The Hatchards Podcast

On this episode, we’re joined by Julian Sancton, the investigative journalist and author of Neptune’s Fortune, which brings us into the world of 20th-century treasure hunting and the search for a Spanish galleon containing over a billion pounds’ worth of gold and silver. At the center of this story is Roger Dooley, a larger-than-life Cuban American archaeologist who dedicated his life to finding it.

Julian tells us how he gained access to this world of colourful characters, why stories of the sea continue to motivate his writing life, and how he shaped a story that combines adventure, geopolitics, and centuries of maritime history.

Hosted by Ryan Edgington.

On this episode, we’re joined by an art world institution –– the American sculptor, Tom Sachs.
He joins us to discuss The Tom Sachs Guide, a visual retrospective of his work which aims to both contextualise and demystify his unique way of seeing the world, as well as the creative inspirations and working methods that drive his famous studio.
What motivates Tom’s work, and indeed this conversation, is the idea of contradiction.
By turning iconic brands into bricolage sculptures like ‘Prada Toilet’ or ‘Chanel Guillotine,’ he shows us how the aesthetic beauty of luxury objects can sit alongside their effects on consumer culture, without one idea essentially neutralising the other. It’s a refreshing perspective in today’s world of increased polarisation, and one that makes Tom a uniquely compelling guest.
His enormous body of work, which includes everything from sought-after Nike trainers to a full-scale replica of an Apollo spacecraft, has attracted both significant praise and some controversy throughout his near-40-year career.
Hosted by Ryan Edgington.

On this episode, we’re joined by the novelist Maggie O’Farrell to discuss the new film adaptation of her 2020 novel Hamnet, which she co-wrote with the film’s Oscar-winning director, Chloé Zhao.

Maggie speaks with us about what it means to see a book reimagined for the screen without losing any of its tactility or emotional power, and how the collaborative process expanded rather than narrowed her understanding of the original work. For her, this was not a matter of surrendering her novel to the big screen, but of discovering new ways to open out a story she thought she was finished with.

We also discuss the film’s extraordinary ensemble cast, including Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, and Jacobi Jupe; how the film’s director created a visual language to frame the historical experience as something rooted in the present tense; and Maggie’s reflections on the strange prescience of this plague story being originally released in March 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hosted by Ryan Edgington.

On this episode, we were joined by the writer, art historian, and host of The Great Women Artists podcast, Katy Hessel.
Katy’s new book How to Live an Artful Life is a collection of 366 inspirations from her favourite artists and writers, designed to motivate readers to find creativity, beauty, and meaning in everyday life. Many of the ideas in the book stem from her acclaimed podcast, where Katy speaks to artists, curators, and thinkers whose work continues to expand our understanding of art history.
Needless to say, there’s a certain meta quality to this conversation, as we compared notes on the art of conversation itself — as well as London, museums, childhood inspirations, and the influence of other books about creativity by figures such as Julia Cameron.
Katy first appeared on this podcast back in August 2022, just before the release of her groundbreaking debut The Story of Art Without Men, a book that redefined the canon and changed the course of her career. It began a conversation that has led to collaborations with museums, galleries, and artists around the world. Her new collection distills these experiences into a vibrant companion for anyone seeking a more artful way of living.
Hosted by Ryan Edgington.

On this episode, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Olivia Laing to discuss their extraordinary new novel, The Silver Book, which has been selected as a Hatchards Book of the Month for November.
Set amid the turbulence of Italy’s Years of Lead, the novel is full of rich and deliberate contradictions: it’s a love story coloured by political extremism; a journey through Rome’s legendary film studio, Cinecittà, that sidesteps glamour in favour of the artisans and craftspeople who brought cinematic illusions to life. At its heart is a character who recalls Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley, though driven more by naïveté than malice.
Olivia spoke with us about the deep immersion in Italian history and culture that informed their writing, and about the figures of Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini — both major characters in the novel — whose contrasting creative visions shaped modern Italian art and cinema. They also reflected on how Italy’s fraught political history continues to resonate today, offering unexpected parallels with contemporary Britain.
Hosted by Ryan Edgington and Matt Hennessey.