The Bibliofilles

The Bibliofilles began, as all great modern love stories do, on Facebook during Lockdown. Sophie asked for a recommendation. Chaya prescribed The Song of Achilles. A DM became a dialogue; a dialogue became @thebibiliofilles; and now, finally, a podcast. Chaya is a barrister, Sophie a former editor. We read across all genres and trends, from classics and non fiction, to contemporary fiction, romantasy and everything in between. The Bibliofilles: The Podcast is life through books, where we get to ruminate beyond the reviews and reels, with thematic episodes, academic deep dives, classics, cult favourites and viral sensations. There will be a book club built for those of us who never quite fit the mould. (with a twist, naturally).

The Bibliofilles is a arts podcast hosted by Hosted by Sophie and Chaya, with 34 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Hosted by Sophie and Chaya hosts The Bibliofilles, a arts show with 34 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  The Bibliofilles

  Undercover With The Far Right

  Sep 28, 202643 min

  What happens when you go undercover inside the far right and discover how easily dangerous ideas can become normalised? In this episode of The Bibliofilles, Sophie and Chaya dive into Harry Shukman’s The Year of the Rat, a gripping work of investigative nonfiction that follows Shukman as he spends more than a year undercover inside far-right groups using a hidden camera and the alias “Chris.” From secret pub meetings and Holocaust denial to loneliness, online radicalisation and the communities that draw people into extremist movements, Sophie and Chaya explore what Shukman discovered while moving between nine different groups. The conversation also takes a deeper look at some of the book’s most unsettling themes, including eugenics, IVF, falling birth rates, embryo screening, Silicon Valley funding and the ways dangerous ideas can be presented as completely ordinary. They discuss the morality of undercover journalism, the psychological tension of gaining the trust of people whose beliefs you fundamentally oppose, and Shukman’s own conflict over whether he was helping the very groups he was investigating. The episode also explores the book’s criticisms, including arguments that Shukman’s definition of the far right is too broad, before comparing The Year of the Rat with Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and its themes of identity, disguise and living a double life. Books Mentioned The Year of the Rat by Harry Shukman https://link.amazon/B0iHxjhnC The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde https://link.amazon/B0ff8BFt1 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee https://link.amazon/B0jd1dgu5 Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee https://link.amazon/B009dtWNa The Odyssey by Homer https://link.amazon/B009dtWNa What do you think draws people towards extremist communities? And can dangerous ideas become normal simply because they are presented in a convincing or familiar way? Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more bookish conversations, literary debates, book recommendations and deep dives with Chaya & Sophie. If you love books, reading, literature, nonfiction, investigative journalism, classic novels, contemporary fiction and literary discussions, make sure you're subscribed to The Bibliofilles. #TheBibliofilles #BookPodcast #TheYearOfTheRat #HarryShukman #Books #BookTok #BookTube #Literature #Reading #BookRecommendations #Nonfiction #LiteraryPodcast #OscarWilde #DorianGray Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  The Bibliofilles

  You Won’t Believe These Are Real Books

  Sep 21, 202649 min

  Is fiction getting weirder? This week on Bibliofilles, Chaya and Sophie dive into the wonderfully strange world of weird books, exploring some of the most bizarre, surreal and completely unexpected stories they’ve come across. From women falling in love with bears, planes and even a front door, to characters transforming into insects, dogs and other creatures, there are some books where the premise alone makes you stop and think: how did someone even come up with this? Chaya and Sophie unpack what makes these stories so strange, why authors are drawn to the bizarre, and whether there’s something about weird fiction that makes certain books impossible to forget. Expect bizarre plots, unconventional romances, surreal storytelling and plenty of books that are almost impossible to explain to someone who hasn’t read them. What’s the weirdest book you’ve ever read? Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more bookish conversations with Sophie & Chaya. #Bibliofilles #BookPodcast #BookRecommendations #WeirdBooks #StrangeBooks #FictionBooks #BookClub #BookTok #BookTube #LiteraryFiction Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  The Bibliofilles

  You Know the Book. You Don't Know Its Real Name.

  Sep 14, 202653 min

  Why are some of the most famous books in history called what they are? And what if they had kept their original titles? In this episode of The Bibliofilles, Sophie and Chaya dive into the fascinating world of book titles, literary titles and the stories behind them including famous novels that were almost given completely different names. From The Secret History originally being considered as The God of Illusions, to Pride and Prejudice almost becoming First Impressions, 1984 being considered as The Last Man in Europe, and To Kill a Mockingbird nearly being called Atticus, we explore how much a title can change the way we see a book. They also look at the phenomenon of the "title drop",  those brilliant moments when you suddenly realise why a book has been given its name and how titles can become bigger than the books themselves. Plus, we're joined by bestselling author Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss and Sophie, Staring There, to talk about how she creates her book titles, why Sophie, Staring There was originally called Lilac, and how much a title can shape the writing process. Books Mentioned The Secret History by Donna Tartt https://link.amazon/B047aiP9D Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen https://link.amazon/B09p14rnN Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell https://link.amazon/B0iGu7djN To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee https://link.amazon/B0eifZY86 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald https://link.amazon/B00UOOQrx War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy https://link.amazon/B0g0z2BY5 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett https://link.amazon/B0cFQ407B Dracula by Bram Stoker https://link.amazon/B00bOgUH9 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll https://link.amazon/B03bkVwbD Catch-22 by Joseph Heller https://link.amazon/B06WOa116 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson https://link.amazon/B0jgs2dCs Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck https://link.amazon/B07Py3TA1 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell https://link.amazon/B00ha1Vmk Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling https://link.amazon/B0jaN8TpF Northern Lights by Philip Pullman https://link.amazon/B090VVmIb Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick https://link.amazon/B0iRJO5dn Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason https://link.amazon/B09A20K1h Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason https://link.amazon/B0dJ9P7fW What’s a book title that you think is absolutely perfect? And what book do you think should have had a completely different name? Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more bookish conversations, literary debates, book recommendations and deep dives with Chaya & Sophie. If you love books, reading, literature, classic novels, contemporary fiction, book recommendations and literary trivia, make sure you're subscribed to The Bibliofilles. #TheBibliofilles #BookPodcast #BookTok #BookTube #BookClub #Books #Reading #Literature #BookRecommendations #BookLovers #Bookish #LiteraryPodcast #ClassicBooks #ContemporaryFiction #MegMason Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  The Bibliofilles

  The Syllabus Exposed: Who’s Really Behind It?

  Sep 7, 202643 min

  In this episode of The Bibliofilles, Sophie and Chaya are back from their summer holidays with their September Book Club picks — The Year of the Rat by Harry Shukman and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde — before diving into a much bigger question: who actually decides what we read? Inspired by new developments in Texas, where a mandatory school reading list includes more than 200 texts alongside Bible passages, Sophie and Chaya explore the politics of education, literary syllabuses and the power that comes with deciding which books students are exposed to. They look back at their own experiences of studying English, from The Great Gatsby, Frankenstein and War Poetry to The Go-Between, and ask whether students should have more choice over the books they study. The conversation then takes a deeper turn into university funding, foreign donations and the influence money can have on education, research and academic institutions. How much influence should donors have? Where does university funding come from? And can we really separate money, politics and what gets taught? Plus, Sophie and Chaya reveal the books they think should be on everyone's syllabus, including Toni Morrison, The Secret History, Giovanni's Room, Never Let Me Go, 1984 and more. Is there really such a thing as a neutral syllabus? And who gets to decide what the next generation reads? Books Mentioned The Year of the Rat by Harry Shukman https://link.amazon/B04jA3HWV The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde https://link.amazon/B0bUQ9I4G To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee https://link.amazon/B0gNt1tL0 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas https://link.amazon/B0awcdlLf Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington https://link.amazon/B0bGQuaRH The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare https://link.amazon/B0cEz42Jj Great Expectations by Charles Dickens https://link.amazon/B01PWmQRu Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White https://link.amazon/B0hPvrxRS Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck https://link.amazon/B0dxjifSF The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope https://link.amazon/B0iNQ493Z Sula by Toni Morrison https://link.amazon/B025v28K1 Beloved by Toni Morrison https://link.amazon/B04pm2BVP The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald https://link.amazon/B064Bls4P The Secret History by Donna Tartt https://link.amazon/B0iBtIh8V Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin https://link.amazon/B06CMKsOs Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro https://link.amazon/B05B8w9ik Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell https://link.amazon/B04hFuY1N Frankenstein by Mary Shelley https://link.amazon/B0c6tqJ31 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel https://link.amazon/B0bVI15Aa Mythos by Stephen Fry https://link.amazon/B0cfHtSmF I, Claudius by Robert Graves https://link.amazon/B01YLuLg1 Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall https://link.amazon/B01ofGRPf One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez https://link.amazon/B0bQKuN04 The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien https://link.amazon/B01V4NdmR Translations by Brian Friel https://link.amazon/B013y1XWF The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank https://link.amazon/B0gxXgiSi Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell https://link.amazon/B05EuH7Yh September Book Club Picks: The Year of the Rat — Harry Shukman The Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar Wilde Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more bookish conversations with Chaya & Sophie. #TheBibliofilles #BookPodcast #BookTok #BookClub #ReadingList #Literature #Books #Education #BookRecommendations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  The Bibliofilles

  Luke Kennard: His Big Chance To Do Absolutely Nothing

  Aug 31, 202632 min

  We sat down with Professor Luke Kennard to talk about Black Bag, our July Book Club pick, and honestly we're still thinking about it. Luke is a poet, novelist and critic. His collection Cane was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize, Notes on the Sonnets won the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2021, and his debut novel The Transition was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime pick. He's now a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of Birmingham, and somehow also finds time to review for the London Review of Books, the Telegraph, the Poetry Review and the TLS. Black Bag follows an out of work actor who gets paid to sit inside a black leather bag as part of a psychology experiment, based on a real 1967 study into the "mere exposure effect", the idea that we come to like almost anything just by being repeatedly exposed to it. Luke told us where the idea actually came from, how a footnote in a completely unrelated academic paper turned into an obsession, and why he was determined to make the costume weirder than the original. We talked about writing male vulnerability without writing a manosphere book, why the majority experience of a creative life is frustration rather than success, and what it's like judging his students' work while sending his own out to be judged in exactly the same way. In this episode we chat about: The real experiment behind Black Bag, and the mere exposure effect Writing a passive protagonist who denies his own agency Masculinity, emotional dysregulation, and writing men without being didactic about it ✍️ Why failure, not success, is the real story of a creative life Teaching creative writing at Birmingham while his own work gets rejected too Anne Carson's influence on the shape and rhythm of the book Head over to Substack for the extended cut, we've got a bonus quick fire round with Luke that didn't make the main episode. Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more bookish conversations with Chaya & Sophie. #LukeKennard #BlackBag #BookTok #BookClub #AuthorInterview #ContemporaryFiction #BritishFiction Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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