Bedside Reading – Details, episodes & analysis

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Educated by Tara Westover is one of those books which has really stayed with me since I first read it back in 2018. It's also a book that I just assumed when I started this podcast that somebody would approach me and want to talk about.

It feels astonishing that we've got as far as season 11 before anybody has asked to come on and discuss it. I'm glad I waited, though, because I've thoroughly loved my conversation with Syba Sunny today about the book and about some of the themes.

We think about acceptance. We think about education. We think about self-motivation in learning. The ideas of hiding in plain sight. What is safeguarding? What is not safeguarding? And how do you norm reference a family? It's a brilliant book, and I've really enjoyed thinking about it.

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Welcome to  November 2025 and season 11 of the podcast,. We are celebrating our 4th Birthday in November and my guest today, Claire Le Day aka GP Steph celebrates her 40th birthday in November. Claire/Steph is here to talk about her fabulous med school diaries which have been published as Fear and Loathing in Plymouth. If you are looking for a book to make you think, to take you on a trip back down memory lane, to remember what it was like to be a teenager, to cringe alongside Steph as she recalls some of the excesses of her first and second year at Peninsula Medical School, really this is a great book to be picking up.


So Happy birthday, Claire. Welcome to season 11 of the podcast and Fear and Loathing in Plymouth. Let's go.

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Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshanathan, which won the Women's Prize last year, was my absolute top read of 2024. It's been a real joy to revisit it today with Kathleen Weneden to think about the wonders of the storytelling and the importance of hearing stories from the perspective of people who often do not have their own narratives captured,

Some of the themes in Brotherless Night, have really, really stayed with me. This is an absolutely phenomenal novel. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's been a real privilege to talk to Kathleen about it and to think about things that are all relevant to all of us from this novel.

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I'm delighted to welcome the wonderful Andy Tagg, ED consultant (and part of the DFTB team who ate lego heads and calculated their FART score as the sieved their poo to work out how long it takes to pass a swallowed plastic toy https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/27/shit-a-brick-doctors-swallow-lego-to-allay-parents-fears) to Bedside Reading this week.

Follow Andy on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/andrewjtagg

Andy is a gamer, I am not. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was a bit of a hit on instagram early in 2023 with the main critics complaining it's all about gaming. I loved it! It was fascinating to discuss with Andy from his perspective of having truly connected with some of the characters' own experiences.

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It's such a treat to welcome back Ana Sampson for a dive into ideas for your Jolabokaflod.  As happens every time I speak to Ana we set out to think about a few books - the brief today was 5 - and end up side tracked and delighted to talk about more.

Ana's own poetry collection Gods and Monsters is definitely up there for me as a book to buy (or request...)

You can buy your Christmas Books wherever you most enjoy shopping but here's a link to my favourite independent bookshop's storefront on the fabulous bookshop.org platform
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scarthinbooks

We talked about:

Gods and Monsters curated by Ana Sampson

The Whalebone Theatre  by Joanna Quinn

The Beasts of Paris by Stef Penny

Skip to the End by Molly James

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Storyland for Children by Amy Jeffs

Femina by Jamina Ramirez

Dominion by Tom Holland

England on Fire by Stephen Elcock and Matt Osman

The Ghost Theatre by Matt Osman

Lost and Never Found by Simon Mason

Dead Rich and The Conspirators by William Shaw

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Oliver Sacks classic book The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat is one of the absolute classic texts in the genre of stories from the humanity of medicine. It's fascinating to go back to it with the mind of someone working in 2023.

It was lovely to connect with Neurologist Louisa Kent to think about our responses to it and our perceptions of the way the book is written and the huge changes that have occurred in the last 20 years.

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A confession, I don't like Greek mythology. AT ALL. I did however love this book both when I first read it 10 years ago and on re-reading for this podcast.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath. They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Ellie Hothersall and I had such a brilliant conversation about expectations, life scripts, stubbornness, the need to say sorry (and mean it!) and why some stories never ever grow old.

Follow Ellie on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/DundeePublicH

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"It took 20 years,” writes Fergal Keane in The Madness, “before I came to the point of accepting I was addicted to war.”

This extraordinary book by War Journalist Fergal Keane is an exploration of his journey, generational trauma, PTSD, addiction and so much more.

It seems right to release this episode this week, with Armistice Day at the weekend and so much conflict and horror in the world around us currently

I loved talking to Forensic Psychiatrist Emily Ramsay about it.

https://twitter.com/drerpsych

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It was a huge privilige to meet Rowena Christmas aka "the doctor" from Polly Moreland's wonderful book A Fortunate Woman.

Among other things we talk about John Berger's original book A Fortunate Man, living and working locally to your practice, the joys of continuity, community and the wonderful weird world of being a GP.

Follow Rowena on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/ChristmasRowena

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It was an honour when paeditrician Cristina approached me on Instagram to tell me how much Loveless had meant to her when she listened to it by accident on a long commute and suddenly jigsaw pieces of her own life fell into place.

We talk about the importance of representation in fiction, the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity and what it means to be asexual (which includes busting myths around asexuality and celibacy)

It's Ace week from 22-28th October 2023 have a look here for more info https://aceweek.org/

Cristina recommends https://www.asexuality.org/ as a great starting point if you want to know more.

Obviously follow brilliant author Alice Oseman on instagram https://www.instagram.com/aliceoseman/?hl=en and find Cristina here: https://twitter.com/munchkindr on Twitter or https://www.instagram.com/jarofmeows on instagram