Austen at 250, the Brontës on their moor, the children’s books that shaped two generations of Anglophiles, and the history titles worth your shelf space.
Six episodes with curators, museum directors and people who read for a living.
Duke Humfrey’s Library, the Bodleian, Oxford. Photo by David Iliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
For a great many American Anglophiles the door in was a book, usually read young. The Secret Garden, The Hobbit, Narnia, Swallows and Amazons — a whole imagined Britain absorbed before ever seeing the real one. We devoted an episode to British children’s literature and its generational reach for exactly that reason.
From there the collection follows the writers to the places they wrote. Sophie Reynolds of Jane Austen’s House at Chawton joined us for the 250th anniversary year to talk about Austen at home rather than Austen on screen. The Brontë Parsonage in Haworth gave us an episode on the house, the moors around it, and what the recent Wuthering Heights attention has meant for a small museum on a Yorkshire hillside.
Churchill turns up here too, as a writer rather than a politician — Gary Stiles on My Early Life and the craft that eventually won a Nobel Prize in Literature. James Fox brought us Craftland and Britain’s disappearing trades. And Brendan Dowd of History Nerds United helped us assemble a genuinely useful list of the best British history books.
Austen at home, the Brontës on the moor, and a reading list.
In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, host Jonathan Thomas speaks with Sophie Reynolds, Head of Collections, Interpretation & Engagement at Jane Austen's house in Chawton,…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Mia Ferullo, Digital Engagement Officer, and Sam, Programme Officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Brendan Dowd — West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, government consultant, and host of…
Listen to this episode →Every books episode in broadcast order.
May 24, 2024 • 52:22
Summary In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, Jonathan and Jackie discuss British children's literature that influenced them and their own children. They talk about their favorite books, including The Velveteen Rabbit, Roald Dahl's works, Beatrix...
Jul 11, 2025 • 1:06:48
In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, host Jonathan Thomas speaks with Sophie Reynolds, Head of Collections, Interpretation & Engagement at Jane Austen’s house in Chawton, Hampshire, about the enduring legacy of Jane Austen as a literary figure. 2025 is the 250th anniversary of her birth, so there are celebrations…
Oct 31, 2025 • 56:38
In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, host Jonathan Thomas speaks with art historian and broadcaster James Fox about his new book ‘Craftland: In Search of Lost Arts and Disappearing Trades.’ They explore the significance of traditional crafts in British culture, the impact of geography on craftsmanship, and the challenges…
Mar 27, 2026 • 36:40
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Mia Ferullo, Digital Engagement Officer, and Sam, Programme Officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire — and co-hosts of the museum’s own acclaimed podcast, Behind the Glass: A Parsonage Podcast. Together they explore what makes the Parsonage one…
May 22, 2026 • 1:05:29
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas sits down with Dr. Gary L. Stiles — physician, medical researcher, former Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Research at Duke University, and lifelong Churchill scholar — to discuss his new book A Prelude to Immortality, published by Unicorn Publishing Group. Gary’s book…
Jun 5, 2026 • 1:17:58
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Brendan Dowd — West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, government consultant, and host of History Nerds United, one of the most respected history book podcasts in the business with over 220 episodes — for a pure, unfiltered book…
In the order we recorded them, oldest first.
Summary In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, Jonathan and Jackie discuss British children's literature that influenced them and their own children. They talk about their…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, host Jonathan Thomas speaks with Sophie Reynolds, Head of Collections, Interpretation & Engagement at Jane Austen's house in Chawton,…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, host Jonathan Thomas speaks with art historian and broadcaster James Fox about his new book 'Craftland: In Search of…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Mia Ferullo, Digital Engagement Officer, and Sam, Programme Officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas sits down with Dr. Gary L. Stiles — physician, medical researcher, former Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Research…
Listen to this episode →
In this episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas is joined by Brendan Dowd — West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, government consultant, and host of…
Listen to this episode →We turn our favourite conversations into full feature articles — the same material, written up properly, for people who’d sooner read than listen.
Companion articles for this series are being written — check back soon.
Reviews, literary history and writers’ houses from our sister sites.
In August 1958, a florist named Winifred Naomi “Cockney Kitty” Wilson died. Ten miles from her flower stall on Norfolk Street, Drury Lane Theater…
Read on Anglotopia →
London is a city that has inspired and hosted some of the greatest writers in the English language. If you’re a reader, a writer,…
Read on Londontopia →
A giant mythical puppet creature will roam Ashdown Forest this summer as part of “The Big One Hundred”—a series of family-friendly cultural events marking…
Read on Anglotopia →
London is one of the greatest literary capitals in the world. It is the city of Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf,…
Read on Londontopia →
As I write this, theaters are playing a new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. I have yet to watch it, but so far…
Read on Anglotopia →
For centuries, London has been both muse and home to countless literary giants, its streets and squares providing the backdrop for some of literature’s…
Read on Londontopia →New episodes every Friday. There is usually an author involved.
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