Welcome to The Reader Podcast. The Reader is a national charity bringing about a Reading Revolution so that everyone can experience and enjoy great literature, which we believe is a tool for helping humans survive and live well. Through our global Shared Reading movement, powered by 1,000 volunteers and many partnerships, we bring thousands of people together every month through weekly Shared Reading groups. Our podcast is for anyone who loves books and believes they can be powerful tools for change, and wants to hear more of the powerful, personal responses that reading can provide. It will feature great guests, conversations and thoughts about books and reading, and show how reading together improves wellbeing, strengthens communities and sparks the change needed in the world. The Reader is a registered charity and we rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations to help us change lives through Shared Reading around the UK. Please visit www.thereader.org.uk to donate and find out how you can get involved with our work. We are grateful for the kind support of our core funders Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Fund, the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and the Steve Morgan Foundation.
Episodes
Sunday Dec 03, 2023
Sunday Dec 03, 2023
Today's poem is 'After Rain' by Edward Thomas. It's read by Abi Blackburn from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
Today's poem is 'Bleak Weather' by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It's read by Jen Jarman from The Reader.
Friday Dec 01, 2023
Friday Dec 01, 2023
Today's poem is 'Under This Sky' by Zia Hyder translated from Bengali by Bhabani Sengupta and Naomi Shihab Nye. It's read by Rachael Elliott from The Reader.
From 'Under This Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World' ed.Naomi Shihab Nye.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Friday Nov 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
The Bromley by Bow Centre in London is a unique community centre, charity and community research project that seeks to offer people a wide variety of services based on their individual needs – from medical help, to job support, meeting people or learning a new skill. The centre was a model and inspiration for The Reader’s own headquarters at Calderstones Mansion House in Liverpool. Rob Trimble is a patron of The Reader and was until recently the Chief Executive of Bromley by Bow, and he joins The Reader’s George Hawkins to talk about how we can create spaces for human beings to find meaning, connection and hope.
The Bromley by Bow Centre website
Bromley by Bow featured on ‘The Truth About... Improving Your Mental Health’ on BBC One
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
On 14th September 2023 Batsford Books will publish an handsome new anthology, A Poem to Read Aloud Every Day of the Year. This anthology has been compiled by Liz Ison who has volunteered or worked for The Reader for many years, running a variety of Shared Reading groups both in person and online. The Reader’s Director of Literature, Katie Clark, spoke to Liz about her reading life, how that’s been influenced by Shared Reading, and the genesis of this anthology. During their chat they read aloud from the collection and delve into the mysteries and magic of reading aloud.
A Poem to Read Aloud Every Day of the Year at Bookshop.org
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Episode 14 – Heritage and Literature
In this episode, staff from The Reader take us on an audio tour of The Reader’s Liverpool home, Calderstones Mansion House in Calderstones Park. We learn a little about the history of the Mansion and the ancient monument that gives the house and park its name, and listen to literature that brings those spaces and their former inhabitants to life.
This episode is the first of several about The Reader’s two-year heritage project, Making Meaning at Calderstones, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, during which we are uncovering and telling the stories of Calderstones as a significant place of meaning-making.
Read more about Calderstones Mansion House
An interactive map of Calderstones Park
Making Meaning at Calderstones: The Reader’s Heritage project
Time Traveller’s Shared Reading group
The Silence Living in Houses by Esther Morgan
‘A Muse in Livery’ by Robert Dodsley
Monday Mar 06, 2023
Monday Mar 06, 2023
Isobel from The Reader meets Neil Griffiths, educational consultant, author and storyteller. Their conversation ranged over Neil’s childhood, growing up with a father who read bedtime stories every night, to his time as a head-teacher working hard to engage parents and teachers, and on to advising governments on education and the importance of reading. What shines through all is Neil’s passionate belief in the benefits of reading aloud to children.
Purchase Issue 76 of The Reader magazine from our online shop
The Reader’s interactive story space in Liverpool
Collected Poems by Elizabeth Jennings
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
This episode will be released on 13th December, which is celebrated by some as St Lucy’s Day, a festival of light. On our ‘Light and Darkness’-themed Reader bookshelf this year is Katherine May’s Wintering, a compassionate, curious, wide-ranging book which describes a phase of life that comes to us all at some point, and shows what respite and renewal can be found even through the darkest times. Katherine May was our guest at Gravity festival in October, speaking to Melissa Chapple and Philip Davis about Wintering, and also about her first book, The Electricity of Every Living Thing. We also hear how Wintering resonated with audience members at Gravity, and listen to the John Donne poem ‘A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy’s Day’.
The Reader ‘Bookshelf in a Box’ - Wintering edition
More about Katherine May and her books
Melissa’s research paper on reading and autism
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
**This episode contains explicit language (swearing) and discussion of suicide throughout which some listeners may find distressing.**
In this episode we’ll hear from two events at Gravity and two different guests linked by their experiences of being on the frontline in responding to fellow humans in moments of crisis.
Tony Schumacher grew up in Huyton in Liverpool, and was a police officer for over a decade before the pressure of the job caused his mental health to fray. He eventually left the force and began writing, which he credits with saving his life. After publishing several novels, Tony wrote a TV script drawing on his experiences in the police, which became ‘The Responder’, a unique, uncompromising major drama series which aired on BBC1 in January 2022. Tony came to Gravity and discussed ‘The Responder’ and his life and career with Greg Jenkins, Young Person’s Mentor at The Reader.
Chris Dowrick is a professor of primary medical care at the University of Liverpool and a practising GP. Chris is the author of the well-known book Beyond Depression, and, more recently, of Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence. This book draws on case histories of Chris’ patients, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, and poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins to speak powerfully about moments of crisis and desperation. Chris talked via video link at Gravity festival to Philip Davis, Emeritus Professor of English literature at the University of Liverpool.
The Responder on BBC iPlayer
Greg Jenkins on The Reader Podcast (Episode 8)
Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence, published by Anthem Press
Reading for Life by Philip Davis
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
‘No worst, there is none’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins