{"podcast":{"title":"A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley","slug":"a-reading-life-a-writing-life-with-sally-bayley-5890400","podcast_index_feed_id":5890400,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/readinglifewritinglife/feed.xml","website_url":"https://readinglifewritinglife.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/15515358/ARLAWL-FINAL_2__vsrabu.jpg","author":"Sally Bayley, Andrew Smith","episode_count":95,"summary":"Acclaimed writer Sally Bayley lives on a narrowboat, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, sustained by reading and writing. In this series, she invites us into her life, showing us how books can have the power to change our lives. Sally has recently been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, but this is not a misery memoir podcast; she shows us how literature and connection to nature can console and give courage and insight even in the most difficult times. This podcast series is produced by BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producer Andrew Smith","last_synced_at":"2026-07-04T18:20:29.274602+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-reading-life-a-writing-life-with-sally-bayley-5890400"},"episode":{"title":"The Other Side of the Fire","slug":"the-other-side-of-the-fire","published_at":"2025-07-18T15:30:38+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-reading-life-a-writing-life-with-sally-bayley-5890400/the-other-side-of-the-fire","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-reading-life-a-writing-life-with-sally-bayley-5890400","url":"https://readinglifewritinglife.podbean.com/e/the-other-side-of-the-fire/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/p9sqaczc95rhdbsx/JB_Draft_266hge.mp3","summary":"For Gabriella Kelly Davies. ‘On the last day of summer Mrs Bohannon fell in love. The poplars, fallaciously pathetic, looked horrified, their branches rising on the wind like startled hair, and a pilgrim cloud wept a few chill tears.’ This week, Sally is once again in the world of Alice Thomas Ellis. Listen for a close reading of the opening of Ellis’ fourth novel, The Other Side of the Fire (1983), focusing on the construction of space, character, and intimacy between writer, narrator, and reader. The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Thursday’, by Paul Seba. More on Paul and his work can be found here. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.","meta_description":"For Gabriella Kelly Davies. ‘On the last day of summer Mrs Bohannon fell in love. The poplars, fallaciously pathetic, looked horrified, their branches ris…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1416,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a-reading-life-a-writing-life-with-sally-bayley-5890400/episodes/the-other-side-of-the-fire/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-reading-life-a-writing-life-with-sally-bayley-5890400/the-other-side-of-the-fire.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}