In this penultimate part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History looks at the golden age of capitalism in the West, the period from 1945-1970s. What ever happened to the "Affluent Society"? Maybe we will find out.

The panel discusses the concluding chapters (20–24) of The Sword in the Stone, with special attention to Arthur's martial inclinations (and what they mean for a broader society), Kay's personal failings (and fundamental goodness), and Merlin's robes.Continue reading

This episode we discuss John le Carré’s 1979 novel Smiley’s People with guest Charles Beaumont, a former undercover MI6 operative and author of A Spy Alone and A Spy at War. Beaumont describes first discovering le Carré at university through The Honorable Schoolboy and argues the Cold War novels still illuminate modern Russia’s state cruelty […]

In this episode of The Write Place, I’m joined once again by author Gemma Denham to talk about her new psychological thriller, The Inheritance. Kate and Patrick are struggling financially when an unexpected inheritance seems to offer the perfect escape: a Victorian townhouse on the north-east coast. But from the moment they arrive, things feel wrong. Objects disappear, footsteps sound in the night, and Kate begins to wonder whether someone is getting into the locked house, whether something m...

On today’s show we recap a couple of weekend getaways and recommend Whistler by Ann Patchett, Rings of the Matriarch by S.D. McKittrick, and Small Ceremonies by Kyle Edwards. Audiobook of the Week is L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy. ITUNES – SPOTIFY

Hunter Harris is the creator of Hung Up, the twice-weekly Substack newsletter where she takes a forensic lens to our culture’s obsessions and her own. She says she and her audience of nearly 200,000 subscribers share the same “disease”—insatiability—and that they’re bonded by a specific tunnel vision: her willingness to write a dozen pieces about A Star Is Born or spend time tracking down the marriage license of Taylor Swift’s publicist, if that’s what curiosity demands. Hung Up is part cultural

In this part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I finish chapter 14 and read through chapter 15, exploring the response to the Great Depression and the rise of "insurgent" capitalisms in the colonial world.

Part 7 of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. In this section of the book we explore Beckert's commentary on state expansion and the origins of the Great Depression.

The panel discusses chapters 14–19 of The Sword in the Stone, with special attention to White's romanticised depiction of feudalism and the historical setting of the action, and with a comparison of the pacifistic views of the geese vs. the warlike ants.Continue reading

As anyone who listened to our March episode on three film adaptations of Agatha Christie’s whodunits can tell: no one at A Damn Fine Cup of Culture is a big fan of Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot. The erstwhile Shakespeare wunderkind… Continue reading →

A fun chat with Rob Hart all about his new book Three Hitmen and a Baby, how to find a snake expert, living in the age of surveillance, and crying at movies. Plus – Dave is roasted at school, Laura recaps the Mumford & Sons concert, and Andrew accidentally opens up his Father’s Day present … Continue reading Ep. 332 Crying At The Movies With Rob Hart

In part 6 of this 10 part review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I read the chapters on the "reconstructions" of capital and labor in the later 19th century. It is in these reconstructions that the foundations of modern capitalism were laid

Wow, we are half done with this massive book. The next part of my review of Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert. This section focuses on the emergence of a capitalist culture and the rebellions that brought the "old regime capitalism" to an end. It is fascinating stuff.

These chapters of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History explore the revolutions we often lump together as the Industrial Revolution and the growing expansion of capitalism into the hinterland. It is increasingly clear we need to take a hinterland first view of capitalism's spread.

The panel reads chapters 8–13 of The Sword in the Stone, with a focus on the precise nature of Merlin's magic and the 'transformations' experienced by the Wart (but not by Kay), and a detailed examination of the episode of the Ants and their collectivism.Continue reading

This episode I’m joined by author David Goodman, author of A Reluctant Spy and the new sequel Solitary Agents. We talk about reading John le Carré as a kind of travelogue and why place matters so much in spy fiction. David shares how his dissertation on spy novels was a stepping stone to writing espionage […]

In this episode of The Write Place, I’m joined by New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost, best known for her hugely popular Night Huntress books. Jeaniene joins me to talk about her latest novel, A Curse of Beasts and Magic, the first book in her new Beautiful and Beastly series. Described as Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, this is a romantasy adventure with a twist: Beauty is the Beast. We talk about the rise of romantasy, writing morally grey characters, building fantasy w...

In this third part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I explore chapters 5-6 on the developments in industrial production in the early modern period and their relationships with capitalism, as well as the reasons capitalism broke out from the islands due to a "perfect storm" of feedback loops.

A fun chat with Sarah Vaughn all about her new book Based on a True Story, courtroom theatrics, and her secret shorthand skill. Plus – Dave and Andrew take a trip to Portland, and Laura deals with pets. We also recommend: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, The Lesser Devil by Christopher Ruocchio, and The Night Watcher … Continue reading Ep. 331 The Lost Art of Shorthand With Sarah Vaughn

Joanna Coles has spent her formidable career at the center of media: London’s Fleet Street in the ’80s, New York magazine, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and eventually the chief content officer role overseeing Hearst’s entire global magazine portfolio. She knows intimately what legacy media organizations have looked like at every stage of their life cycle and spent years “managing decline” from the inside. Two years ago, as Chief Creative and Content Officer, she helped take over The Daily Beast and