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A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. E. W. Mason

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

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Margaret Busby

Margaret Busby has been at the heart of cultural life in the UK for over 50 years. From becoming Britain’s youngest and first Black woman publisher when she founded publishing house Allison & Busby, to editing the ground-breaking international anthologies Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa, her many achievements are testament to her dedication to championing the lives and stories of others, particularly those throughout the world who have been marginalised by the mainstream. 
 
With little attention previously given to her own skills as a writer, Part of the Story is a unique opportunity to enjoy her own remarkable literary output. It brings together her writings on people, places, politics and publishing, and provides a rich insight into the many elements that have contributed to shaping her life, from her childhood in Ghana to the Black writers, intellectuals, artists and activists she has worked with, befriended, supported and championed for over half a century.

Part of the Story

Writings from Half a Century

Amy Smilovic

'Almost Reckless isn't just a book, it's a permission slip. It's about the courage it takes to step off the algorithm's path, the clarity that comes from defining your own principles, and the joy of building something that feels unmistakably yours.' Will Guidara, bestselling author of Unreasonable HospitalityAmy Smilovic's cult fashion brand, Tibi, was a thriving $70 million dollar business when she realized she was working towards someone else's idea of success. So she threw out the rulebook of how things should be done and went with her gut instead. 
 
Today Tibi is more successful than ever, and all on Smilovic's groundbreaking entrepreneurial terms.In Almost Reckless, she invites you to get comfortable with embracing smart risks in pursuit of your own vision. Sharing her story and drawing on her years of helping others identify their values and principles, Smilovic teaches you to hone your gut, and your trust in it.With humour and practicality she coaches you in how to determine what success means to you, including: 
<ul><li>why you don’t have to listen to the data guys</li><li>why you should be a Creative Pragmatist</li><li>why sticking to your principles isn’t incompatible with success</li><li>why work/life balance is bullshit</li></ul>Almost Reckless is the essential blueprint for entrepreneurs, leaders, creatives and for anyone who wants a working life that feels aligned with who they truly are.

Almost Reckless

A Creative and Pragmatic Approach to Taking Risks

Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Lonely college student Minnie feels invisible until she stumbles upon HOURglass: America’s new K-pop inspired boyband obsession. Soon she is memorising the lyrics to every song and staying up late to watch their livestreams, hoping that her favourite member, bad-boy Halo, will see her in the comments.On the other side of the screen, Halo is also becoming addicted to the adoration from his fans, using their love to paper over the cracks of the tragic past he is determined to keep hidden.But when Minnie is drawn to a shadowy fan community who believe they need to protect the band members from a dark conspiracy, the line between fandom and obsession begins to blur...

Superfan

Alexander C.Karp

Nicholas W.Zamiska

**THE SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** 
 
A sweeping indictment of the West’s culture of complacency and a passionate call to wake up to our new reality from the bold thinkers behind tech giant PalantirOur most brilliant engineering minds once collaborated with government to advance world-changing technologies. Their efforts secured the West’s dominant place in the geopolitical order. But that relationship has now eroded, with perilous repercussions. 
 
In this ground-breaking treatise, one of tech’s boldest thinkers and his longtime deputy offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of ambition. Palantir co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska argue that in order for the West to retain its global edge?and preserve the freedoms we take for granted?the software industry must renew its commitment to addressing our most urgent challenges, including the new arms race of artificial intelligence. 
 
At once iconoclastic and rigorous, this books also lifts the veil on tech giant Palantir and its broader political project from the inside, offering a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality.

The Technological Republic

Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

Emily P Webber

The story of the last generation of British miners: fathers and sons, brothers and comrades, big hitters and broken men, strikers and scabs. 
 
'A compelling, unflinching account…full of tales of tragedy, gallows humour and camaraderie’ The Times 
 
What happened to Britain's last generation of miners? Combining new personal interviews with extensive archival research, Emily P. Webber illuminates the extraordinary history of the industry once considered the backbone of Britain. 
 
By situating the miners’ strike of 1984–85 in a longer history of the coalfields, we can understand why miners and their families fought so hard against pit closures, and what happened after the pit wheels stopped turning. Vivid, evocative and richly alive with minute detail, Mining Men explores what the mining industry once meant to its workers and their communities, and what Britain lost when it was gone. 
 
'Fascinating... An engaging history of post-war British mining' Daily Telegraph 
 
'Absorbing and enjoyable...an illuminating peek into the lives of those who risked everything to warm our hearths' The Herald

Mining Men

Britain’s Last Kings of the Coalface

Afua Hirsch

Our bodies tell our story. 
 
Upon turning forty, Afua Hirsch had an encounter that forever altered her preconceived notions of ancestry and body image, making her question everything from body-modification rituals such as tattoos and piercings to the foundations of sexuality. 
 
Decolonising My Body charts her year-long journey of radical unlearning. Bringing together global scholarship, on-the-ground reportage, personal anecdotes and interviews with beauty experts, practitioners and service users, Hirsch reassesses notions of body image beyond those of the colonial, patriarchal gaze. Taking us from puberty to end-of-life, she shows us that the ways in which we adorn and present ourselves have spiritual implications and shape the possibilities we see for ourselves in the world.

Decolonising My Body

On Ancestry, Tradition and Cultural Reinvention

A radical exploration of rituals and beauty

Bill Gates

Everyone is programmed a bit differently. Source Code tells the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today. Taking us back to his beginnings, Gates describes with candour his childhood in Seattle, the centrality of family – his close relationship with his card-playing grandmother and his demanding but caring parents – his struggles to fit in, his rebelliousness, his first deep friendships and the impact of losing his closest friend. 
 
We follow his extraordinary development as a restless teenager who discovered a love of coding and computing at the dawn of a new era, and see the earliest signs of the phenomenal business acumen that led him to drop out of Harvard at the age of 20 to devote all his energies to Microsoft. We also learn what distinguishes him from others in his line: from his first encounters with the three Steves – Jobs, Wozniak and Ballmer – to when Microsoft signed its first deal with Apple in the late 1970s and beyond, Gates never forgot his mother’s reminder that he was merely a steward of any wealth that he gained. 
 
This warm and inspiring book allows readers to understand Gates's energy and ambition – and to see how he sets himself in the world.

Source Code

My Beginnings

Laura Dickerman

This isn't the office romance you expected... Perfect for fans of You've Got Mail, Attachments and Good Material 
'Hilarious, heartbreaking, satirical, cutting and FUN' Laura Jane Williams 
'For anyone who loves Curtis Sittenfeld, Nora Ephron, Alison Espach' Joanna Rackoff 
'Super smart and assured . . . Fans of Tom Lake and The Flatshare will love it' Sarra Manning 
'Rollicking and entertaining' People Magazine 
'Captures all the thrills and aches of setting out in the world' Morgan Dick 
 
 1982Jane Kinloch arrives at the legendary townhouse offices of the East River Review as a wide-eyed intern with big dreams. When she strikes up a friendship with glamorous fellow intern Rose, the two soon become inseparable. But Rose’s attraction to their married boss, literary titan Edward David Adams, threatens to drive a wedge between them. 
2022Once upon a time in publishing, editors had their own offices. But now, to her great chagrin, Rebecca Blume of Avenue Publishing must share custody of a ‘hot desk’ with Ben Heath, editor at rival imprint Hawk Mills. What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive Post-it notes about an unwatered cactus notes escalates after the death of renowned writer Edward David Adams. He has left behind an unpublished manuscript, and Ben and Rebecca are soon vying for the career-making opportunity to publish it. 
But when Rebecca discovers that the manuscript contains a decades-old secret about her mother, Jane, she is determined to stop it from seeing the light of day. 
Can she persuade her infuriating (and annoyingly handsome) rival deskmate to let it go? 
A funny, sexy, unexpectedly moving novel that weaves a contemporary workplace romance with a gripping historical narrative set in the 1980s New York publishing industry.

Hot Desk

BBC Radio Comedy

All three series of the award-winning topical panel show from 2025 
 
Andy Zaltzman returns for a triple helping of comic quizzing, as he serves up a satirical smorgasbord of choice news morsels for his esteemed panellists to feast on. Making short work of them are some of the biggest names in British and international comedy and journalism, including Sara Barron, Ria Lina, Nish Kumar, Pierre Novellie, Armando Iannucci, Zing Tsjeng, Ava Santina, Mark Steel, Adam Kay, Geoff Norcott, Susie McCabe and Ian Smith. 
 
Kicking off with a ‘Best of 2024’ compilation episode, revisiting and revelling in the previous year’s funniest moments, the team proceed to tuck into 2025’s most pertinent topics, among them the presidential inauguration, the election of the world’s first American Pope, Donald Trump’s tariff turmoil, the Birmingham bin workers’ strike, Budget talks, the Boriswave and the stripping of both Royal titles and Royal crown jewels. 
 
They also take time to savour some of the year’s smaller stories – including the overdue return of the woolly mammoth, the death of the semi-colon, pop stars popping to the stars, Yorkshire gladiators, telepathic Google searches and chimps drunk on fruit. And as soaring cocoa prices impact Britain’s sweet treats, the panel chew over the big question of the moment: are things better or worse than they used to be? 
 
Production credits 
Written and hosted by Andy Zaltzman 
With additional material by Simon Alcock, Rebecca Bain, Chris Ballard, Daman Bamrah, Samira Banks, Carwyn Blayney, Catherine Brinkworth, Angela Channell, Ruby Clyde, Cody Dahler, Eve Delaney, Tasha Dhanraj, David Duncan, Jain Edwards, Milo Edwards, Alice Fraser, Jade Gebbie, Marty Gleeson, Alexandra Haddow, Miranda Holmes, Ruth Husko, Alex Kealy, Ralph Jones, Sam Lake, Sascha LO, Cameron Loxdale, Laura Major, Christian Manley, Stuart McPherson, Meryl O'Rourke, Alfife Packham, Ben Pope, Christina Riggs, Mike Shephard, Peter Tellouche and John Tothill 
 
Produced by Sam Holmes, Rajiv Karia and Gwyn Rhys Davies 
Executive Producers: James Robinson, Pete Strauss and Richard Morris 
Production Co-ordinators: Jodie Charman, Beanna Olding, Caroline Barlow and Giulia Lopes Mazzu 
Sound: Sean Kerwin, David Thomas, Mark Willcox 
 
Series 116 featuring: Anushka Asthana, Angela Barnes, Sara Barron, Scott Bennett, Simon Evans, Daniel Finkelstein, Alice Fraser, Ayesha Hazarika, Athena Kugblenu, Nish Kumar, Jay Lafferty, Laura Lexx, Ria Lina, Zoe Lyons, Alex Massie, Andrew Maxwell, Susie McCabe, Val McDermid, Stuart Mitchell, Glenn Moore, Geoff Norcott, Pierre Novellie, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind, Paul Sinha, Ian Smith and Zing Tsjeng 
 
Series 117 featuring: Anushka Asthana, Sara Barron, Alasdair Beckett-King, Ed Byrne, Daliso Chaponda, Jessica Fostekew, Armando Iannucci, Alex Kealy, Athena Kugblenu, Marie Le Conte, Ria Lina, Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell, Glenn Moore, Geoff Norcott, Pierre Novellie, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind, Ava Santina, Ian Smith, Mark Steel, Zing Tsjeng, Felicity Ward and Cindy Yu 
 
Series 118 featuring: Celya AB, Sara Barron, Alasdair Beckett-King, Scott Bennett, Stephen Bush, Daliso Chaponda, Kate Cheka, Neil Delamere, Simon Evans, Ayesha Hazarika, Adam Kay, Coco Khan, Laura Lexx, Ria Lina, Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell, Susie McCabe, Geoff Norcott, Pierre Novellie, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind, Ava Santina, Ash Sarkar, Ahir Shah, Ian Smith, Tiff Stevenson and Cindy Yu 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3 Jan 2025, 10 Jan-28 February 2025 (Series 116), 18 Apr-6 Jun 2025 (Series 117), 5 Sep-24 Oct 2025 (Series 118) 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The News Quiz 2025: The Complete Series 116, 117 and 118

The Topical BBC Radio 4 Panel Show

Tim Wu

Today’s tech platforms are some of history's most advanced tools for extracting as much as possible – data, attention, profit-margins – from everyone else. As they become essential, we are at risk of building an economy that is perpetually unfair for much of humanity. 
 
Places and spaces where people can exchange information and goods have been at the heart of every economy and every civilization in history, but today’s global platforms - as provided by Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta and others - are different: instead of providing value they extract it, creating vast disparities in wealth and power between the haves and have-nots. For the first time in history, we have the ability to create sustainable prosperity for all, but currently that wealth is concentrated in a tiny number of hands. It isn't abundance that's the problem; it is distribution. 
 
In this brilliantly engaging, frequently surprising account, Tim Wu, one of the world’s foremost experts on anti-monopoly law, draws on fascinating case studies in the history of technology's explosive rise to demonstrate emphatically that breaking monopolies will ultimately unleash creativity and growth - and reduce the vast inequality that inevitably leads to social upheaval and political chaos. Wu also sets out an alternative blueprint that preserves the economic flourishing that platforms catalyze, allowing tech platforms to play a major role in creating and sustaining an economic model of prosperity not just for the few but for the many.

The Age of Extraction

How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity

Miriam O'Callaghan

I started writing this book as an exclusively work memoir but the work and the personal kept overlapping. I don’t know if that’s because I’m a woman or a mother or both, or none of those reasons. I just know that for my story to be authentic and truthful, I couldn’t simply focus on the work side of my life. 
Miriam O'Callaghan is one of Ireland's best-known broadcasters, covering every election, referendum, major controversy and important public event for TV, and hosting an award-winning radio show. Combining career success, high-octane glamour and being a mother-of-eight makes her a truly unique figure in Irish public life. 
 
In her absorbing memoir, Miriam shares touching stories from her personal life – from the life-changing impact of losing her beloved sister and father in a matter of months, and the end of her first marriage that same year, to the joys and challenges of bringing eight children into the world and juggling a frenetically busy life (‘give up on perfection’ is her wise advice!). 
Miriam includes fascinating insights into a career that has given her a ringside seat to a changing Ireland. Like attending Bobby Sands’ wake even before she was a journalist, and life coming full circle when she championed John Hume to be declared the greatest figure in Irish history. She describes extraordinary debates, important and heart-breaking conversations with people in the eye of a media storm, and how she goes after and prepares for the big interviews – as well as what happens when things go wrong. Miriam also addresses the recent RTÉ controversies that cast a shadow over its high-profile presenters, not least herself. 
 
Miriam is an exceptionally honest and personal memoir from one of Ireland’s most esteemed broadcasters

Miriam

Life, Work, Everything

Lyse Doucet

When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world. 
 
More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. History lives within its scarred windows and walls. 
 
Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan. 
 
It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel’s 1970s glory days – an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the ‘Paris of Asia’. It is the story of Abida, who became the first female chef to cook in the Inter-Con’s famous kitchen after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And it is the lives of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-something staff who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy – only to witness the Taliban roaring back in 2021. 
 
The result is a remarkably vivid history of how Afghans have survived a half century of destruction and disruption. It is the story of a hotel but also the story of a people.

The Finest Hotel in Kabul

A People’s History of Afghanistan

Vaclav Smil

In this ambitious, myth-busting book, leading scientist and internationally bestselling author Vaclav Smil investigates many of the burning questions facing the world today: Why are some of the world’s biggest food producers also the countries with the most undernourished populations? Why is food waste a colossal 1,000kcal per person daily, and how can we solve that? Could we all go vegan and be healthy? Should we? How will we feed the ballooning population without killing the planet? 
 
How Food Really Works shows how we misunderstand the essentials of where our food really comes from, how our dietary requirements shape us, and why this impacts our planet in drastic ways. Ultimately, this data-based, rigorously researched guide explains how we will survive and thrive long into the future.

How to Feed the World

A Factful Guide

Joseph Hone

‘A page-turner about page-turners’ Janice Hallett 
‘The perfect piece of armchair detection’ Ruth Ware 
‘Hugely entertaining and unexpectedly gripping’ London Review of Books 
 
A true detective story from the age of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers: the literary crime that fooled the world - and the daring young booksellers who uncovered it 
 
London, 1932. Thomas James Wise is the toast of the literary establishment. A prominent collector and businessman, with friends in high places, he is one of the most powerful men in the field of rare books. 
 
One night, two young booksellers stumble upon a strange discrepancy leading them to suspect Wise and his books are not all they seem. Inspired by the vogue for Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, the pair harness the latest developments in forensic analysis to crack the case. By the time they are done, their investigation will have rocked the book world to its core. 
 
‘A thrilling unravelling of bookish fraud that reads like a detective story from the golden age’ Roland Philipps, author of A Spy Named Orphan 
 
‘Hone is a lively and fluent writer, ratcheting up the temperature with snappy sentences and chapters ending on cliffhangers’ Sunday Telegraph

The Book Forger

The true story of a literary crime that fooled the world

Lionel Barber

Gambling Man is the biography of one of the world’s least known but most consequential investors. Japan’s Masayoshi Son has made and lost several fortunes, investing or controlling assets worth $1 trillion in the past two decades through his media-tech giant, SoftBank. He bankrolled Alibaba, China’s internet colossus, before the world had heard about it; plotted with Steve Jobs to turn the iPhone into a wonder product; and financed hundreds of tech start-ups, fuelling the biggest boom Silicon Valley has ever seen.This book takes you on Son’s wild ride, from his birthplace in a Korean slum in post-war Japan to the modern-day temples of power. It speeds through Donald Trump’s golden skyscraper in Manhattan, the royal palaces of Riyadh and the throne rooms of China’s Marxist rulers; all places where Son has deployed his unique blend of financial engineering and crazy risk-taking.Son’s story captures a 25 year-span of hyper-globalisation in which money, technologies and ideas flowed freely. From the launch of the microchip to the advent of artificial intelligence, he has ridden the technological wave which has created extraordinary wealth and economic change. His topsy-turvy business career is testimony to the power of optimism, daring to dream, ever in search of the Next Big Thing.As an ethnic Korean in Japan, Son has overcome adversity and discrimination to become Japan’s best-known businessman and empire-builder but he remains an elusive, intensely private figure. This book, by a former editor of the Financial Times, contains a wealth of new information and has had the co-operation of many of the key participants, including Son himself. Written with a verve appropriate to its subject, Gambling Man reveals the man behind the money, what drives him, why he matters, and what he plans for his next act.

Gambling Man

The Wild Ride of Japan’s Masayoshi Son

Sönke Iwersen

Michael Verfürden

Elon Musk, the self-appointed savior of civilization, the genius intent on leading us into a new age of electric vehicles, is one of the wealthiest people on the planet. But a whistleblower, a 100GB-leak of confidential Tesla documents and two investigative journalists reveal the frightening truth behind the façade: an unusually high number of workplace accidents in Musk’s factories, dangerous errors in Tesla's autopilot software, a culture of fear and deception, and countless broken promises. 
 
Through its chilling analysis of leaked internal Tesla data and court documents set alongside the astonishing first-hand accounts of employees, customers and their bereaved families, The Tesla Files is the definitive exposé of the world’s most powerful businessman and the rise and fall of his empire.

The Tesla Files

A whistleblower, a leak, a fight for truth: The Inside Story of Musk's Empire

Robert Iger

'One of the best business books I've read in years.' BILL GATES 
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 
_____________________________ 
 
A memoir of leadership and success: The CEO of Disney, widely recognized as one of the world’s most consequential business leaders, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life. 
 
Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger—think global—and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets. 
 
Today, Disney is the largest, most admired media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Under Iger’s leadership, Disney’s value grew nearly five times what it was, making Iger one of the most innovating and successful CEOs of our era. 
 
In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger answers the question: What are the qualities of a good leader? He shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including: 
 
• Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming. 
• Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity. 
• Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale. 
• Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them. 
 
This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger since the day he started. It’s also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology. 
 
'Bob Iger has not only lived up to ninety-six years of groundbreaking history but has moved the Disney brand far beyond anyone's expectations, and he has done it with grace and audacity. This books shows you how that happened.' STEVEN SPIELBERG

The Ride of a Lifetime

Lessons in Creative Leadership from the CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Lessons in Creative Leadership from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Jeremy Lewis

By founding Penguin Books in 1935 and popularizing the paperback, Allen Lane not only changed publishing in Britain – he was also at the forefront of a social and cultural revolution. 
 
In The Man Who Changed the Way We Read, Jeremy Lewis brings this extraordinary era brilliantly to life. Lane’s books gave millions of people access to what had previously been the preserve of a wealthy few; they alerted the public to the threat of Nazi Germany; and Penguin itself became a cherished national institution, much like the BBC and the NHS, whilst at the same time challenging the status quo through the famous Lady Chatterley case. 
 
This is the spellbinding story of how a complex, highly fallible man used his vision to change the world.

The Man Who Changed the Way We Read

The Story of Allen Lane and Penguin Books

A brand-new collection of previously unpublished episodes taken from the programme’s first four decades 
 
Shimmering like jewels on a velvet backcloth of world events, this collection presents 14 vintage episodes from BBC Radio 4’s long-running panel show, chaired by Barry Took and Simon HoggartJoining regular panelists Alan Coren, Richard Ingrams, Jeremy Hardy and Francis Wheen to sparkle humorously are guest players including Kate Adie, Peter Cook, Andy Hamilton, Tony Hawks, Ian Hislop, Armando Iannucci, Julia Langdon, Ann Leslie, Fred MacAulay, Stan McMurtrie, Eve Pollard, Oliver Pritchett, Steve Punt, Libby Purves, Gillian Reynolds, Gay Search, John Sergeant, Linda Smith, Mark Steel, Mark Steyn and Michael White. The original Radio 4 broadcast dates are 01/01/1981, 07/05/1983, 24/03/1984, 30/11/1989, 21/03/1992, 10/04/1993, 21/03/1998, 17/04/1998, 28/05/1999, 17/03/2000, 06/10/2000, 11/05/2001, 13/12/2002, 25/11/2005Cast and credits:Chaired by Barry Took & Simon HoggartFeaturing: Kate Adie, Peter Cook, Alan Coren, Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Tony Hawks, Ian Hislop, Armando Iannucci, Richard Ingrams, Julia Langdon, Ann Leslie, Fred MacAulay, Stan McMurtrie, Eve Pollard, Oliver Pritchett, Steve Punt, Libby Purves, Gillian Reynolds, Gay Search, John Sergeant, Linda Smith, Mark Steel, Mark Steyn, Francis Wheen, Michael WhiteNewsreaders: Corrie Corfield, Peter Donaldson, Eugene Fraser, Charlotte Green, John Marsh, Brian PerkinsProduced by Lucy Armitage, Jenny Campbell, Louise Coates, Danny Greenstone, Armando Iannucci, Simon Nicholls, Alan Nixon, Jon Rolph, Colin Swash, Katie TyrrellWritten by Debbie Barham, Paul Carenza, Dave Cohen, Rhodri Crooks, Tom Jamieson, John Langdon, Simon Littlefield, Paul McKenzie, Iain Pattinson, George Poles, Felix Riley, Hugh Ryecroft, Robert Fraser SteeleEpisode selection by Michael Stevens©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The News Quiz: Gems from the Archive

Highlights from the Topical Radio 4 Panel Show

Adam Smyth

The Book-Makers is a celebration of 550 years of the printed book, told through the lives of eighteen extraordinary men and women who took the book in radical new directions: printers and binders, publishers and artists, paper-makers and library founders. This is a story of skill, craft, mess, cunning, triumph, improvisation, and error.Some of these names we know. We meet jobbing printer (and American Founding Father) Benjamin Franklin. We watch Thomas Cobden-Sanderson conjure books that flicker between the early twentieth century and the fifteenth. Others have been forgotten. We don't remember Sarah Eaves, wife of John Baskerville, and her crucial contribution to the history of type. Nor Charles Edward Mudie, populariser of the circulating library – and the most influential figure in book publishing before Jeff Bezos. Nor William Wildgoose, who meticulously bound Shakespeare’s First Folio, and then disappeared from history.The Book-Makers puts people back into the story of the book. It takes you inside the print-shop as the deadline looms and the adrenaline flows – from 1492 Fleet Street to 2023 New York. It’s a story of contingencies and quirks, of successes and failures, of routes forward and paths not taken. The Book-Makers is a history of book-making that leaves ink on your fingers, and it shows why the printed book will continual to flourish.

The Book-Makers

A History of the Book in 18 Remarkable Lives

James Patterson

To be a bookseller or librarian . . . 
 
You have to play detective. 
 
Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. A brilliant listener. 
 
A person who creates a kind of magic by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, 'You've got to read this. You're going to love it'. 
 
In this love letter to the heroes of literacy, James Patterson uncovers true stories from booksellers and librarians. Prepare to enter a world where you can feed your curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever you need. 
 
Meet the smart and talented people who live between the shelves - and who can't wait to help you find your next great read. 
 
_________________________________ 
 
PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON 
 
'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD 
 
'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN 
 
'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON 
 
'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL 
 
'Patterson is in a class by himself' GUARDIAN

The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians

True stories of the magic of reading

Michael Lewis

The government is a vast, complex system that citizens pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It's also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it's made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone.Michael Lewis invited his favourite writers to find someone doing an interesting job for the government and write about them in a special in-depth series for the Washington Post. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.Whether they're digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Expanding on the Washington Post series, the vivid profiles in Who Is Government? blow up the stereotype of the irrelevant bureaucrat. They show how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.

Who is Government?

The Untold Story of Public Service

Earl Slick

Jeff Slate

You might not have heard of Earl Slick, but you've heard him play guitar. 
 
In 1974 I got a call from a British guy called David Bowie. I wasn't really that familiar with his work, but I thought, what the hell? 
 
I'm sitting like a jerk for a couple minutes and then in walks this spooky-ass looking guy with bright red hair and no eyebrows. He was dressed the way an English rock star might think a Harlem pimp would dress. Whoa. David was definitely the strangest cat I'd ever seen, and I'd been around some off-the-wall characters. He had his guitar with him and I had a jacket with a bottle of brandy inside one pocket and my vial in the other. We drank, played for a while...and that's where it all started. 
 
That fateful day launched Earl Slick's career as rock and roll's gun for hire. Most famous for being Bowie's sideman, Slick has played with everyone from John Lennon to Eric Clapton, and with bands from The Cure to the New York Dolls. 
 
A fly on the wall for the last 50 years of rock and roll history, Earl Slick is the most famous guitarist you've never heard of. And he's got the stories to prove it. 
 
'Mean ass blues for a skinny ass white guy' - Buddy Guy

Guitar

Edward Stourton

Brought face to face with the author of his obituary and his own inevitable mortality, Edward Stourton is prompted to reflect on the life he has led and the events that have shaped him. 
 
Ed was born into a life of privilege: the son of expat parents in colonial Nigeria, he was sent back to Britain to be educated by Benedictine monks at Ampleforth, at the time when, it was latter revealed, the school and monastery were the setting for serial abuse cases. He then went up to Cambridge, where his life as an undergraduate gave him access to a network of future ministers, judges and newspaper editors. As a young journalist he reported first from party conferences and picket lines and then from war zones, witnessing the events making international headlines, from Haiti to Hong Kong, before returning home to join the infighting on BBC Radio 4's Today. 
 
During this time, the Empire has given way to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, men-only clubs have been replaced by Me Too, and instead of a choice selection of voices on a handful of radio and television channels, we have millions of voices on YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok. 
 
The world has changed, and so has Ed. In Confessions, he describes this remarkable journey with candour, humour and the insight that only forty years' experience of writing and reporting can provide.

Confessions

John Gradwell

Hilarious series about life in Butterthwaite's local newspaper office Laugh out loud as you listen to this six-part satirical comedy series about a hapless news reporter trying to make his way in the tight-knit Butterthwaite community – starring Robert Beck and Jeffrey Holland, with guest appearances by Mark Gatiss and Peter SerafinowiczGraham Carpenter has big dreams of being a serious journalist, but he doesn’t quite have the skills to match. Starting a new job as local cub reporter for the Butterthwaite newspaper is Graham’s big chance. With pad and pencil in hand, he’s willing and ready - what could possibly go wrong?Follow Graham’s (mis)adventures as he tries to land the ultimate scoop. In the first week of the job he gets a lucky break and an unexpected story lead when there’s whispers of royalty coming to town, but can he get the front page? Celebrity visits, new museum openings and all manner of local scandal and gossip make for challenging work and Graham becomes increasingly frustrated. It’s a steep learning curve for the roving reporter whose pursuit of an exclusive remains elusive… Cast and creditsWritten by John GradwellProduced by Kathy SmithGraham Carpenter - Robert BeckBert Ball - Jeffrey Holland 
Brenda Thistlethwaite - Frances Jeater 
Arnold Beasley - David Ryall 
Vicky Cox - Sue Devaney 
Lawrence Stevens - Dean WilliamsonAll other parts played by Rachel Atkins, Mark Gatiss, Peter Serafinowicz, Peter Silverleaf, Dave Lamb, Margaret Stallard and Carolyn BonnymanFirst Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 May - 26 June 1996©2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Are You From the Bugle?

A BBC Radio 4 Satirical Comedy Series

Katie Hims

All six episodes of the BBC radio sitcom about a former nun who takes a job with a chaotic catering company 
 
Looking for a sign from God, nun Martina leaves her convent and becomes a temporary chef &ndash; only to walk straight into a catering crisis of epic proportions. Valentine&rsquo;s Viennese Patisserie supplies classy Austrian snacks for corporate events, but now their pastry cook has left, no-one knows how to make any of the delicacies they&rsquo;re offering. And that&rsquo;s not their only problem &ndash; they&rsquo;re also being chased by clients, up to their necks in bills and cancellations, and stuck with a clapped-out delivery van that keeps breaking down. 
 
When owner Kingsley does a runner, owing &pound;2500, it seems like the last straw. Left in the lurch, his brother Jimmy has just six weeks to get the money together. Then Martina has a brainwave: why not rename the company Bangers and Mash, and serve up sausages and pies instead of patisserie? Helped by kitchen assistant Juan Jose, she and Jimmy are soon producing food that wows even the pickiest customers &ndash; but just as they&rsquo;re turning things around, the toffee tin containing half the company&rsquo;s profits goes missing. With only three days to go till they have to pay up, it&rsquo;ll take a miracle to save their bacon&hellip; 
 
Scripted by award-winning dramatist Katie Hims (Home Front, 24 Kildare Road), this flavourful comedy drama stars Catherine Harvey as Martina, with Mark Straker as Kingsley, Gerard McDermott as Jimmy and Roger May as Juan Jose. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Katie Hims 
Directed by Catherine Horn 
 
Cast 
Martina &ndash; Catherine Harvey 
Kingsley &ndash; Mark Straker 
Jimmy &ndash; Gerard McDermott 
Juan Jose &ndash; Roger May 
Mrs Olney &ndash; Marlene Sidaway 
Carol &ndash; Jane Whittenshaw 
Health Inspector &ndash; Anthony Zaki 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 11 Jan-15 Feb 1999 
 
&copy; 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Bangers and Mash

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Series

Jane Martinson

You May Never See Us Again is the definitive story of David and Frederick Barclay - commonly known as the Barclay brothers. Born poor, these enigmatic twins built one of the biggest fortunes in Britain together and spent six decades at the epicentre of British business, media and politics. Their empire, said to be worth &pound;7bn at its height, included Littlewoods, the Ritz, The Daily Telegraph and the channel island of Brecqhou. 
 
And yet despite their fortune and influence, the Barclays' desire for privacy meant that their story has remained largely unknown - until a very public family dispute pitched Barclay against Barclay in the High Court. 
 
Journalist Jane Martinson unravels the fascinating story of these once inseparable brothers. Through their lives she offers compelling insights into post-war Britain, from the conditions that enabled their way of doing business to thrive through to the tightly enmeshed webs of influence between capitalism, politics and the media that shape Britain today.

You May Never See Us Again

The Barclay Dynasty: A Story of Survival, Secrecy and Succession

Jeff Horwitz

Facebook had a problem. Along with its sister platforms Instagram and WhatsApp, it was a daily destination for billions of users around the world, extolling its products for connecting people. But as a succession of scandals rocked Facebook from 2016, some began to question whether the company could control, or even understood, its own platforms. 
 
As Facebook employees searched for answers, what they uncovered was worse than they could've imagined. The problems ran far deeper than politics. Facebook was peddling and amplifying anger, looking the other way at human trafficking, enabling drug cartels and authoritarians and allowing VIP users to break the platform's supposedly inviolable rules. 
 
It turned out to be eminently possible to isolate many of Facebook's worst problems, but whenever employees offered solutions their work was consistently delayed, watered down or stifled by a company that valued user engagement above all else. The only option left was to blow the whistle. 
 
In Broken Code, award-winning Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz tells the riveting inside story of these employees and their explosive discoveries, uncovering the shocking cost of Facebook's blind ambition in the process.

Broken Code

Inside Facebook and the fight to expose its toxic secrets

Kay Barron

How to Wear Everything is a celebration of clothes; of wearing what works for you, despite what the trends say; of finding that ever-elusive perfect pair of jeans. 
 
What we wear matters. Because looking, and therefore feeling, like yourself is essential. Clothes have the power to make your mood ten times worse or one hundred times better. 
 
Alongside words of wisdom from fashion icons including Sarah Jessica Parker, Law Roach, Monica Bellucci and Sofia Richie Grainge, NET-A-PORTER's Fashion Director Kay Barron shares the expertise she has gleaned from over two decades in the fashion industry, and reveals its best-kept secret: getting dressed is not that hard.

How to Wear Everything

Zahra Hankir

'Fascinating' Nigella Lawson 
'Awe-inspiring' Funmi Fetto 
'A treat to read' Kassia St Clair 
 
A Sunday Times Style Barometer and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Pick 
 
For centuries, humans have been drawn to lining our eyes. The aesthetic trademark of icons from Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse, eyeliner is one of our most enduring cosmetic tools: ancient royals and Gen Z influencers alike have harnessed its power. 
 
Through Zahra Hankir&rsquo;s kohl-lined eyes, this ubiquitous product becomes proof of the stunning variety among cultures across time and space. Exploring intimate conversations &ndash; with Chadian nomads, Japanese geisha, Indian dancers, New York&rsquo;s drag queens and more &ndash; Eyeliner embraces the profound significance of its namesake, especially among communities of colour. 
 
What emerges is a delightful and unexpectedly moving journey through streets and stages around the world, and a stirring reclamation of a key piece of our collective history. 
 
Featuring stunning portrait illustrations by Mercedes deBellard

Eyeliner

A Cultural History

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

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