Number Five by Joe Mungo Reed

One of the wonderful secrets of the London Underground is that the trains and tunnels of the Waterloo & City line are often used in films. In this story by Joe Mungo Reed, the final in our podcast series, a daughter visits her film director father on set, to bring a family situation to his attention. In between takes, Laura contemplates their relationship, her childhood and her father’s character: his control, his absorption, his self-belief. Joe Mungo Reed was born in London and currently lives in Edinburgh. He has a degree in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. His first novel We Begin Our Ascent (published in July 2018) is described by Man Booker Prize winner George Saunders as “a dazzling debut by an exciting and essential new talent.” Underground: Tales for London features original short stories by London-loving authors from across the world. Each story, written by a Borough Press author, will be available to Evening Standard readers as a free podcast, from standard.co.uk. You can pre-order We Begin Our Ascent by Joe Mungo Reed here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

This collection of short stories distills the sweat and tears of the daily commute, along with the occasional magic of a Tube journey: where lives intersect and overlap, small kindnesses are exchanged, flirtatious eyes are caught, and journeys sometimes take commuters much further than they expected… Underground: Tales for London features original short stories by London-loving authors from across the world. Each story, written by a Borough Press author, will be available to Evening Standard readers as a free podcast, from standard.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.