Explore every episode of the podcast Let Them Eat Books

Colin and Claire discuss the classic Dresdener Stollen, a Christmas Classic! Focusing on the German children's author Agnes Sapper, the episode also gives quite a lot of details of the history of this favourite festive treat! 

Colin and Claire talk about Brussels Sprouts on today’s show in the first of three festive specials including reference to Emily Berry and Don Lee. 

Clare and Colin visit Happy Meal Polish cafe in Glasgow and taste Mizeria Salad and Sour Cucumber and Rye Soups. They also talk about Bona Sforza and read two poems by Wisława Szymborska. 

Claire and Colin clamber out of the briny jars that keep them perfectly preserved to discuss the tangy crunchy sweet sour delight of Pickles! Focusing on Meagan Jennett’s novel You Know Her and John Tobias’ poem ‘Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend Called Felicity’. 

An iconic Scottish pie! The Forfar Bridie is a legendary delicacy of the north east and Claire and Colin visit Forfar to watch Forfar Athletic, eat Bridies and talk about a diverse selection of authors: J M Barrie, David Kinloch, J B Salmond and many more! 

Grinding meaty literature with their usual brand of conversation, Colin and Claire discuss James Kelman and Agnes Owens in this episode which really might be certifiably mince! 

Recorded the morning after a night of Halloween shenanigans with Special Guest Louise Welsh, this episode delves into Scottish Halloween traditions, Ghost, an anthology of ghost stories edited by Louise, Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti and food in Louise’s own Cutting Room series. 

Claire Reynolds and Colin Herd are joined by “Colin” the Pumpkin and a merry gang of assorted squashes and possibly a spirit or two as well, to dook for apples and discuss Pumpkin-related literature by authors including Theresa Muñoz, Leland James, Ann Beattie, Richard Brautigan, Sonia Sanchez and Ann Patchett. 

Claire and Colin visit The Oven at Overton Farm to taste their Tattie Special, and meet Scotland’s Nicest Potato Farmer…! Also mentioned in this episode is the art of Gabriella Day, the novelist Nicola Barker and The Rural Cyclopedia. 

Unearthing all the literary resonance of the spud, Claire and Colin discuss works by authors including Roddy Doyle, Joseph Stroud, Benjamín Moreno Ortiz and Mary Robison. 

In this episode Colin and Claire are joined by Shetlandic poet Christie Williamson at the Ho Wong in Glasgow for Orange Chicken. Also featuring discussion of Kevin Nguyen and Heather Teasdale. 

Orange Part Two sees Colin and Claire so immersed in Orange Content that they’ve got juice practically dribbling down their chins as they discuss Katie Goh’s book Foreign Fruit, the poem ‘Summer in Calcutta’ by Kamala Surayya and Bengt Af Klintberg’s Orange Event Number 3. 

Peeling the complex and fascinating literary history of the Orange, your hosts discuss Jeanette Winterson, Gareth Russell and Wendy Cope! Also, as ever this episode is packed full of Vitamins C and C (Colin and Claire!) 

Claire and Colin get stuck in to some Porridge-talk after having savoured some delicious wholesome grains in Singl-end in Glasgow’s Merchant City. They read a poem by Rebecca Kane and debate the pros and cons of oat vs dairy milk in the national dish. 

You oatta listen to this episode, which is O(A)TT in all the right ways, with Colin and Claire discussing the humble but brilliant Oat, by way of Percival Everett, Wang Meng and Galway Kinnell. 

Colin and Claire lick the gelato cone of literature here in an episode that delves into the differences between Gelato and Ice Cream as well as July, a poem by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz and The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante. 

Recorded live from Colin’s office for Instagram Live this episode recaps the series by featuring some food and books that didn’t make it into the main episodes. Including: Elizabeth Alexander, Kit Robinson, Bora Chung, Gertrude Stein, Ron Padgett and more. We also eat Banana Bread with Walnuts, Pickled Walnuts, and Dulse Butter as we look ahead to some of the treats to expect in Season 2 starting next week! 

Colin and Claire taste a delicious Parisian Hot Chocolate in the West End of Glasgow and talk about all things comforting and warming, while experimenting with adding cheese to it! They read a poem by Jack Gilbert called The End of The World 

A bumper episode featuring Claire and Colin reminiscing about chocolate treats and confectionary they love, and also biting into a host of literary references including: Ed Atkins’ book Old Food, Laura Esquivel’s novel Like Water for Chocolate, Curtis Sittenfeld’s story The Napkin Project and also a couple of morsels from Enrique Vila-Matas and June Jordan! You’re in for a Selection Box of Literary and Food content. 

A Bake Sale Classic, Colin and Claire delve into the creamy buttercream icing of a coffee and walnut cake while sharing some of their own poems and getting the giggles! 

Always tough nuts to crack, Colin and Claire discuss the walnut this week. Featuring writing from Takashi Hiraide and André Malraux, they delve into every crack and crevice of these weird brain-shapes with their own weird brain-shapes. 

This episode of the podcast sees Claire and Colin road trip to Aberdeen to taste-test Aberdeen Butteries or Rowies, the flaky pastry that’s beloved in the North East. Visiting Ross of Chapel Street, The Bread Guys, The Bread Maker, Byron Bakery and Ross on Swithin Street, we eat more Butteries than is good for us! 

In this episode of Let Them Eat Books Claire and Colin spread themselves thinly as they talk about Butter, focusing on the novel Butter by Asako Yuzuki. They also taste a delicious dish involving Echire Butter and even reflect on Ellen Dillon’s book Butter Intervention. 

Claire and Colin are joined for this episode with the artist Sandy Christie! After some technical mishaps, the Let Them Eat Books team were able to have not one but two delicious Breakfasts! Recorded at Down the Hatch cafe in South Queensferry. Sandy shares his thoughts on breakfast, his famous Pea-mous recipe, and insights into his artistic practice. 

The most important podcast of the day brings you their take on the most important meal of the day! Colin and Claire take on all things breakfast, including discussion of the work of Anthony Capildeo, AA Milne, J R R Tolkien, Thom Gunn, Elizabeth David and Gary Shteyngart! Claire and Colin also disagree over the merits of Hotel Buffets and discuss some of their breakfast haunts from Peebles Hydro in the Borders, Very Bad Hotel in Kaunas, Lake Annecy, Cottonrake Bakery and Eusebi Deli in Glasgow and many more! 

The focus of this week’s Side Dish is the legendary cocktail the Piña Colada. Colin and Claire discuss its various origin myths, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Swinging in Waitrose, and even Rupert Holmes’s famous song! 

In the second full-length episode, Colin and Claire talk about the place of the pineapple in literary and culinary cultures, with discussion of Gabriel García Márquez‘s novel Love in the Time of Cholera, Clarice Lispector’s short story ‘The Sharing of the Loaves’, Colombian Pop Star Lao Ra, The Dunmore Pineapple, Pineapple Carpaccio, Ham and Pineapple on a pizza and much more! 

Co-hosted by Claire Reynolds and Colin Herd, our first “Side Dish” stars the classic pudding Jam Roly Poly. This episode includes discussion of Rivals - the show inspired by Jilly Cooper’s novel of the same name, ‘A Cup of Tea’, the short story by Katherine Mansfield and ‘Strawberries’, the poem by Edwin Morgan. 

Claire and Colin talk all things berry in this “berry” entertaining opening show! From pick your own fruit farms to Sylvia Plath, Seamus Heaney, the mythic origins of strawberries and berries in the bathtub, this episode is jam-packed with tart, zingy, delicious fruit! 

Theme Tune: Clare Roberts 

Editing: Max Parnell