Francis Spufford: Nonesuch

My guest this week is Francis Spufford, whose fabulous new novel Nonesuch is a fantasy adventure set during the Blitz containing magical Nazis, nerdy TV techs and honest-to-goodness angels. He tells me about fantasy world-building and historical research, the pleasures and pitfalls of writing a female protagonist, why C S Lewis is as influential as Tolkien — and supersizing Dr Manhattan. You can read Philip Hensher's review of Nonesuch here . Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to Francis Spufford: Nonesuch online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Francis Spufford: Nonesuch is an episode from Spectator Books by The Spectator.

This episode is 30:05 long.

This episode was published on Feb 25, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Spectator Books when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.