Litopia All Shows

Traitor? Spy? Loyal American or self-serving amoralist?  Howard W Campbell Jr tries to write his own get out of jail free card in in Kurt Vonnegut's 'Mother Night'. Vintage.

Canonical fodder about a little boy with a man's mind, who becomes a fully grown man in a little boy's body, born and raised in the foreshadow and shadow of the Second World War. Blechtrommel is one word for it: execrable.

Review of the 2011 debut novel by Ben Lerner in which a young American goes to Spain on the US government's buck, meets two girls, and learns to fall in love with himself. Excellent book.

Good news!  This is a brief audio note from Ian and Peter about our RSS feed.  Litopia is expanding, with more shows and more RSS feeds.  This feed – the one you’re currently subscribed to – will become our MASTER feed: in other words, every show we produce will appear here automatically.  Hopefully, that will suit you just fine.  If not, Ian and Peter explain other options.  See you soon!

The latest struggle between Amazon and a major publisher is anything but a regular business negotiation. It will, we believe, profoundly affect the future of the global publishing industry. Hear our analysis – and decide for yourself. Links to other stories mentioned in this show include: Author awarded $100,000 in 'Billy the Kid' lawsuit SCOTUS rules in favor of Fox News reporter Holder declares 'No reporter is going to go to jail' Supremes Disallow 'Laches' Defense in Copyright Suit Led Zeppelin accused of plagiarism, 40 years after the release of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ 'Matrix' Did Not Infringe Upon Revenant Nazis 'Mockingbird' author's settlement with museum off  Photo by Keith Williams Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes

The growing media furor occasioned by the dismissal of former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson finds a strange connection this week to a far larger media scandal in the UK. How much did former BBC Director-General Mark Thompson know about the activities of BBC star and serial paedophile Jimmy Savile – who may have abused up to 1,000 victims on BBC premises, apparently under the noses of BBC staff for more than 40 years? According to Mr. Thompson, he knew zilch. “During my time as director general of the BBC, I never heard any allegations or received any complaints about Jimmy Savile”, he told the New York Times. But just four days into his new job as President and CEO of The New York Times, Mr Thompson’s veracity was questioned... by the Times itself. In a story that ran under the aegis of now-sacked executive editor Jill Abramson. Connected events? Some believe so. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes

Bestselling author Tess Gerritsen thinks shes been ripped off by the movie “Gravity” – and she may have a point! Presented from Florida by leading lawyer Donna Ballman and from London by literary agent Peter Cox. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes

Book-banning seasons is here again! Gather round the bonfire, folks, warm your hands and enjoy the mulled wine and scent of lightly-toasted paperbacks...  Plus, why do people get so mean on the net? Presented from Florida by leading lawyer Donna Ballman and from London by literary agent Peter Cox. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes Be a wonderful human being and support us with a donation

Allegedly, they made love every Tuesday, like clockwork. They would sing and dance all night long. Chinese foot binding comes into it, too. Not one of Holmes’s more outré cases – but in fact, a real-life legal drama – which is what The Debriefer is all about!  Presented from Florida by leading lawyer Donna Ballman and from London by literary agent Peter Cox. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes Be a wonderful human being and support us with a donation

A setback for authors who want to reclaim their e-book rights from publishers; Peter reveals one of his negotiating techniques; and someone in South Carolina has the world’s most highly-tuned Gaydar!  Presented from Florida by leading lawyer Donna Ballman and from London by literary agent Peter Cox. Links to stories mentioned in this show: Judge Rules for HarperCollins in Open Road E-Book Dispute Musicians May Lobby To Change Royalty Regs After Manhattan Court Ruling Holocaust novel focus of copyright suit South Carolina House votes to cut funds for universities over gay books Follow ups on old stories: Artist and Photographer Settle Infringement Suit Judge won't dismiss Ventura defamation suit against widow of 'American Sniper' author Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes Be a wonderful human being and support us with a donation

It started in Sochi — the most expensive winter Olympics in history. A winter Olympics which, let us not forget, saw Great Britain take the gold in curling! Then Pussy Riot— which is decidedly not a niche pornography market — were being publicly horsewhipped by men in funny hats while the world recoiled in horror and… didn’t do much of anything, really. Then, in the beating Orange heart of Kiev’s Independence Square, came the protesters — or maybe they weren’t protesters at all: maybe they were agent provocateurs from America. Next came the riot police — or maybe they weren’t riot police at all — maybe they were  paramilitary thugs from the infamous mercenary force, Blackwater. Suddenly there were 70 dead, hundreds injured, a Ukrainian president forced to flee his massive gold-plated presidential palace leaving behind that most incriminating evidence of dictatorship — a private zoo. Suddenly Russian troops — or maybe they’re not Russian; the uniforms are vague —deployed inside Crimea. Suddenly, if you b

We’re talking advances again, and following the cautionary tale of a pair of writers who went from self-made success... to “traditional” publishing failure... and now, hopefully, back to the self-publishing world again where the advances aren’t stellar - but at least you are your own boss.  Follow along, it’s well worth studying. Links to items mentioned on this show... Author cheated Bronx dog trainer out of book profits Adult Magazine Publisher Sues LeaseWeb for Providing Services to Copyright Infringers Beneficial Owner of “Spank” Has Standing in Copyright Infringement Suit City wants journalist to turn over documents related to book about NYPD whistleblowers Ninth Circuit Holds Actor In Minor Role Owns Independent Copyright In Performance Embodied In Motion Picture YouTube must take down explosive 'Innocence of Muslims' video in copyright suit Chicago publisher sued for publishing Malcolm X’s diary True-crime author Ann Rule's suit against Seattle Weekly tossed Presented from Florida by leading law

Jim Davidson gives his first major interview since winning Celebrity Big Brother! Cockney comic Jim Davidson was written off as a dinosaur by a younger breed of middle class stand-ups. Falsely suspected of all the "isms", Tory-backing, troops-loving, womanising Jim had been sacked by the BBC and snubbed by TV. And when he was arrested by Operation Yewtree in January 2012... well, it seemed that after four explosive and lucrative decades of fame, Davidson was finally finished. Media commentators queued up to dance on what they saw as the grave of his career. But then in rapid succession the charges were dropped - Jim entered the Celebrity Big Brother house and - against the odds - he won the series with the biggest vote in the show's history! The public rallied behind him and Jim Davidson was reinvented as a star for a new generation. So who is the real Jim Davidson? Is really the monster that the Ben Elton generation of comics tried to make out? On tonight’s Garry Bushell Show, you can meet this comedy legen

One of the nice things about our listeners is that they share their views and experiences with us. So it is that, after we last covered the lawsuit brought by  “To Kill a Mockingbird” legend Harper Lee against a museum in her south Alabama hometown, both Donna and Peter have changed their views on the case.  Thank you, Debriefists! Well, that suit has been settled now – and a very good thing, too. And while we’re speaking of past shows, here is the link Peter mentioned to our show featuring author Sherry Jones, whose trilas and tribulations with her book “The Jewel of Medina” we covered very extensively.  Sadly, extremist never sleeps, and here is a similar case, this time featuring Penguin and Wendy Doniger's book “The Hindus”. Other links in this show include: Harper Collins to stop illegally collecting personal information about children Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz sues student newspaper Books Rate More Negatively After Winning Awards Why Are Book Sales A Secret?: Court-Appointed Monitor To St

We’re back! With more stories, more opinion and even more insight into that murky confluence that lies somewhere between the edge of publishing and the beginning of matters legal.  Big stories this show are: Sherlock Holmes is definitely in the public domain, judge rules Warning Drivers Of Speed Traps With Flashing Headlights Is Free Speech Tom Cruise Sued For $1 Billion By Angry Screenwriter Single Mom Sob Story? JK Rowling Sues Daily Mail For Libel Science writer files lawsuit against NASA after it failed to investigate 'alien doughnut' on Mars Noncompetition Agreements & Editing Gawker Defends Linking to Tarantino Script Long-standing copyright suit nets plaintiff nearly $4M FBI Agent Copyrights Secret Interrogation Manual, Makes It Public Presented by leading lawyer Donna Ballman in Florida and literary agent Peter Cox in London. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes Be a wonderful human being and support us with a donation