Travel Podcasts, Discovered
'Gone To Timbuktu', hosted by the bestselling author and journalist Sophy Roberts, explores the art of travel with writers, poets, photographers and filmmakers. Conversations range from physical journeys to inner landscapes, creative influences and new ideas.
28 most recent episodes displayed below
Visit website →The acclaimed British artist George Butler draws in situ with pen, ink and watercolour, his travels taking him to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and more. His reportage illustration is the 'art of travel' at its most urgent — with this conversatio
An extraordinary desert traveller and social anthropologist bursts all the cliches as she takes us on a journey into the heart of the Sahara to reveal its complex human history. Instead of an imagined city of gold, Judith Scheele reveals something of
The German documentary photographer drills into the challenges and opportunities of making work that matters, for the New York Times, New Yorker, ZEIT and more. A fascinating insight into a photographer at the top of the game, working in Siberia, the
The British author talks about his latest book, Lone Wolf — following in the footsteps of a wolf named Slavc, who crosses the Alps from Slovenia to the Italian Dolomites in search of a mate.
The journalist and biographer Lance Richardson takes on a titan of American literature, Peter Matthiessen — novelist, naturalist, Zen teacher, one-time CIA agent, and author of one of the classic travel books of the 20th century, The Snow Leopard.
The South African author, explorer and conservationist takes us on a magnetic river journey through the great spine of Africa. His storytelling leads us into the dreamscape of 'Ghost Elephants' — Werner Herzog's new film following Steve in Angola.
The Nigerian author talks about two books: one a journey across his homeland reaching for fragments of history from his nation's civil war, the other a powerful dreamscape evoking the cities of the Sahel, from N'Djamena to Khartoum.
In Greyhound, the Canadian-Irish author Joanna Pocock takes us on a journey across America by bus, in a truly modern blend of memoir, reportage, and the literary imagination.
The American master of biography talks about the subject of his most recent obsession: the Scottish traveller, South Seas adventurer and prose genius, Robert Louis Stevenson. To the likes of Henry James and Italo Calvino, Stevenson's 'kinetic' energ
On a far-reaching journey from Savannah to the Arctic Circle, we experience the joys (and fears) of night travel as told by one of the great contemporary travel writers on railways. This time, the focus is on sleeper trains, which are the stars of Mo
Lyse Doucet, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, discusses her first major book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul. An instant Sunday Times bestseller, it tells the story of the last 50 years of Afghan history through the everyday lives of people wo
On journeys through Central Asia, Turkey, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, Russia, the Baltics and Poland, Caroline Eden reveals the kitchen's unique ability to tell intimate human stories. This episode — discussing her memoir, Cold Kitchen, as well as h
A father's death, a Romany taboo, and a childhood obsession with Plato's myth about the lost city of Atlantis drives award-winning author Damian Le Bas on a quest to find meaning in sunken ruins around the world. The result is a spellbinding journey
Discussing Anima, the final book in her decade-long quartet, awardwinning author and poet Kapka Kassabova takes us on a journey into a wild corner of the Balkans to meet the the last true pastoralists of Europe. This is a powerful conversation about
Under a Metal Sky: A Journey Through Rocks is another travel writing classic from Philip Marsden. Journeying across Europe, from Cornwall to Georgia, he tells a fascinating story about the interconnectedness of rocks, metals, Goethe and Bronze Age im
Robert Macfarlane speaks about his new book, Is a River Alive? In a powerful imaginative and physical journey, he takes us from well-worship in Cambridgeshire to an Ecuadorian cloud forest, to an Indian mega-city, finishing in the rapids of Quebec.
British writer Rob Cowen speaks about his new book, The North Road, collapsing over 7,000 years of history with the present moment on a 400-mile journey through Britain. Along the way, he encounters bones, bigotries, highwaymen and literary influence
Filmmaker Bruce Parry talks about his return to the BBC with a new three-part series named after his original breakthrough TV documentary 'Tribe'. He explores how much there is still to learn from Indigenous peoples — and how modern living divorces u
Norwegian polar explorer, author and publisher, Erling Kagge, speaks about his new book, The North Pole: The History of an Obsession. In a lively conversation, he and Sophy discuss the difference between Norwegian and British approaches to exploratio
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Writer Noreen Masud discusses her book, A Flat Place, delving into how level landscapes – from Pakistan to England's Suffolk coast — can echo the psychology of complex trauma.
James Rebanks, a farmer and Sunday Times-bestselling writer from the Lake District, discusses his new book, The Place of Tides, revealing a moving story of courage and determination on a remote Norwegian island.
Jeff Young, a Liverpudlian writer for screen, stage and radio, discusses his recent book, Wild Twin, and paints a moving portrait of memories gained and lost. He highlights the vibrant influence of a host of artistic and musical giants, from Joseph C
The American novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux discusses his latest book, Burma Sahib — and describes a life spent on the move from Myanmar, to Malawi, to Mexico. He unpicks the evolution of travel writing, his friendship with Bruce Chatwin, an
Sophy Roberts in conversation with author and journalist Jon Lee Anderson about his life of reportage, from Central America to Liberia to singing to reindeer in Alaska.
Author Laura Beatty discusses her book, Looking for Theophrastus, delving into Greece, the interconnectedness of space and time, the concept of wonder, and why we should care about someone who lived 2,400 years ago.
The British-American photographer Michael Turek returns to his roots in the Yorkshire Dales, discussing the influences that shape his work. He talks about the photographer-writer collaboration that he and Sophy have built, taking them from Siberia to
Leon McCarron discusses his epic source-to-sea river journey through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. He unravels what deep history, beauty and ecological collapse really look like on the River Tigris.
The 87-year-old British photojournalist talks about the travels, writers and images that have given him respite from the brutality of war. He paints a vivid picture of India, Turkey, Greece, North Africa, Syria and the healing power of the Somerset L