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Hosted by Charles Pignal · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 116 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
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. If you're like me, you love literature – but maybe aren't always sure what you should be reading. The aim of this podcast is to make literature exciting and accessible; in each episode writers, artists, and other interesting people are giving real recommendations, to help you discover new books and authors off the beaten track. Here at Lit With Charles, every book has a story to tell.
Charles Pignal hosts Lit with Charles, a arts show with 116 episodes published.
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 acr
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,
It was such a pleasure today to be joined by Olivia Kate Menzies - aka Liv - for this Season 3 finale, as we looked back on what has been a rich and varied run of conversations on Lit With Charles. Liv has played a key r
It was such a pleasure today to speak with the novelist Andrew Miller, one of Britain’s most accomplished contemporary writers, whose career now spans more than three decades and ten novels. Andrew joined me from South S
This week on Lit With Charles, Liv — who has worked on the podcast for quite a while now — steps in to interview novelist and dramaturg Sarvat Hasin, author of the new novel Strange Girls. Sarvat is a British-Pakistani w
It was such a pleasure today to interview a novelist I have known for many years, though not at the time as a novelist at all. Philippa Malicka and I first met about fifteen years ago in Delhi, when we were both living i
Leïla Slimani, author of "The Country of Others" & "Watch Us Dance" Leila Slimani is a highly acclaimed French-Moroccan author who has written some absolutely fantastic novels over the last few years. She burst into the
In this relaxed Q&A episode, Charles answers listeners’ questions about his reading life, from how he structures his days around books to the different rhythms that shape how he approaches “easy” versus “demanding” reads
Invention and re-invention are themes that are set deep in the American psyche and the American novel. My guest today is the American novelist JR Thornton, author of the upcoming novel “Lucien” to be published next month
In this episode, I’m joined by Lucy Caldwell, ahead of the publication of her new short story collection Devotions, due out in April 2026. We may be early to the party, but this conversation offers a rich introduction to
Content warning: this episode discusses sexual assault and feminicide in detail and may be distressing for some listeners. Please take care while listening and step away if needed. In this episode, I’m joined by Swiss no
In today’s episode, I look at the 5 best books that I’ve read in 2025. I’m pleased to say that this is an eclectic list of books which covers a lot of different genres so there’s something for everybody! What are some of
In this episode of Lit with Charles, Charles welcomes British writer Manish Chauhan to celebrate the lead-up to his debut novel Belgrave Road (out with Faber in January). Set in Leicester, the book traces the intersectin
I’m joined today by Cosima Carnegie, better known on social media as Cosi’s Odyssey: a classicist, writer, and creative producer whose work brings Greek myth and ritual into the present through essays, videos, and immers
I’m joined this week by writer and journalist Ilya Gridneff, whose career has taken him from Sydney to South Sudan and now to the Financial Times bureau in Canada. We talk about his first work of fiction, Your Name Here,
Today’s a very special day for this podcast. After three years, and a whole lot of work, we’ve arrived at huge milestone – the 100th episode of the Lit With Charles podcast. After 99 conversations where I’m the one askin
In this episode of Lit With Charles, I speak with writer, translator, and Chekhov expert Rosamund Bartlett about her new translation of Anton Chekhov’s Early Stories. We talk about how Anton Chekhov - the Russian doctor
On Lit with Charles, we usually dive into novels, short stories, and poetry - but in this episode, we’re doing something a little radical. From the longest literary forms to one of the shortest: the aphorism. An aphorism
This week on the podcast, we’re joined by Bolivian author Liliana Colanzi, one of the most exciting new voices in Latin American horror. Her latest short story collection, You Glow in the Dark (2022), recently translated
This week I’m speaking with award-winning British author Tessa Hadley about her newest novella, The Party. Set in postwar Bristol, it follows two sisters over a single weekend as they move through a series of gatherings
Andrew Miller
Link Crew Coordinator/Science Teacher · Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College
1 appearance on this show
James Geary
author, lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School
1 appearance on this show
Richard Scott
former New York Red Bulls & NYCFC Academy Coach · Genomics England
1 appearance on this show
Tom McCarthy
Chief Distribution Officer · DPL Financial Partners
1 appearance on this show
Ed Park
OB-GYN turned regenerative medicine specialist · Devoted Health
1 appearance on this show
Aatish Taseer
author of "A Return to Self"
1 appearance on this show
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
acclaimed Nigerian author, poet, feminist, social commentator
1 appearance on this show
Tom Ayling
Jonkers Rare Books
1 appearance on this show
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Lit with Charles is hosted by Charles Pignal. The show is categorised under arts (books) and has published 116 episodes.
Lit with Charles has published 116 episodes.
Lit with Charles regularly covers arts, books. It sits in the arts category, with a books focus.
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