HeyJaredLit with Charles
Welcome to Lit With Charles, a podcast on all things literary! I'm Charles Pignal, and every fortnight I’m asking guests about the four books which have made the biggest impact on their lives and work.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 4
- Latest publication
- Sep 21, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 16, 2026
Latest episodes
James Bond, Werewolves, and Reading 100 Books a Year (opens the original)
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This week, Charles and Liv discuss Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only, Clarice Lispector’s strange and brilliant The Hour of the Star, and why some books are better read like poetry. They also uncover John Steinbeck’s unpublished werewolf novel and debate whether authors’ work should ever be published against their wishes. Plus, they answer a listener question: what would you change about contemporary book culture? From endless “best books” lists to the pressure to read 100 books a year, Charles a
Sartre, Spies, and How to Read More (opens the original)
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Welcome to a new season of Lit With Charles , and a new format, as Charles is joined by co-host Liv for a weekly conversation about books, reading and the literary world. This week, they discuss Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit , Javier Marías’s Tomás Nevinson , and the surprising history of the CIA using literature as Cold War propaganda, including Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago . Plus, they answer a listener question: how do you encourage someone to read more? From putting down your phone to simpl
Santanu Bhattacharya, author of "Deviants" (opens the original)
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This week, Charles is joined by acclaimed novelist Santanu Bhattacharya. Santanu is one of the most exciting emerging voices in contemporary British fiction. Raised in India and now based in London, with eight cities across three countries in between, he is the author of the acclaimed novels One Small Voice and Deviants (2025). His writing explores identity, belonging, family, masculinity, and queer experience with remarkable warmth, intelligence, and emotional depth. Together, they explore quee
Sir Ben Okri, author of “The Famished Road” and “Waking the Warriors” (opens the original)
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Today, Charles speaks with one of Britain’s most esteemed authors, the novelist and poet Sir Ben Okri. Sir Ben first shot to international fame in 1991 with The Famished Road , which won the Booker Prize that same year, making him the youngest-ever winner at the time, at just 32. Since then, he has published more than twenty books spanning novels, poetry, short stories, essays and plays, including Songs of Enchantment , Astonishing the Gods , Dangerous Love , The Age of Magic and The Freedom Art
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