The Children's Literature Podcast

23/06/2026

That time I got sidetracked from talking about literature and started ranking the best biscuits to have with a cup of tea . . .

This is a clip from a recent livestream where I shared essays writt...

22/06/2026

In this crazy world, let's take a moment to enjoy a well-made cup of tea, using the impeccable instructions of George Orwell and Douglas Adams.

Both George Orwell and Douglas Adams wrote charming articles about ...

20/06/2026

Pigging out on hummus before the Shakespeare in the park gets going

19/06/2026

New Book Drama! Ladybird Books does some mindlessly corporate Pridewashing and the Black Country Living Museum vandalizes Janet and John books because apparently cute stories for early readers are WRONG:

Got some nice dumb book drama for you. Ladybird Books, in an effort...

14/06/2026

Happy Flag Day! If you've ever wondered why Americans are so fond of really, really big flags . . . this is why.

Here's the back story about how Francis Scott Key came to be trappe...

11/06/2026

My latest livestream is back up. I had to edit it due to the Copyright Gods getting annoyed by Cruel Intentions footage, even though it was brief, had no audio, and was transformed by my commentary. Oh, well. You can see the stream here again:

Let's rank movies from the 90's teen trend of adapting great storie...

11/06/2026

Join me Saturday at 9pm British time for . . . a nice relaxing cup of tea. This show is my little refuge from reality, and reality has been a but MUCH for me this week. So I will be reading some thoughts on Britain's most beloved beverage written by George Orwell and Douglas Adams. I will also be ranking the best biscuits to go with a cup of tea and hosting a debate between all of you about whether biscuits (aka crunchy cookies) should be dunked in the tea or nibbled separately.

Hopefully a nice calm cup of tea and some very witty thoughts by two brilliant authors will help all of us recuperate from life, work, and the news cycle. Here's the link! I can't wait to see you all there.

Things have been crazy in the last few weeks, so let's have a nice ...