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I have just returned to work after the birth of my first baby, and have spent my commutes devouring , a podcast from BBC Radio 4. It travels from a sperm meeting the egg to the baby’s first birthday.

India Rakusen hosts a fascinating dive into the science, history and culture of pregnancy, parenthood and early years development. Episodes meander from the prosaic – prenatal nutrition, for example – to the conceptual, like how perceptions of time shift for new parents.

This isn’t just a series for those in the grip of early years parenting. Topics like fatherhood and childcare raise big questions about how society shapes, defines and values new life.

I also enjoyed the novel by Eleanor Catton, which pits an anti-capitalist guerilla farming collective against an entrepreneur intent on acquiring billions of dollars of rare earth minerals, regardless of the environmental cost. A literary thriller, with a side order of dystopia – my kind of beach read.

Madeleine Cuff

Reporter

London