Ian McEwan

Simon Mayo's Books of the Year · Sep 24, 2025 · 46m

International bestselling author, Ian McEwan, joins Simon and Matt for a chat about his new novel 'What We Can Know'. Optimistic manifesto? Or a cautious tale? In the first half of the book, we learn about a lost poem - which is at the heart of the novel - as this is ultimately a book about a quest. As well as poetry, they talk about renewable energies being on the rise and the positive conversations around climate change. 'you only have to stop doing bad things to nature, for it to push back quickly' Here's more on the book: 2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For…