The Waterstones Podcast

Updated: 03 Dec 2025 • 181 episodes
www.waterstones.com

Going beyond the book with a wide range of authors to discover the story behind the books we love.

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03 Dec 2025 • EN

Val McDermid

Continuing the seasonal series after Michael Morpurgo’s Spring, Val McDermid turns from crime to Winter, with its festivals, rituals and new year drive to achieve. We sat down with her to talk about the ghosts of Christmas past, holding on to tradition and why the new year is such a creative time for writing.

21 min
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Salman Rushdie 01 Dec 2025 • EN

Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie’s return to fiction sees him sharing a collection of stories which look at the questions that await us all at the end of our lives. We spoke with him about mortality, looking back and what the future might hold, together with what drives his creativity.

17 min
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17:26
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Join us for what promises to be an unmissable evening with bestselling author R.F. Kuang, as we celebrate the publication of her much-anticipated new novel, Katabasis.The internationally bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface returns with Katabasis: a sublimely dark and unputdownable tale of two rival Cambridge aca

61 min
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28 Oct 2025 • EN

Philip Pullman

30 years after he introduced the world to Lyra Belacqua, Philip Pullman launched the final volume in his Book of Dust series: The Rose Field. Just ahead of that event we sat down to speak with him about his feelings on finishing this epic writing task, the importance of imagination, and what he might turn to next as a

11 min
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11:09
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27 Oct 2025 • EN

Malala Yousafzai

From the moment she began her education at Oxford University, Malala Yousafzai was aware how hard it would be for her to enjoy a normal student experience. But as we discover from her new memoir and from our fascinating conversation with her about it, she was determined, for once, to throw herself fully into life at un

25 min
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25:47
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21 Oct 2025 • EN

Kathy Burke

From her childhood in Islington to the red carpet at Cannes, Kathy Burke has always spoken her mind, and that strength and independence of thought is on every page of her memoir, A Mind of My Own. We sat down to speak with her about those early days in London, how they have informed her whole life, and what have been h

35 min
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