Novelist Rosa Rankin-Gee discusses six things which she thinks should be better known. Rosa Rankin-Gee is the author of two novels: The Last Kings of Sark, which won Shakespeare & Company’s Paris Literary Prize, and Dreamland, set in a near-future Margate, which has just come out with Scribner. She once tried to stop Brexit with 600 croissants. Insulated Mugs https://cheeki.com/blogs/news/8-reasons-to-buy-an-insulated-coffee-mug The first signs of anaphylaxis https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/an...
May 23, 2021•30 min
Former Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Alexandra Shulman was editor in chief of British Vogue, the longest serving editor in the history of the magazine. Her new book is Clothes and other things that matter. https://www.waterstones.com/book/clothes-and-other-things-that-matter/alexandra-shulman/9781788401999 Passion Flower capsules or tincture https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/calming-effects-of-passionflower Delayed ...
May 16, 2021•30 min
David Runciman discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. This episode was recorded the day before the local elections. Professor David Runciman was Head of the University of Cambridge's Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) from 2014 to 2018. His research interests are in twentieth century political thought, particularly ideas of democracy and crisis, and the role of technology in contemporary politics. David's new book is How Democracy Ends, publi...
May 09, 2021•30 min
To celebrate 1000 Better Known choices, Ivan invites past guests to discuss their One in a Thousand, the choice which above all deserves to be better known. People: Caroline Eden discusses Sanmao Places: Eleanor Fitzsimons discusses the Sheep’s Head Peninsula and Barbara Scully discusses Southern Spain Objects: Lindsay Johns discusses the books of Alex LaGuma Stories: Christopher Fowler discusses Experiences: Alexis Sotiropoulos discusses the National Fruit Museum Ideas: Tarik O’Regan discusses ...
May 05, 2021•27 min
Tracey Follows discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Tracey Follows is a futurist and author of The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st-Century Technology? She is the CEO of Futuremade, a futures consultancy advising global brands and specialising in the application of foresight to boost business. Charles Wareing Bardsley's Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1901) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59959/59959-h/59959-h.htm The Otaku https://www.we...
May 02, 2021•28 min
Felicity Hayes-McCoy discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Felicity Hayes-McCoy, bestselling author of The Library at the Edge of The World, was born in Dublin, Ireland. She studied literature at UCD before training as an actress in London. Her work as a writer ranges from TV, radio drama and documentary, to screenplays, memoir, journalism and children's books. Her "Finfarran" novels, set in Ireland and featuring local librarian Hanna Casey, are widely read inte...
Apr 25, 2021•29 min
Dawood Gustave discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Dawood Gustave is the founder of Reluctantly Brave and a global leader in bringing gamechanging imaginative thinking into the heart of businesses. He grew up on a council estate in Peckham in south London. Aged sixteen, he left school and home, spending the next 16 years finding a range of ways to survive and make a living. At 31, a series of disturbing personal events sparked a desire to change the course of h...
Apr 18, 2021•30 min
Armand D’Angour discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Armand D’Angour is a Professor of Classics at the University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor at Jesus College, Oxford. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters on the literature and culture of ancient Greece, and (as a former professional cellist) has conducted innovative research into reconstructing ancient Greek music. His books include The Greeks and the New (Cambridge: CUP, 2011) and Socrates in ...
Apr 11, 2021•29 min
Sarah Carey discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Sarah Carey is a broadcaster, columnist and regular contributor Irish and international media. She is a columnist for The Irish Independent and has previously written for The Sunday Independent, The Irish Times and The Sunday Times. For six years she presented the critically praised Talking Point on Newstalk. Sarah has a degree in history from Trinity College, Dublin. She began her career in telecommunications an...
Apr 04, 2021•30 min
Samira Shackle discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Samira Shackle is a freelance writer and reporter based in London. She is the editor of the New Humanist magazine, and a regular contributor to the Guardian Long Read. Her first book, Karachi Vice, is a work of narrative nonfiction telling the story of five ordinary citizens of Pakistan's largest city. Private cities https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/08/inspired-by-central-park-the-new-city-for-a-mil...
Mar 28, 2021•30 min
Sam Bowman discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Sam Bowman is director of competition policy at the International Center for Law & Economics, Portland. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, a Non-Executive Director of the drug policy think tank Volteface, and Founder of the Entrepreneurs Network. He was previously Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute, an economic policy think tank in Westminster. PC Music https://www.youtube.com/w...
Mar 21, 2021•30 min
Terence Blacker discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Terence Blacker is a songwriter, singer and author who has sung and read at festivals, clubs and theatres in the UK, Europe and America. He was already an established author when he started writing and performing his songs in 2009. His musical storytelling – offbeat, funny songs capturing the lives of modern-day misfits and outsiders – quickly found a following at folk clubs and festivals. His books include Th...
Mar 14, 2021•30 min
Will Hutton discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Will Hutton is co-chair of The Purposeful Company. He was Principal of Hertford College, University of Oxford from 2011 to 2020, and Chair of the Big Innovation Centre, an initiative from the Work Foundation. He was chief executive of the Work Foundation from 2000 to 2008. He was formerly editor-in-chief for The Observer. American football https://www.the42.ie/basic-guide-to-american-football-and-the-nfl-2265086-F...
Mar 07, 2021•30 min
Writer Deborah Moggach discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Deborah Moggach has written 21 novels, including Tulip Fever and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, both of which were made into movies. She has adapted many of my own and others' work, including the BAFTA-nominated Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, and The Diary of Anne Frank. Her latest novel is The Carer, out in paperback, and her new novel, The Black Dress, will be published in July. The Goodwin San...
Feb 28, 2021•30 min
Dr Meg Van Deusen discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Meg Van Deusen, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and mindfulness practitioner in private practice since 1994. In a time of great stress and disconnection in the US she offers insights and solutions to help readers reconnect and live healthier lives. Dr Van Deusen lives in Seattle, Washington where she enjoys the outdoors, cooking and time with her husband, sons and friends. Her latest book is Stressed in the U...
Feb 21, 2021•29 min
Leo McKinstry discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Leo McKinstry is a journalist and author. His books include Boycs: The True Story (2000), Rosebery: Statesman in Turmoil (2005) and Attlee and Churchill: Allies in War, Adversaries in Peace (2020). The novels of Patrick Hamilton https://www.bookforum.com/print/1405/in-a-trio-of-novels-patrick-hamilton-offered-deft-portraits-of-the-english-working-class-as-world-war-ii-descended-their-republication-introduces-us-...
Feb 14, 2021•30 min
Helen Lewis discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Helen Lewis is a British journalist who works as a Staff Writer at the Atlantic magazine, based in London. She hosts the longform interview series The Spark on BBC Radio 4, and her history of feminism, Difficult Women, was published in February 2020. Read more about Helen at https://helenlewiswrites.com/ . The Modesty Blaise novels https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/sep/19/crimebooks.features Barbara Castle h...
Feb 07, 2021•30 min
Tim Tate discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Tim Tate is a multi-award winning documentary film-maker, investigative journalist and best-selling author. Over a career spanning almost 40 years he has written for most national newspapers and made more than 80 documentaries for British and international broadcasters. His films have been honoured by Amnesty International, the Royal Television Society, UNESCO, the International Documentary Association, the Associati...
Jan 31, 2021•29 min
Author Simon Winchester discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa, all of which were New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and notable lists. In 2006, Winchester was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE...
Jan 24, 2021•30 min
Barbara Scully discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Barbara Scully is a freelance writer, columnist and broadcaster – her fifth career to date. She is frequently published in the national press and is a familiar voice on the airwaves – both on TV and radio. Her writing appears most often in the Irish Independent, but she has been published in all the national newspapers and most Irish magazines. Barbara has a weekly slot on the Moncrieff Show on Newstalk, an in...
Jan 17, 2021•29 min
Jim Al-Khalili discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Jim Al-Khalili OBE FRS is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology. Jim is a prominent author ...
Jan 10, 2021•30 min
Alex Christofi discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Alex Christofi is Editorial Director at Transworld Publishers and the author of the novels Let Us Be True and Glass, winner of the Betty Trask Prize for fiction. He has written for numerous publications including the Guardian, the London Magazine and The White Review. Dostoevsky in Love is his first work of non-fiction. You can buy the book at https://linktr.ee/dostoevsky Redding Hunter https://traffique.bandca...
Jan 03, 2021•29 min
Anjuna Mutanda discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Anjula is a highly respected relationship and clinical therapist, mental health expert, psychologist, presenter, author, social scientist, and media consultant. Most recently, Anjula presented Sextape, a major four-part relationship series on Channel 4. Anjula was the behavioural expert on season 2 of Make or Break (My5 April 2019). She was the resident psychologist on 50 Ways to Kill your Lover. She makes reg...
Dec 27, 2020•30 min
Novelist Alice Clark-Platts discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Alice Clark-Platts is the author of the best-selling The Flower Girls, published by Bloomsbury Raven in 2019. Her crime novels Bitter Fruits and The Taken are published by Penguin Random House. The Taken was also shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader Awards for Best Police Procedural. Alice’s short fiction has been published in numerous works. She is the founder of the Singapore Writers’ Group. Ali...
Dec 20, 2020•29 min
Richard Bradford discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Richard Bradford is Professor of English and Senior Distinguished Research Fellow at Ulster University. He is the author of six highly acclaimed literary biographies The Life of a Long-Distance Writer: A Biography of Alan Sillitoe, First Boredom, Then Fear: The Life of Philip Larkin and Lucky Him: The Life of Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis: The Biography, The Man Who Wasn’t there: A Life of Ernest Hemingway and O...
Dec 13, 2020•30 min
Guy Leschziner discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Guy Leschziner is a consultant neurologist and sleep physician, broadcaster and author. He heads the Sleep Disorders Centre at Guy's Hospital, one of Europe's largest and busiest clinical sleep services. He is presenter of Mysteries of Sleep and The Compass: The Senses on BBC World Service and Radio 4, and is author of "The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep" (Simon and Schu...
Dec 06, 2020•30 min
Eleanor Fitzsimons discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Eleanor Fitzsimons is a writer and researcher who lives in Dublin. She is the author of Wilde’s Women (Duckworth, 2015), which won the silver medal in the Biography category of the 2018 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards. She is an honorary patron of the Oscar Wilde Society and a member of the editorial board of society journal The Wildean. Her second book, The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit (Duckworth, 2019...
Nov 29, 2020•30 min
Novelist Alex Wheatle discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Alex Wheatle was born in London of Jamaican parents. His first book, Brixton Rock (1999), tells the story of a 16-year old boy of mixed race, in 1980s Brixton. His most recent novels, Liccle Bit (2015), Crongton Knights (2016) - winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize - and Straight Outta Crongton (2017), are novels for young adult readers, focusing on the lives of teenagers and families on the f...
Nov 22, 2020•29 min
Science writer Tom Chivers discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Tom Chivers is science editor at UnHerd.com. His second book, How To Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them), will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in March 2021. He is a two-time winner of the Royal Statistical Society's Statistical Excellence in Journalism award, and was once told by Terry Pratchett that he was "far too nice to be a journalist". Go...
Nov 15, 2020•29 min
Emma Bridgewater discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Emma Bridgewater grew up in Oxford, the eldest of a large family. After studying English at London University, she joined a small knitwear firm, but soon realised that what she really wanted to do was start her own company. Her ‘eureka moment’ came in 1985, when she was searching for a pretty cup and saucer for her mother’s birthday. Discovering that everything in the shops was either delicate and formal, or...
Nov 08, 2020•27 min
