The Allender Calendar Podcast

It's the 16th of June which can mean only one thing: it's Bloomsday, the day on which James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses is set. To celebrate, I spoke to the amazing writer David Collard about his book Multiple Joyce: 100 Short Essays About James Joyce's Cultural Legacy. And, of course, we also discuss what makes Ulysses such a brilliant, difficult, beautiful, hilarious, humane, and endlessly fascinating novel.

You can buy Multiple Joyce here:

https://www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/multiple_joyce/

And you can buy David's new book, A Crumpled Swan: 50 Essays about Abigail Parry's 'In the Dream of the Cold Restaurant', here:

https://www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/a_crumpled_swan/

Follow David Collard on Bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/davidcollard.bsky.social

And you can support the podcast here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

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This month on The Allender Calendar I talk to the incredible writer and council worker Evie King. Evie's book Ashes to Admin: Tales from the Caseload of a Council Funeral Officer was published in 2023 and is a profound and moving account of her job. Also, for a book about death, it is very funny. Evie writes brilliantly about the bathos and inadvertent comedy of working on funerals alongside complaints about bins and noisy neighbours.

Content warning: we do obviously talk about death a lot in this episode, so I appreciate you may not want to listen on your morning commute! But I have to say, part of what makes Ashes to Admin so interesting is the way in which Evie is trying to make death less of a taboo; she hopes to make conversations around death easier, and her commitment to this, and to her job, is truly inspiring.

You can find out more about Evie King, including where to buy the book, here:

https://linktr.ee/eviekingwrites

And if you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this month's podcast, I chat to the brilliant stand-up comedian Pravanya Pillay about the Back to the Future trilogy, a firm childhood favourite. We talk about time travel paradoxes, how the films stand up today, and why it's such a special and mind-blowing series of films to watch when you're young (apart from the third one maybe). Also Pravanya has a hoverboard!

Follow Pravanya on Instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/pravanyapillay69

And, if you're enjoying the podcast and want to help support it please buy me a coffee here!

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this month's Allender Calendar I chat to the writer Luke Turner about his book Men at War. Luke's book examines the legacy of the Second World War and shines a light on the real lives of the people who fought in it; their complications, loves, and lusts. We talk about the experiences of gay, bi and transgender soldiers, and discuss contemporary nostalgia and jingoism around the war.

More info about Men at War here:

https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/luke-turner/men-at-war/9781474618861/

And check out Luke's work with The Quietus here:

https://thequietus.com/writer/luke-turner/

Here is Luke's brilliant first book Out of the Woods:

https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/luke-turner/out-of-the-woods/9781474607155/

Luke on The Library of Lazy Thinking podcast talking about Patrick Hamilton:

https://lazythinking.substack.com/p/luke-turner-on-the-slaves-of-solitude

And this month on my regular feature What Have You Been Listening To Recently And What Have You Been Reading Recently Hmm (WHYBLTRAWHYBRRH) I chat about Panda Bear and Lavinia Greenlaw.

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This month I chat to the amazing comedian, writer and activist Josie Long about her book of short stories Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't. Josie's stories are rich and varied – very funny and powerfully moving. The book covers a range of topics including political apathy, romance, motherhood, and the climate crisis. We talk about Josie's inspirations and the differences between stand-up and fiction. She also gives an insight into her new stand-up show Now is the Time of Monsters.

Towards the end we have a brief chat about the film My Old Ass, because we both enjoyed it so much!

And at the very end of the pod I talk a bit about Neko Case, and play a new tune (by me).

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