We’re back with a brand new series of the Read Smart podcast! In this episode, Prize Executive Director Toby Mundy speaks with Author Frances Wilson, shortlisted for the 2025 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction with her new book Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark.
Frances Wilson unravels the life of Muriel Spark - novelist, poet, Catholic convert and master of literary mischief, whose life often echoed the plots of her fiction. From wartime propaganda and blackmail to creative reinvention, this conversation explores Spark’s uncanny connection between art and experience.
Listen now to hear all about it. This podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. To keep up with all of our Prize news year-round, follow @BGPrize on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube.
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Read Smart: The 2024 Winner
Tune into the final Read Smart podcast of the year, where Georgina Godwin speaks to the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024 winner, Richard Flanagan. Hear more from Richard about his origins as an author, alongside how the events from both history and his personal life inspired the ‘chain reactions’ explored throughout Question 7.
Listen now to hear all about it. This podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. To keep up with all of our Prize news all year round, follow @BGPrize on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube.
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Read Smart: Viet Thanh Nguyen
Tune into our final 'In Conversation' podcast, where we chat to Việt Thanh Nguyễn, who has been shortlisted for his book, A Man of Two Faces, which masterfully intertwines personal and historical narratives with humour and lyricism. Nguyễn's work reflects on memory, the duality of identity, and the American experience.
Listen now to hear all about it. This podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. To keep up with all of our Prize news all year round, follow @BGPrize on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.
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Read Smart: David Van Reybrouck
Join us for the next episode of The Read Smart podcast, as we welcome David Van Reybrouck, acclaimed author of Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World. Revolusi, a bestseller in the Netherlands and now shortlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize, offers a gripping narrative of Indonesia's fight for independence and its impact on global decolonisation. Discover the untold stories of a revolution that reshaped the 20th century.
Listen now to hear all about it. This podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. To keep up with all of our Prize news year round, follow @BGPrize on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube.
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Read Smart: Richard Flanagan
Tune into our next 'In Conversation' podcast, where we chat to Richard Flanagan, who has been shortlisted for his brilliant book, Question 7. From the affair between H.G. Wells and Rebecca West to developments in 1930s nuclear physics, Flanagan has crafted a poignant love song to his island home, his parents, and the haunting echoes of the past in this book. Through a hypnotic blend of dream, history, science, and memory, he reveals how our lives are often shaped by the stories of others and the narratives we create about ourselves.
Listen now to hear all about it. This podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. To keep up with all of our Prize news all year round, follow @BGPrize on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.
The Read Smart Podcast is hosted by Razia Iqbal, John L. Weinberg Professor at Princeton University, produced by The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The new series builds on last year’s successful podcasts released to celebrate the prize’s 21st anniversary.
Each month, Razia explores the increasingly popular world of non-fiction books. Expect to hear from prize winning authors, judges and publishing insiders. It also goes behind the scenes of the 2020 prize, which is awarded this autumn.
For more information, visit thebailliegiffordprize.co.uk and follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @BGPrize
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