Markus Zusak
Australian-German writerWikipedia
11
MENTIONS
9
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 11 mentions across 9 episodes found for "Markus Zusak".
Oct 12, 2026
K.M. WeilandHOST
Can you rephrase the explicitness of the dialogue to keep some of that iceberg under the water even while sharing the necessary information? For example, consider these two excellent examples of authorial restraint in not allowing characters to spell things out to each other.
K.M. WeilandHOST
The first is from The Book Thief, Markus Zusak's award-winning saga set in Nazi Germany.
K.M. WeilandHOST
In it, the main character, Liesel... thinks the explicit words she wishes to say to her doomed best friend, Rudy.
K.M. WeilandHOST
Readers understand exactly how she feels.
speaker_6HOST
Totally.
speaker_6HOST
And the book we are talking about today is Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.
speaker_7HOST
Such an absolute cultural juggernaut.
speaker_6HOST
I mean, it was published in Australia back in 2005, hit the US in 2006, and over the last 20 years, we are talking about over 17 million copies sold.
speaker_7HOST
It absolutely is.
speaker_7HOST
The origins of this novel really dictate the entire lens through which the story is told.
speaker_7HOST
So Markus Zusak was born in Sydney, Australia in 1975.
speaker_6HOST
So continents away and decades after the Second World War.
speaker_3HOST
Exactly.
speaker_3HOST
Published on March 9th, 2026, she sat down with the author, Markus Zusak, to reflect on the 20th anniversary of his masterpiece, The Book Thief.
speaker_2HOST
And it is a really remarkable milestone to examine because, I mean, this isn't just a retrospective on a single successful title.
speaker_3HOST
No, it's way bigger than that.
speaker_2HOST
That older brother metaphor is incredibly precise.
speaker_2HOST
It acknowledges that the book has developed its own agency.
speaker_3HOST
Independent of Markus Zusak.
speaker_2HOST
Exactly.
Luke BatemanHOST
How did you feel when this began and you found out that several numerous books of yours were on that list? How was that feeling?
Jodi PicoultGUEST
The very first time it happened, ironically, I also write for theater and I've adapted Marcus Zusak's very beautiful book, The Book Thief, as a musical.
Jodi PicoultGUEST
So I was in England, I was in rehearsal, and I was watching a prop book get set on fire by an actor playing a Nazi.
Jodi PicoultGUEST
And this notification came up in my email saying that one of my books had been banned.
Kate HergottHOST
Oh, there's a part of it.
Kate HergottHOST
It's not the same, but Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief.
Kate HergottHOST
It was kind of reminding me of that.
Kate HergottHOST
The Book Thief is more of an example of like, the how some german families really were just like i don't know i don't think it'll get too bad so it's not necessarily the story of the people who were like as violently affected by it they were eventually um but to your point where it's like kind of even germans who necessarily wouldn't have considered themselves nazis either were also just like living their lives in little communities and then like all of a sudden these things were starting to happen so the book this one did kind of remind me of the way that that book approaches it where it's like Especially that far back in time, like it's not like everyone had the same kind of information.
Raven KennedyGUEST
my god, that's hard.
Raven KennedyGUEST
I well, if I'm if I'm not going genre-based, like not necessarily anything that I write, but probably my favorite all-time standalone book is called I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak.
Raven KennedyGUEST
And it's not like his most well-known book.
Raven KennedyGUEST
His best-known book is The Book Thief, which is like movie and all that thing.
Jim ThayerHOST
Like horseradish, a little goes a long way.
Jim ThayerHOST
Markus Zusak is an Australian-German writer.
Jim ThayerHOST
He's best known for The Book Thief and The Messenger.
Jim ThayerHOST
The Guardian newspaper interviewed him.
Jodi PicoultGUEST
We did a sold-out West End concert of The Book Thief, and we did a sold-out West End concert of Austinland.
Jodi PicoultGUEST
Both of those are adaptations of books, one by Shannon Hale, and then The Book Thief, of course, by Marcus Zusak.
Jodi PicoultGUEST
And we will actually be... doing our West End run of The Book Thief at the Lyric Theatre in August of next year.
Jodi PicoultGUEST
West End Theatre, so, you know, Olivier reporting, we're very excited.
KatherineHOST
Jane Austen's not my favorite, but it, I read it.
KatherineHOST
Uh, one of my favorite books is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
BelHOST
Mm-hmm.
KatherineHOST
I think that's how you say it.