Secret Life of Books Trailer

The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking,
occasionally hilarious weekly podcast starring Sophie Gee, professor of
English at Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, formerly director of arts at
the BBC.

Every week these virtuoso critics and close friends take an iconic
book and reveal the hidden story behind the story: who made it, their
clandestine motives, the undeclared stakes, the scandalous backstory and
above all the secret, mysterious meanings of books we thought we knew.

Just for example: did you know that Macbeth was a direct response to a
terrorist plot against King James I—and Shakespeare himself was connected
to the plotters? That Charles Dickens almost died in a railway accident in 1865, but
climbed out through a window, rescued his mistress, tended to the sick and
dying—then went back to retrieve the manuscript for Our Mutual Friend? That
Jane Austen observed the parties and balls of Regency England from above:
she towered a full eight inches taller than the average woman of her time?

The Secret Life of Books draws on two lifetimes of readerly expertise, but it’s also deeply user-friendly: you’ll feel like a guest at the best dinner party of the year. These are brilliant people who’ll make you feel brilliant, too.

With the help of some high-profile guests, Sophie and Jonty won’t just transform the classics, they’ll bring to life the great events and movements in world history—wars and revolutions, breakthroughs and triumphs and disasters—seen in the new light of great art rediscovered. This is a podcast for readers and book groups, students and teachers of literature, but it’s also for fans of history and biography, and anyone who’s excited by dazzling, deeply knowledgeable minds working hard and having the time of their lives.

Support the show

Producer: Boyd Britton
Digital Content Coordinator: Olivia di Costanzo
Designer: Peita Jackson
Our thanks to the University of Sydney Business School.