{"podcast":{"title":"Close Readings","slug":"close-readings-6008264","podcast_index_feed_id":6008264,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LRB7524563961","website_url":"https://lrb.me/closereadings","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8048b732-4c5a-11f0-b296-b352f3a58800/image/5fa291b4c093e3f1c80cfc2115b27a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"London Review of Books","episode_count":209,"summary":"Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books. Two contributors explore areas of literature through a selection of key works, providing an introductory grounding like no other. Listen to some episodes for free here, and extracts from our ongoing subscriber-only series. How To Subscribe In Apple Podcasts, click 'subscribe' at the top of this podcast feed to unlock the full episodes. Or for other podcast apps, sign up here: https://lrb.me/closereadings RUNNING IN 2026 'Who's afraid of realism?' with James Wood and guests 'Nature in Crisis' with Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith 'Narrative Poems' with Seamus Perry and Mark Ford 'London Revisited' with Rosemary Hill and guests Bonus Series: 'The Man Behind the Curtain' with Tom McCarthy and Thomas Jones ALSO INCLUDED IN THE CLOSE READINGS SUBSCRIPTION: 'Conversations in Philosophy' with Jonathan Rée and James Wood 'Fiction and the Fantastic' with Marina Warner, Anna Della Subin, Adam Thirlwell and Chloe Aridjis 'Love and Death' with Seamus Perry and Mark Ford 'Novel Approaches' with Clare Bucknell, Thomas Jones and other guests 'Among the Ancients' with Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones 'Medieval Beginnings'…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-19T04:18:10.768764+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264"},"episode":{"title":"London Revisited: Plague, Rebellion and Guilds","slug":"london-revisited-plague-rebellion-and-guilds","published_at":"2026-04-20T14:18:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/london-revisited-plague-rebellion-and-guilds","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB8791693244.mp3","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB8791693244.mp3","summary":"If historians of medieval London had a patron saint, it might well be Edward I. While many English monarchs chose to leave London to its own devices, Edward decided from the start of his reign in 1272 to put pressure on the city to justify its liberties. The result was a profusion of bureaucracy, most notably in the Letter Books, that describe the life of London and its people in vivid detail, from disputes, petitions and regulations to the names of all the city’s apprentices. This record-keeping was good for the city too, reinforcing a powerful system of guilds supporting hundreds of trades and a flourishing merchant and consumer culture. But when the Black Death arrived in England in 1348, London’s population was devastated, and its social and economic life transformed. In this episode, Rosemary is joined again by Matthew Davies, professor of urban history at Birkbeck, to continue the story of England’s capital through its rapid rise in the first half of the 14th century and a long period turmoil thereafter, including the Hundred Years’ War, the revolts of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade, and the Wars of the Roses. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Read more in the LRB: Tom Johnson: No More Baubles: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep401⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"If historians of medieval London had a patron saint, it might well be Edward I. While many English monarchs chose to leave London to its own devices, Edwa…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1664,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/close-readings-6008264/episodes/london-revisited-plague-rebellion-and-guilds/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/london-revisited-plague-rebellion-and-guilds.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}