones

'Shows a great verve for storytelling' The Independent

Hugh Bonneville is one of Britain's most accomplished actors, familiar to audiences worldwide for his roles in Notting Hill, the Paddington films and Downton Abbey. From getting his big break as Third Shepherd in the school nativity play, to mistaking a Hollywood star for an estate agent, Hugh creates a brilliantly vivid picture of a career on stage and screen. What is it like working with Judi Dench and Julia Roberts, or playing Robert de Niro's right leg, or not being Gary Oldman, twice? 

A wickedly funny storyteller, Hugh also writes with poignancy about his father's dementia and of his mother, whose life in the secret service only emerged after her death. Whether telling stories of working with divas, Dames or a bear with a penchant for marmalade, this is a richly entertaining account of his life as an actor.

Playing Under the Piano, written and read by Hugh Bonneville (Audiobook extract)

As I am once again locked in at home, things are getting rather touchy on a bridge in Beijing, as well as online, threatening to spoil the Party's Big Party...

All due credit to Samuel Wade for excellent episode name idea

The History of China

Shanghai Lockdown Update - 10/14/2022: "The Banner Man vs. The Ban Hammer"

Listen to an excerpt from IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover, read by Colin Donnell and Olivia Song.

IT STARTS WITH US Audiobook Excerpt

From the award-winning author of Curtain Call, Freya and Our Friends in Berlin comes a sweeping story of art and love through the lens of a single painting

A celebrated artist of the Georgian era paints his two young daughters at the family home in Bath. The portrait, known as "Molly & the Captain", becomes instantly famous, its fate destined to echo down the centuries, touching many lives.

In the summer of 1889 a young man sits painting a line of elms in Kensington Gardens. One day he glimpses a mother at play with her two daughters and decides to include them in his picture. From that moment he is haunted by dreams that seem to foreshadow his doom.

A century later, in Kentish Town, a painter and her grown-up daughters receive news of an ancestor linking them to the long-vanished double portrait of "Molly & the Captain". Meanwhile friendship with a young musician stirs unexpected passions and threatens to tear the family apart.   

Molly & the Captain is a story about time and art and love. Through the prism of a single painting it examines the mysteries of creativity, and the ambiguous nature of success. What weighs more, loyalty to one's talent or loyalty to one's blood? Does self-sacrifice ennoble the soul or degrade it? And what does it mean to speak of the past when its hold on the present is inescapable?

Through Anthony Quinn's signature gifts - period subtlety, intricate characterisation and storytelling verve this triptych novel melds three families and three centuries into a single vision of human frailty and longing.

Molly & the Captain by Anthony Quinn, read by Helen Stern (Audiobook extract)

In the next instalment of our American midterms series we visit Rhode Island to see how inflation—at its highest since the early Reagan era—is affecting people’s lives, and their <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/10/11/why-republicans-are-gaining-ground-in-midterm-polls?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">voting intentions</a>. Denmark’s refugee policies are surprisingly hostile, and surprisingly popular. And our correspondent assesses the latest album and the legacy of Keith Jarrett, one of the world’s greatest living pianists. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Variety in the price of life: inflation and the midterms

An audio journey through the 5000 year history of one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations.