Hello friends,
Well, this is terrifying. Here’s Episode 1 of my new podcast, Reading The Road.
Podcasting is a new realm of witchcraft and spookery for me, and I have tonnes to learn, so please excuse the inevitable blunders, waffles and crapness. Hopefully this is the worst podcast I ever make.
What to expect
Travel is the theme, with an emphasis on travel writing.
Each episode, I’ll bring you some of the best travel writing in the English language. We’ll explore what makes it so powerful, learn about the places being described, and hopefully extract some ideas that can improve our own experiences of travel.
For Episode 1, we’ll explore short passages from…
Colin Thubron’s book Shadow of the Silk Road (which I also quote in my recent post, 100 Questions To Ask Everyone On Earth). What does it feel like to be granted an audience with an Afghani warlord? How does the writer convey the weight of history that has granted this man his authority, while also expressing the pervading uncertainty about the future?
The courtyard of a traditional home in Herat, Afghanistan. Alain de Botton’s book, The Art of Travel. How can a grim and lonely motorway service station (“some third, travellers’ realm”) be perceived as a place of solace and comfort?
‘Gas’ by Edward Hopper (1940)
In future episodes I’ll probably share some of my own travel experiences as well. Writing is what I love, so it makes sense to me to build the podcast around existing writing as a core ingredient – but ultimately I want each of these episodes to feel like its own adventure, as well as a learning opportunity. For now I’m keeping things simple while I get the hang of podcasting, sound recording and editing… which would actually be quite fun if it didn’t involve listening to the sound of my own bloody awful voice. (Did you know that if you have a hot drink in between takes, you sound like a different person each time? Neither did I. Bloody annoying though.)
Of course I don’t really know where this will lead – possibly nowhere – but all adventures begin with one simple step out of the door.
So… it’s time to hit ‘publish’.
All the best,
Theo
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