The Lubber's Hole - A Patrick O'Brian Podcast

19/11/2023

There are irregularities (of the digestive kind) aboard the Surprise, as Mr Hanson progresses with Jack as a mentor. Stephen hopes for intelligence from Dr Jacob while the galley chorus rallies round. Ch 4.

19/11/2023

Episode 179 is out today: There are irregularities (of the digestive kind) aboard the Surprise, as Mr Hanson progresses with Jack as a mentor. Stephen hopes for intelligence from Dr Jacob while the galley chorus rallies around.

13/11/2023

If you listen _right_ to the end of a Lubber’s Hole episode you get to hear Mike and me re-live our latest flub or funny moment, thanks to the skills and highly-attuned ear of our editor Sam Loose. This week’s is a classic.

12/11/2023

Jack hurries to get his ship repaired while Stephen works to confirm the mission to Chile with Sir Joseph. There’s family time for some. A royal connection adds to the midshipman’s berth, as Stephen’s pocket-watch works its way into the story once again. Ch 3.

12/11/2023

Ep 178 is out today: Jack hurries to get his ship repaired while Stephen works to confirm the mission to Chile with Sir Joseph. There’s family time for some. A royal connection adds to the midshipman’s berth, as Stephen’s pocket-watch works its way into the story once again.

05/11/2023

Jack returns to his amorous ways. The Surprise’s fortunes change and change again. Stephen is disappointed, worried, concerned, and ill-dressed. Wantage returns, though not entirely intact, and there’s a fiery ending for all. Ch 2.

05/11/2023

There's an episode coming out this weekend, and it's highly likely that it will turn out to be Ep 177. Jack returns to his amorous ways. The Surprise’s fortunes change and change again. Stephen is disappointed, worried, concerned, and ill-dressed. Wantage returns, though not entirely intact and there’s a fiery ending for all.

29/10/2023

A thousand apologies. User error on our part led to last week’s episode being uploaded in place of Ep 176. That has been fixed, and the new version should be in your feed any minute now. Sorry again!

29/10/2023

Ep 176 is out today, with Chapter 1 of Blue At The Mizzen: The Surprise’s departure for Chile is short-lived as she threatens to founder. Barmouth is back, Keith is not, and we learn about the differences between sailors and soldiers.

26/10/2023

Philip K Allan’s article on HMS Diamond Rock - for readers of The Hundred Days!

A mile off the southern coast of Martinique is a steep-sided basalt island that rises almost six hundred feet above the electric-blue waters of the Caribbean. Called Diamond Rock, it is an ancient lava plug left by a long-vanished volcano and is unoccupied by humans. But that was not always the case...

22/10/2023

In Episode 175 we talked about how Nelson’s servant Thomas Allen could have been a partial model for the character of Bonden (with a smidgen of Killick thrown in). Here he is:

If an item is shown as “offsite”, please allow eight days for your order to be processed. For further information, please contact Archive staff:

20/10/2023

It appears that Ep 175 may have snuck out a little early! Jack and the Surprise go after the galley, but the capture does not go as planned. Neither does much else. There’s a long chase, yet another new Dey, another death, and another potential complication for Jack’s career.

17/10/2023

Very excited to be in Greenwich for Will Sofrin’s talk …

15/10/2023

Ep 174 is out today: Jack tries to minimize the possibility of Lord Barmouth sending a different ship after the gold galley. Stephen has a favour to ask of Lady Keith, and Jacob leaves the ship without permission. Meanwhile, a pirate galley awaits the dark of the moon.

08/10/2023

Episode 173 is coming out today: Stephen & Jacob return to Algiers to find the Ringle and Surprise. Once again, there’s a new Dey in town. Stephen has some unexpected additions to his family. He doubts his diagnostic ability and his judgment, while seeking help from the wind and from a corsair.

We also have words from POB himself on the subject of narwhal tusks. There's not a moment to lose!

06/10/2023

Our show guest Will Sofrin is bringing his lecture tour, about the epic journey to bring HMS Rose to California to become HMS Surprise, to the UK this month.
If you can make it to Royal Museums Greenwich on the 17th, you might also bump into a Lubber’s Hole host!
You can also catch Will at the National Museum of the Royal Navy on the 15th, and Lymington Town Sailing Club on the 18th.

https://www.nmrn.org.uk/index.php/events/will-sofrin-all-hands-deck-master-and-commander-20th-anniversary

https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/national-maritime-museum/members-lecture-all-hands-on-deck-will-sofrin

https://www.ltsc.co.uk/calendar

Find out about the naval adventure that inspired the author's new book

01/10/2023

Something about this just tickled me …

Silly Linguistics: a magazine for language lovers everywhere https://bit.ly/2LQUfVP

01/10/2023

Episode 172 is out today: Stephen and Jacob head off into the mountains. There are animals, bribes, secret acquaintances, some Royal Navy history, a lion hunt, grand theft, and a wicked desert sandstorm.

28/09/2023

Thanks to listener Rob on Twitter for creating this invaluable aid for anyone struggling to pay attention during the show:

24/09/2023

Episode 171 is out today - There's Shakespeare on death, a strong blow, more jeopardy for young Daniel, and stories about his life. Meanwhile Jack shows birds to Stephen, there’s an unredeemed Killick, Algiers, lions, and tigers and bears, oh my… OK, no bears - but there’s a new Dey in town.

17/09/2023

Episode 170: Action ensues, and our deep intelligence coves start some action of their own. Dr Stephen Maturin and Commodore Jack Aubrey visit The Lubber’s Hole! And we have a fiery time along the Adriatic Coast as Muslim gold heads for Napoleon’s mercenaries.

13/09/2023

Maybe, like us, you were wondering what the 'white flag' was that flew aboard Christy-Palliere's ship the Caroline. (We're talking about The Hundred Days, chapter 4). Well here's a picture of one that's in the collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. Special thanks to our friend Olivier Aranda for checking it out for us!

If an item is shown as “offsite”, please allow eight days for your order to be processed. For further information, please contact Archive staff:

10/09/2023

Ep 169 is coming today! The Pomone is still unreliable, ill omens continue, the hand of glory disappears, a duel between Surprise’s officers is in the offing, and foreign ships move to take the weather gauge - with a curiously unfamiliar flag in view.

03/09/2023

Ep 168 is out today - We have another tragic death in the squadron, the continued threat of bad luck and ill-omens, Killick’s rise and fall, a German flute-playing Marine officer, lucky objects threatened, and some music - as the naval and intelligence missions continue.

27/08/2023

Episode 167 is coming today: Jack exercises the squadron’s great guns. Stephen composes music, gets a new loblolly-”boy,” and sketches the severed hand. There’s a mention of bad omens, darkness lurks in the background, danger threatens, and the squadron is called to action.

23/08/2023

Check out joke number 4 … she’s not wrong!

Comedian Lorna Rose Treen's one-liner tops the public vote at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

20/08/2023

Back to the regular canon with Ep 166, as we begin The Hundred Days: The squadron arrives in Gibraltar and in the blink of an eye we learn what's changed. There are unexpected deaths near and far, threats on the continent, and invaluable intelligence and naval missions for our heroes.

14/08/2023

If you're interested in Patrick O'Brian's early thoughts on the advent of audiobooks, this is a fascinating read:

AudioFile presents an interview with author Scott Turow.

13/08/2023

Coming out today - Our latest Crossing The Line special is all about audiobooks. With the help of special guests Steve Morris, Chris Durbin, Simon Vance and Sue Dennis we explore the artistry, the practicalities and reminiscences of how words like O'Brian's came to be spoken aloud for us.

12/08/2023

This weekend we're excited to bring you our special episode on audiobooks. We had a fantastic time talking with our four great guests:
- Steve Morris, screenwriter, podcaster and friend of the show;
- Chris Durbin, naval historical fiction author;
- Simon Vance, award-winning audiobook narrator;
- Sue Dennis, widow of Patrick Tull
The show drops tomorrow - we hope you like it!

09/08/2023

If you feel like voting for us in the 2023 British Podcast awards, we’d be very grateful - go here:

CAST YOUR VOTE BELOWType your favourite Podcast in below and have your say on who you want to win the Listeners' Choice Award. Please note, to qualify for the Listeners' Choice Award, podcasts must have been available by 1 June 2023 listed in the Apple Podcasts directory.Voting closes 05 September ....

09/08/2023

Hope you enjoyed the reference to the Academy of Ancient Music - disbanded in 1802 but visited by Stephen and Jack in their timeline!

The Academy of Ancient Music (1726–1802): Its History, Repertoire and Surviving Programmes - Volume 51

06/08/2023

Episode 165 is out today: Jack and Stephen return to London to attend the meetings which may determine the future of Jack’s naval career. There’s time at home, a Surprise make over, vacation with the family courtesy of the Chileans, and an even bigger surprise!

30/07/2023

It's summer vacation time, so we’re taking a pause, to bring you something new in our ‘Crossing the Line’ series - a chance for you to dig deeper into the music of the Patrick O’Brian canon. Check out our playlists of classical and traditional/popular music:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkXLRsBHDuuvm75MhtgWXoxKi1gKJE8ow
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkXLRsBHDuuuwlclAIjxp-DSl8n7HrbwN
We'll be back with the concluding chapter of The Yellow Admiral next week.

23/07/2023

EP 164 coming soon: The squadron is reinforced with ships but no supplies or post arrive. Stephen performs his most frequent surgery, and Killick has some great moments. Jack gets kudos from O’Brian, but worries about the French navy and the potential end of the war.

16/07/2023

If you want to follow along our discussion of the Horace/Pope extract, you can find the relevant pages here:
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004809258.0001.000/17:2.2?fbclid=IwAR0TcEVmy2OPNMOZVibRi1Ax26FhVB_U7xAvyYuVLLo5fo-qQCCJfC1464s;page=root;size=100;view=text
and here:
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004809258.0001.000/18:2.2?fbclid=IwAR0TcEVmy2OPNMOZVibRi1Ax26FhVB_U7xAvyYuVLLo5fo-qQCCJfC1464s;page=root;size=100;view=text

16/07/2023

Ep 163 is coming later today: The Committee votes on Stephen’s plan. Stephen visits Woolcombe. Sophie gets an education. Jack considers his options, after Stephen rejoins the squadron. O’Brian demonstrates his Latin chops, and we lean heavily on our consulting Latinist!

09/07/2023

Episode 162 is on its way: Stuck waiting for repairs, Jack returns to the squadron too late to pick up Stephen and frets over the Admiral's view of his recent prize-taking. Stephen’s roundabout homeward journey takes him to London, to Blaine, and the promise of a new intelligence coup.

08/01/2023

Political differences abound, as Stephen and Martin's relationship is hulled below the waterline. Tom has the Franklin armed & looking beautiful, but people suffer from salt and the lack of fresh water. The spoils are divided, as are opinions about Dutourd. Ch 4.

08/01/2023

Ep 137 is out today: Political differences abound, as Stephen and Martin's relationship is hulled below the waterline. Tom has the Franklin armed & looking beautiful, but people suffer from salt and the lack of fresh water. The spoils are divided, as are opinions about Dutourd!