The LRB Podcast

Ghassan Abu-Sittah and Muhammad Shehada join Adam Shatz to describe what life was like in Gaza in the months and years leading up to the Hamas attack on Israel last October, and to discuss the experiences of Gazans during Israel’s subsequent – and ongoing – devastation of the territory.More in the LRB:Adam Shatz: Israel's Descenthttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n12/adam-shatz/israel-s-descentPankaj Mishra: The Shoah after Gazahttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n06/pankaj-mishra/the-shoah-after-gazaAlso available to watch: https://youtu.be/_w3Pe00I_RoAudio Gifts from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiogifts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Elvis’s only child, Lisa Marie Presley was burdened from birth with extraordinary, largely unwanted fame. Before her death in 2023, she spent years as tabloid fodder, less for her sporadic music career than for her highly publicised relationships with Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage and Scientology.In a recent review of her posthumous memoir, Jessica Olin celebrates Lisa Marie’s resilience and charisma in the face of ruthless publicity. Jessica joins Tom to discuss Lisa Marie’s ambivalent relationship with fame, and how a new generation are encountering the Presley family saga through her daughter, Riley Keough.Find further reading on the episode page: https://lrb.me/lisamariepodSponsored Links:Find out more about ACE Cultural Tours: https://aceculturaltours.co.ukTo learn more about financial support for professional writers, visit the Royal Literary Fund here: https://www.rlf.org.uk/Audio Gifts from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiogifts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies joins Tom to assess the efforts of the new Labour government in tackling the UK's many economic challenges. They consider whether Rachel Reeves’s first budget, with its substantial tax rises, can do anything more than arrest the decline of the public finances, and what Keir Starmer hopes to achieve with his public overtures to the likes of Google and BlackRock. Will their technocratic style of government be able to survive the pressures of populist politics, or is their long-term thinking simply too long-term to bring election-winning improvements to people’s everyday lives?Read William Davies's piece: https://lrb.me/davies4622podAudio Gifts from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiogifts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Meek talks to Tom about his latest report from Ukraine, where he spent time in Kharkiv and Kupiansk in the east of the country. In Kharkiv, he found a population living in fear not only of the Russian glide bombs falling daily on the city, but also of the increasingly ruthless activity of the Ukrainian military recruitment office, desperate to secure fresh troops to resist Russia's advances. James and Tom discuss the current state of the conflict, what a Trump presidency might mean for US policy and whether Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles could make any difference to the progress of the war.Read James's latest report from Ukraine:https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n22/james-meek/nobody-wants-to-hear-thisSponsored Link:Get 10% off creative writing courses at NCW Academy in 2025 with code LRB10:https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/Audio Gifts from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiogifts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.