Season 7 - Ep. 146 A May-December Friendship with guest Ben Aitken

One of our guests from this past summer, Kate Wickers, introduced us to the work of British nonfiction writer Ben Aitken. His books are funny, intelligent, poignant and we’re thrilled he agreed to speak with us from his home in London. We chatted with him about his many books, particularly The Marmalade Diaries which was just published in the US in June. Ben is funny in that understated way that Americans like us find charming.

The Marmalade Diaries: The True Story of an Odd Couple follows Ben’s experience being a millennial lodger with a 80 year old widow as COVID shut everything down in 2020. But we also cover his various travel books including The Gran Tour and A Chip Shop in Poznan.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1- J and C / The Cafe--plays by Ben Aitken
2- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
3- Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding
4- The Gran Tour by Ben Aitken
5- The Marmalade Diaries by Ben Aitken
6- Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
7- Dear Bill Bryson by Ben Aitken
8- A Chip Shop in Poznan by Ben Aitken
9- The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
10- Hello Stranger by Will Buckingham
22- Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
23- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
24- Two Degrees by Alan Gratz

Movies mentioned--
The Way (2010)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

TV series mentioned --
1- The Sandman - Netflix (2022 - )
2- Game of Thrones - HBO (2011-2019)
3- The Witcher - Netflix (2019 - present)
4- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Amazon (2022 -)