In this episode we continue to look at John le Carré’s 2003 novel, Absolute Friends. Shane Whaley, host of the Spybrary podcast, is back to break down all of the action in this novel. We talk about the dramatic end of the novel, Mundy and Sasha’s motives and talk about the dangers of entrapment. Plus, an unexpected change in point of view that le C…

In this episode we look at John le Carré’s 2003 novel, Absolute Friends. Shane Whaley, host of the Spybrary podcast joins the show to look at one of his favorite le Carré novels. We talk about the enigma that is Absolute Friends lead character Ted Mundy. How many trips over the wall does it take to get a gold watch from MI6? And do all tour guides …

Donate to #TeamEvie and the Literally Healing program at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Go to TinyURL.com/giveTE to make a monetary donation to the Literally Healing program or go to TinyURL.com/TeamE24, pick a book and make sure to pick Team Evie as the shipping location. That’s so much for your support. In this episode I am pleased to we…

Donate to #TeamEvie and the Literally Healing program at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Go to TinyURL.com/giveTE to make a monetary donation to the Literally Healing program or go to TinyURL.com/TeamE24, pick a book and make sure to pick Team Evie as the shipping location. That’s so much for your support. In this episode I am pleased to we…

Donate to #TeamEvie and the Literally Healing program at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Go to TinyURL.com/giveTE to make a monetary donation to the Literally Healing program or go to TinyURL.com/TeamE24, pick a book and make sure to pick Team Evie as the shipping location. That’s so much for your support. In this episode I am pleased to we…

In this episode we continue our look at John le Carré’s 1977 novel, The Honourable Schoolboy. Find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Writer Paul French returns to the show for our epic finale looking at The Honourable Schoolboy. We talk more about the politics of Southeast Asia in the 1970’s, Jeff throws out his crazy fanboy theories and did Janet Leigh…

In this episode we continue our look at John le Carré’s 1977 novel, The Honourable Schoolboy. Find Part 1 here. Writer Paul French returns to the show to share his extensive knowledge of China and Hong Kong. We talk about the political background surrounding China and the UK when THS was written, the Ko brothers, and ponder Lizzie Worthington. Plus…

In this episode we begin our look at John le Carré’s 1977 novel, The Honourable Schoolboy. I’m pleased to welcome writer Paul French to the show. Paul has extensive knowledge of China and Hong Kong and is the perfect person to discuss this particular novel. We talk about where le Carré got his ideas for the opening scene of the novel, the politics …

Part 1 can be found here. Part 2 can be found here. We delve into the fascinating life of the enigmatic author Sarah Gainham, also known as Rachel Ames, with her godson Jonathan Ray, a drinks editor for The Spectator. We explore Rachel’s mysterious persona, her connections with spies and diplomats, and her life as an author. Jonathan shares stories…

Part 1 can be found here. We are back with part 2 of this look at the novelist Sarah Gainham. I continue to be joined in the discussion with writer Jeremy Duns. The episode begins with a recounting of a passage from ‘The Stone Roses,’ one of Gainham’s novels. We then discuss several of Gainham’s works, including ‘Time Right Deadly,’ ‘The Cold Dark …

Discovering Sarah Gainham: Unveiling the Overlooked Cold War Novelist In this episode of the le Carré Cast, we introduce a new feature – ‘After le Carré,’ spotlighting authors beyond John le Carré. Jeff welcomes back Jeremy Duns, writer and spy fiction enthusiast, to discuss Sarah Gainham, a lesser-known but richly talented spy novelist. They delve…

In this episode of The le Carré Cast, I interview acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Shaun McKenna. Sean discusses his journey into writing, his collaboration process for bringing le Carré’s complex characters to life on BBC Radio 4, and the challenges of adapting intricate novels for audio. about his adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and …

In this episode we continue our look at John le Carré’s 2008 novel, A Most Wanted Man. I’m pleased to welcome back poet Clarissa Aykroyd to the show. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. We talk about parallels between the novel’s characters and another famous spy duo, Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish from Mick Herron’s ‘Slough House’ ser…

In this episode we look at John le Carré’s 2008 novel, A Most Wanted Man. I’m pleased to welcome poet Clarissa Aykroyd to the show. We talk through the motivations of the various players, whether le Carré succeeded at creating fully realized characters and le Carré’s difficult writing women. All that and more in this episode. Clarissa’s Website – h…

In this episode of the Le Carré Cast, Jeff interviews British historian Dominic Sandbrook. They delve into Sandbrook’s introduction to John le Carré’s works, particularly Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and discuss the author’s literary impact and historical context. The conversation covers le Carré’s influence during Britain’s 1970s cultural and politi…

I’m excited to welcome back Mac Rogers, playwright and audio dramatist for the epic conclusion of our look at the BBC George Smiley radio dramas. In this third and final part we dig into The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley’s People and The Secret Pilgrim. The best way to find a corpse, how stories differ when told by a master spy versus a mediocre spy…

I’m excited to welcome back Mac Rogers, playwright and audio dramatist to continue to discuss the BBC George Smiley radio dramas. In this second of three parts we dig into some of the biggest of le Carré’s novels – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Plus we discuss The Lookingglass War. We also talk the star power t…

This episode I am pleased to welcome Mac Rogers, playwright and audio dramatist to discuss the BBC George Smiley radio dramas. In this first part we talk about Mac’s journey to writing for audio, reading le Carré and listening to the audio drams. Plus we dive into aspects of the audio format and the first two Smiley adaptations. Plus, we touch on D…

This episode I return with Phil Tinline and Bernard Hughes. We continue discussing Phil’s article in the New Statesman on the London of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré and how it’s different from the London of today. Topics include the le Carré and conspiracies, a discussion of Adam Sisman’s latest book, and plus writers that write well …

This episode I’m excited to welcome Phil Tinline and Bernard Hughes to the show. We discuss Phil’s article in the New Statesman on the London of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré and how it’s different from the London of today. Topics include the political background of Tinker, whether Tinker was a case of perfect timing, how the echos of …

This episode I’m excited to welcome John le Carré’s biographer Adam Sisman to the show. We discuss his latest book The Secret Life of John le Carré which looks at le Carré affairs which Sisman left out of his previous biography. Topics include why Sisman felt he needed to write this new book, the push and pull between biographer and subject, le Car…

We continue our three part look at A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré edited by Tim Cornwell. In part 3 we’ll be talking about what we learned about le Carré’s novels. Returning to discuss the book is Guillam groupie, Matthew Bradford., we discuss le Carrê on James Bond, The Night Manager adapations, and Ludlum-esque title of The China Tar…

We continue our three part look at A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré edited by Tim Cornwell. In part 2 we’ll be talking about what we learned about le Carré’s professional life. Returning to discuss the book is Circus cognoscente, Matthew Bradford. We discuss le Carré’s feudin’ and fightin’ with critics and friends, his input on cover art…

We’ll be taking a three part look at A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré edited by Tim Cornwell. In this episode we’ll be talking about what we learned about le Carré’s personal life. Returning to the podcast to discuss the book is living le Carré encyclopedia Matthew Bradford. We discuss whether the first letter in the book was the inspira…

In this episode we continue our look at John le Carré’s 1999 novel, Single and Single. Returning to discuss the book is espionage and nonfiction author Adam Brookes. We discuss Adam’s interactions with shady Russians in the 90’s, why le Carré just can’t quit Russia, and that wild ending. Plus, is there such a thing as Chekhov’s Motorcycle? All that…

In this episode we look at John le Carré’s 1999 novel, SIngle and Single. Joining me to discuss the book is espionage and nonfiction author Adam Brookes. We discuss Adam’s first encounters with le Carré, the British boarding school system and tropes seen in le Carré’s female characters? Plus, whether the first chapter of the book makes the book wor…

Frank Sennett joins the show to talk about political thrillers and Mick Herron and John le Carré. We talk about US versus UK spy novels, Matt Helm, and favorite Herron and le Carré novels. Plus we talk about how to write politics in fiction without alienating readers and how one author used the nuclear option to get their publisher to pay more. Fra…

We raised $1300 for Room to Read this holiday season. Thanks to everyone who donated. If you still wanted to donate, go here or share the link – http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We are back with a interview with founder of Guillam Coffee and le Carré superfan Abdelrahman Fathalla. We talk about why he named his business after Peter Guillam, how he star…

Donate to Room to Read here or share the link – http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We are back with a look at some of John le Carré’s unused book titles. These have been gathered from Adam Sisman’s biography, John le Carré: A Life, as well as a few from A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré. For more on spy book titles, listen to this episode of Sp…

Donate to Room to Read here or share the link – http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We are back with a look at the new release A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré. I’m pleased to welcome Steven Ritterman, one of the foremost collectors of le Carré in the world, to the show. Steven reveals his top five letters from the recently released book. We ta…

We are back with part 2 of our look at the letter in spy fiction and reality. Listen to part 1 here. We talk about the novel to read if you want to imagine you’re a CIA analyst, the first techno-thriller and learn about how real spies are communicating right now! All that and much more in this episode. I’m pleased to welcome back to the show critic…

We talk with Richard Hutt the writer of the new map titled John le Carré’s London from Herb Lester Associates. We talk about his previous map, The Secret City, reading le Carré in lockdown, the difficulties and joys in finding locations le Carré used in his novels and challenge the listener to find le Carré’s favorite bench. All that and more in th…

The book A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré has just been released in the UK. We’ll be taking a look at that book once it’s released in the US in December, but this is a perfect time to take a look at the usage of the humble letter in espionage. We talk about the history of the letter, Cicero’s letters, letterlocking, Cabinet Noirs and Col…

In this episode we finish our look at A Small Town in Germany, John le Carré’s fifth novel. Returning to discuss the book is espionage author James Wolff. We discuss how his treatment of female characters, whether this is a Agatha Christie novel in disguise and whether this could ever be adapted for television? Plus, what’s up with that epilogue? A…

In this episode we look at A Small Town in Germany, the novel that comes midway between John le Carré’s breakout success – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – and the novel that solidified his place as one of the world’s best spy novelists – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I’m joined to discuss the novel by espionage author James Wolff. We discuss ho…

We talk with one of the foremost collectors of John le Carré novels, Steven Ritterman, whose collection of pristine le Carré editions numbers over 300 items. We learn about the Haycroft-Queen list, rare signed editions, and Steve’s undercover mission to meet le Carré himself. All that plus talk on champagne toasts with Otto Penzler, meeting Eric Am…

Find Part One Here. In this episode we continue to take a deep dive into the intricacies of one of John le Carré’s most unjustly overlooked novels – The Looking-Glass War. I’m again joined by critic and author Jeremy Duns. We talk class and Britain’s role in the world, how the book could be adapted for television, and Jeff’s tin hatted theory conne…

In this episode we take a deep dive into the intricacies of one of John le Carré’s most unjustly overlooked novels – The Looking-Glass War. I’m joined by critic and author Jeremy Duns. We talk about weird relationships, how the book is a proto-Slow Horses, and get the first ever comparison of le Carré and the band Nirvana?!? All that and much more …

In this episode I speak to Laura Marsh about her essay on le Carré and Silverview in the February 10th edition of The New York Review of Books. Laura is currently the literary editor at the The New Republic and previously wrote for and was an editor at The New York Review of Books. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Dissent, Bookforum…

In this episode we explore what happens when you get a whole gaggle of Cold War spy novelists together in one room. This is an adaption of an earlier piece that can be found here with links to various sources. Also there is a photo of the attendees. Find more podcasts like this in the Novel group of podcasts – Novel.Network Listen on Apple Podcasts…

In the final episode of this four part look at Silverview Matthew Bradford and I continue to discuss John le Carré’s final complete novel. We discuss the climatic conclusion of Silverview! We also talk about where Silverview fits among le Carré’s work and some talk on collecting the book. All that and much more in this episode. Matthew’s twitter – …

In Part three of this four part look at Silverview Matthew Bradford and I continue to discuss John le Carré’s final complete novel. In this third part we explore the plot and espionage in the novel. We discuss the way betrayal is different in this novel, what’s up with Edward’s creepy obsession with basements, and did le Carré consider Edward a hac…

In Part two of this four part look at Silverview Matthew Bradford and I continue to discuss John le Carré’s final complete novel. In our second part we talk about the settings of the novel. We discuss le Carré success in capturing life in a coastal town, the connection between W.G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn and Silverview, and why East Anglia lo…

In Part one of this four part look at Silverview I welcome back Matthew Bradford to discuss John le Carré’s final complete novel. In our first part we talk about the main characters in this novel. We discuss surprise over the speedy release of the novel, how this novel revisits many of le Carré’s favorite character archetypes and whether his charac…

In Part Two of this deep dive into Call for the Dead I welcome back guest Bee to discuss John le Carré’s first novel. We continue to get lots of hot takes on the novel from someone who has done a very close reading of le Carré’s work, but especially Call for the Dead. We discuss how le Carrê views espionage versus police work, Smiley’s masculinity,…

In this episode we explore a previously hidden chapter of le Carré’s life. Was this the moment everything changed for him? Listen for answers to that and much, much more. Previous discussion of this topic is here. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen on SpotifyRSS FeedPor Jeff

In Part One of this deep dive into Call for the Dead I welcome guest Bee to discuss John le Carré’s first novel. In this provocative conversation we get plenty of hot takes on the novel from someone who has done a very close reading of all of le Carré’s work, but especially Call for the Dead. We discuss how Smiley is different in this first novel f…

In this episode I am joined by Matthew Bradford of doubleOsection.blogspot.com to do a deep exploration of the sometimes overlooked John le Carré novel A Murder of Quality. We discuss private schools, religion in the UK and just how deep George Smiley’s cruel streak runs. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen on SpotifyRSS Feed…

Just after the passing away of John le Carré in December 2020, I spoke with Matthew Bradford of double0section.blogspot.com about le Carrê’s impact on espionage fiction. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen on SpotifyRSS FeedPor Jeff

In this episode I provide an introduction to the world’s most famous spy writer. John le Carré began writing novels as a way to relieve the boredom of his duties as an upper-class raised British diplomat. That was what the world was told. The reality was that he wrote under a pseudonym; in truth he was a spy for MI6. His ability to live two lives a…