This week, Nikki and Hannah discuss Feel Free by Zadie Smith, a collection of essays exploring culture, politics, art, identity and what it means to be free in an increasingly divided world.

Before diving into the book, there's a long-overdue real-life catch-up, Hannah shares details of her trip to London to celebrate her dad's 80th birthday (and an unexpected crush), and Nikki recounts a work event involving fire alarms and some questionable emergency priorities.

In This Episode

• What makes a collection of essays work – and whether Feel Free works as a cohesive book

• The challenges and pleasures of reading essays compared to reading novels

• Whether "freedom" is a sufficiently strong theme to unite the collection

• Zadie Smith's unique perspective, shaped by experiences across class, culture and academia

• Whether these essays belong in a book or are better suited to newspapers and magazines

Essays Discussed

North West London Blues

• The demolition of Willesden Green Library and the loss of communal spaces

• Libraries, local identity and civic responsibility

• Public funding, austerity and community engagement

Fences: A Brexit Diary

• Smith's immediate response to the 2016 Brexit referendum

• The fence as a metaphor for division, isolation and polarisation

• Echo chambers, privilege, responsibility and the consequences of democratic choice

The Bathroom

• Class, culture and family life through the lens of a childhood bathroom

• Social mobility, nostalgia and identity

• Parenting, expectations and the "retrospective swirl"

Joy

• The distinction between pleasure and joy

• Whether joy requires vulnerability, risk and uncertainty

• How we cultivate joy in our own lives

• The relationship between joy, privilege and freedom

Next Time

We'll be discussing our current reads and revealing our next buddy read.