This week Eoghan and new co-host Catherine Howley talk to Richard Baxell about his new book 'Forged in Spain' which vividly recounts the lives of the extraordinary men and women who left their families and friends across Britain to risk their lives in the Spanish Civil War. Richard is a historian and former Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and is currently the International Brigade Memorial Trust's historical consultant. 'Forged in Spain' is available to buy from Clapton Press: https://theclaptonpress.com/forged-in-spain-richard-baxell/ Please consider supporting the podcast ..read more

This week's guest is Paul Preston, one of the foremost historians of the Spanish Civil War. Eoghan talked to Paul about his new book 'Perfidious Albion', which is out today from Clapton Press and which turns the spotlight on Britain’s crucial but often overlooked involvement in the war. Preston argues that the country's policy of non-intervention was a crucial factor in the outcome of the war and reflected "the barely disguised sympathy of the Conservative government of Great Britain" for the military rebels. Buy a copy of the book here: https://theclaptonpress.com/perfidious-albion-britain-a ..read more

Yesterday's Portuguese general election saw a surge in support for the far-right Chega party, which tripled its vote share from six to eighteen percent while the governing Socialist Party saw a steep fall in support. To analyse the results, Eoghan is joined by journalist Joana Ramiro - whose work has appeared in The New Statesman, The Guardian and Novara Media. Please consider supporting the podcast at: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey ..read more

Eoghan is joined by Christopher James Evans to discuss his new book 'Los Leones: The Unique Story of Athletic Club Bilbao', which is out this month. It looks at Athletic's century long history and the development of its Basque-only footballing philosphy, which makes it stand out as a unique among the great clubs in world football. Please consider supporting the podcast at: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey ..read more

This week on Sobremesa podcast we are discussing this month’s 85th anniversary of La Retirada, which saw 500,000 people flee Catalunya and into France as Franco's fascist forces occupied Barcelona. Eoghan speaks to graduate war historian and podcast host Uma Arruga i López about La Retirada and and the experience of Spanish Republicans as exiles in France. Please consider supporting the podcast at: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey ..read more

Eric Calderwood, Associate Professor of Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois, joins Alan to discuss his new book On Earth or in Poems: The Many Lives of al-Andalus (Harvard University Press). They talk about how various groups such as feminists, Palestinians and directors making Ramadan soap-operas are all turning to the memory of al-Andalus and using it in different ways. You can buy the book here The Sobremesa Podcast has grown so much in 2023. We released 26 episodes on topics ranging from Spain's general election to the Civil War and on to Spanish cinema, Gaudi an ..read more

Miguel Hurtado is a human rights activist and clergy sex abuse survivor. He sits down with Alan to discuss the recent report from the Spanish government that estimates 440,000 people in the country have been victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic church. They discuss the methodology and content of the report and later the reaction. They also discuss Spain's recent changes in child protection and its flaws along with the need to abolish the statute of limitations when it comes to child abuse. Please donate here to make the podcast sustainable into 2024: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/eoghangilm ..read more

Arron Shulman joins Alan to discuss his book The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War. Here he explores Spain's chaotic 20th century via the lense of the larger-than-fiction Panero family. They discuss the cult classic documentary El desencanto (1976), which portrays the family at the peak of the country's transition from dictatorship to democracy. With the ghost of the patriarchal father remaining off-screen, some have come to see this film as a metaphor for the nation following the death of Franco. Aaron ..read more

Eric Calderwood, Associate Professor of Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois, joins Alan to discuss his new book On Earth or in Poems: The Many Lives of al-Andalus (Harvard University Press). They talk about how various groups such as feminists, Palestinians and directors making Ramadan soap-operas are all turning to the memory of al-Andalus and using it in different ways. You can buy the book here The Sobremesa Podcast has grown so much in 2023. We released 26 episodes on topics ranging from Spain's general election to the Civil War and on to Spanish cinema, Gaudi an ..read more

This week Eoghan is joined by Bécquer Seguín to talk about his new book 'The Op-Ed Novel'. The book examines how many of Spain's most renowned writers over the last thirty years have combined novel writing with publishing regular op-ed columns in El País. As Almudena Grandes, Javier Cercas, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Fernando Aramburu and Javier Marías engaged in public debates about Spain's past and its contemporary ills across the opinion pages of the country's paper of record, their own literary work increasingly took on political themes - with controversies first stirred in El País running over ..read more