Page One

For the 92nd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by passionate, itinerant generalist and creative (on the interior) Isbel James. They talk about skewed perspectives on familiar places, fiction that feels like memoir (and vice versa) and the descriptive power of Robert Louis Stevenson’s writing.   The photograph that is discussed is, in fact, Tove Jannson’s niece Sophia sitting with her (Sophia’s) grandmother, who was Tove Jannson’s mother.   Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com

Marked as explicit because of some gentle swearing.   For the 91st Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined in London’s Russell Square by writer, actor, nerd and (whisper it) ex-gymnast Iskandar Sharazuddin. They talk about the swashbuckling founder of an independent dynastic monarchy, the shifting sands of identity and the creation of a ferocious emotional truth.   It is interesting to note, perhaps, how relentlessly noisy central London is.   Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com/

A note about the rating: This episode is marked as explicit because there is a brief and passing reference to sexual assault.   Joining Charles Adrian for the 90th Second-Hand Book Factory is creative layabout, also actor, writer and blagger, Joseph Paterson. They talk about seeing the world through someone else’s eyes, the crossroads of people’s lives, and the pleasure that comes with being read to. As you will hear, Joseph would like it to be known that the phrase he was looking for to describe himself is WINGING IT.   Website: http://www.pageonepodcast.com

Joining Charles Adrian for the 89th Second-Hand Book Factory is poet, writer, performer, facilitator and musician, otherwise artist Antosh Wojcik. They talk about feeling naked on the train, a decent workaday detective and a good idiosyncratic voice.   Incidentally, I love the way Antosh refers to his neighbour as 'Next Door'.   Website: pageonepodcast.com

Joining Charles Adrian for the 88th Second-Hand Book Factory is artist, designer, musician and all-round creative Satoshi Dāté. They talk about a kind of self-help literature, a very particular strain of Englishness and a lot of origami cranes. Satoshi reads in Japanese so there is ear porn on offer for language addicts.   Website: pageonepodcast.com

Content note: mention of suicide   Joining Charles Adrian downriver of the Thames Barrier for the 87th Second-Hand Book Factory is writer and illustrator Donna Butlin. They reminisce about Donna’s project Storytape, dark comedy done really well, the familiarity of fables and how talking about death can make you think about life.   Website: pageonepodcast.com

This episode is marked as explicit because there is some discussion of sex with trees (dendrophilia) and of sex in general. Recorded in Tilehurst (near Reading) on Pancake Day, Charles Adrian is joined for the 86th Second-Hand Book Factory by comedian, podcaster, graphic designer and voice-over artist Iszi Lawrence. They talk dendrophilia, a woman who sits at one of the crossroads of European history and the danger of hope.   Website: pageonepodcast.com

A quick note about the rating of this episode: I’ve marked this episode as explicit because there are some sexual references. Nothing that’s going to make you choke on your cornflakes but you might want to be careful around children and anybody who doesn’t know about sex.   Joining Charles Adrian for the 85th Second-Hand Book Factory is actor, performer, theatre-maker, writer, and space and science geek Griffyn Gilligan. They talk about why the measure of love is loss, how we deal with the passing of time and dreaming either of his long neck in our teeth or his long teeth in our necks. Griffyn, incidentally, played Jaq in the recent production of Teddy Ferrara at the Donmar Warehouse in London.   Website: pageonepodcast.com

Joining Charles Adrian for the 84th Second-Hand Book Factory is actress and writer Nancy Crane. They talk about Raymond Chandler as a poet of loneliness, the brilliance of Charles Dickens and having to be on your own to see.   Incidentally, it turns out that there have been both radio and television adaptations of Martin Chuzzlewit.   Website: pageonepodcast.com

For the 83rd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by professional podcaster and human woman Helen Zaltzman. They marvel at the sincerity of an early-seventies feminist life-swap, share the joy of making stuff and discover Mexican Menonites. Website: pageonepodcast.com

A quick note about the rating for this episode: I’ve marked this episode explicit only in case you consider the phrase "getting dicked over" to be rude. For the 82nd Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by lecturer, podcaster and musician Martin Zaltz Austwick. They share their love of eggs, talk about a perceived need to justify a love of fantasy literature and discuss cluster memories. Incidentally, Martin’s song choice would have been No Children from the album Tallahasse by John Darnielle’s group The Mountain Goats. The podcasts that Martin is involved in making are: Answer Me This, Song By Song, Brain Train and The Global Lab. Website: pageonepodcast.com

For the 81st Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by long-time friend and unofficial agent Vera Chok, who describes herself here as an actress, writer, performance-maker and dork. “I was so happy,” she says, “when I finally discovered that I didn’t have to dance like a cool kid.” They talk new perspectives on writers of colour, a novel to fill you up and questions of green dye. Info about The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla, which Vera has contributed to is here. Website: pageonepodcast.com

The fourth season of Page One will kick off on the 16th of February with the 107th Page One featuring long-time collaborator Vera Chok. For more information about the podcast, please visit pageonepodcast.com. Episodes from this season will be available via iTunes (look for Page One Podcast) and Soundcloud (look for charldrian).

Content Note: There is some racially offensive language in this episode. There are also lots of thumps and bumps so, if you have sensitive ears or if you listen through headphones, please proceed with caution. Joining Charles Adrian for the 80th Second-Hand Book Factory is contrarian and alternative poet and performer Neil Spokes. They talk about playing with form, guitar pedals, a book that Charles Adrian doesn’t remember very well and a book that Christopher Hitchins may or may not have liked. The previous episode, which features Neil’s wife Tina, is here Christie Malry’s previous appearance on the podcast is here

Joining Charles Adrian for the 79th Second-Hand Book Factory is poet, performer and promoter – or artistic explorer to her friends – Tina Sederholm. With the sound of George sighing in the background, they discuss art outside the box, bad dancing, living in a cold world and goodness as a woman’s lot. Some Links: Nessuno video Drake Hotline video Page One Murder Mystery episode Page One episode featuring Larry's Party by Carol Shields Faeries on Bandcamp

For the 78th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian is joined by hobbyist and perfectionist amateur playwright, comedian, pianist, juggler and French speaker Daniel Elliot, who is on the verge of becoming a professional business intelligence research analyst. Daniel also brought the leaves for the fresh mint tea that they drink. They touch on wanting to be a pound coin, the joy of staying at home and the emotions of a bee. Except that, apparently, the last book is about more than just the emotions of a bee.

This is not a Page One but it is a podcast episode. It's a preview of the first episode of a new series of podcasts called Muselings. All the episodes in this first series (at least) are going to be short, true and about podcaster Charles Adrian. This episode is about shyness and knocking on people's doors. More information about the podcast is at muselings.uk.

  For the 77th Second-Hand Book Factory, Charles Adrian meets actor, wanderer and discover Rebecca Yeo at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, London. They talk about the importance of asking questions without expecting answers, a seminal book on acting and banquet bugs in China.  

  With a clock ticking implacably in the background, Charles Adrian meets mother, mobile artist and edible gardener Viviana Rossi-Cafell for the 76th Second-Hand Book Factory. They talk about the transformative effect of gardening, a warm feeling of friendship and a feeling that comes just before crying. Italian is spoken in this episode, both well and badly. You can see some of Viviana’s work here.  

  For the 101st Page One (which, as listeners of Page One 100 will know, is actually the 102nd episode of the podcast), Charles Adrian talks about the five novels he would take with him to a desert island, if he were forced to go. And allowed to take books. These books are essential. And long. (Here, by the way, is Charles Adrian talking about The Folding Star on Steve Wasserman’s podcast Read Me Something You Love)