Bill Weir discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Bill Weir is a veteran anchor, writer, producer, and host who came to CNN in 2013 after a decade of award-winning journalism at ABC News. In 2019, he was named the network’s first Chief Climate Correspondent, drawing on his experience creating and hosting the primetime CNN Original Series “The Wonder List with Bill Weir,” now streaming on Discovery+. His first book, Life As We Know It (Can Be) was published by Chronicle Prism...
Apr 21, 2024•30 min
Chioma Okereke discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Born in Nigeria, Chioma Okereke grew up in London and studied law at UCL. She started her writing career as a performance poet before turning her hand to prose. Her debut novel, Bitter Leaf (Virago), was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and her short story, Trompette De La Mort, received First Runner Up in the Costa Short Story Award. Her new novel is Water Baby. Jamaica Kincaid https://www.theparisreview...
Apr 14, 2024•29 min
Ash Bhardwaj discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Ash Bhardwaj is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and keynote speaker, whose work explores the intersection of travel, current affairs and human behaviour. He has reported from around the world for outlets including the BBC, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and Condé Nast Traveller. Before travel writing, Ash was a ski instructor, science teacher and wannabe cowboy. He is an officer in the British Army Reserve, and a l...
Apr 07, 2024•30 min
Anthony Daniels discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Anthony Daniels was born in London in 1949. He retired from medical practice except for medico-legal work in 2005. He has written several books, including an account of a journey across Africa by public transport, and under his pseudonym, Theodore Dalrymple, has written many essays for publications such as City Journal, some of which were collected in Life at the Bottom (2001), which has been translated into several lan...
Mar 31, 2024•31 min
Historian Leah Redmond Chang discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Leah Redmond Chang is a former Associate Professor of French and Director of the French Literature Programme at George Washington University, and was most recently a Senior Research Associate at University College London. She is the author of two previous books: Into Print: The Production of Female Authorship in Early Modern France and Portraits of the Queen Mother: Polemics, Panegyrics, Letters, winner of ...
Mar 24, 2024•30 min
Historian Alice Loxton discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alice Loxton is a 28 year old history broadcaster and writer with over two million followers on social media (@history_alice). She has appeared on many channels including Sky Arts, Channel 5, BBC News and History Hit, and has worked with a wide array of organisations to bring history to mainstream audiences, including Christie’s, Meta, The National Trust, 10 Downing Street, The Royal Collection Trust, The Nationa...
Mar 17, 2024•30 min
Charlie Russell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Charlie Russell she/her. Creative Associate and co-founder at Mischief. Trained at LAMDA. Work with Mischief includes Groan Ups (West End); The Play That Goes Wrong (UK Tour, West End, Broadway); Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Pleasance, West End, BBC1 adaptation, Broadway); The Comedy About A Bank Robbery (West End); The Goes Wrong Show (BBC Sitcom); Improviser, Mischief Movie Night (West End, UK Tour), Austentatious, Yes Queen...
Mar 10, 2024•31 min
Sunny Singh discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sunny Singh is a writer, novelist, public intellectual, and a champion for decolonisation and inclusion across all aspects of society. She is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, Hotel Arcadia, With Krishna’s Eyes, and Nani’s Book of Suicides, a study of Amitabh Bachchan for the BFI’s film star series, and the recent, A Bollywood State of Mind: A Journey into the World’s Biggest Cinema. She has recently complete...
Mar 03, 2024•30 min
Alexandra Tolstoy discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alexandra Tolstoy is an Anglo-Russian mother, adventurer, author and TV presenter. She organises adventurous horse riding holidays in Kyrgyzstan, and runs The Tolstoy Edit, a curated shop of her favourite interiors discoveries. Kyrgyzstan https://alexandratolstoytravel.com/ Ronald Welch https://foxedquarterly.com/ronald-welch-carey-novels-telegraph-review/ Darning and patching https://pieceworkmagazine.com/your-guide-...
Feb 25, 2024•29 min
Novelist Julius Taranto discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Julius Taranto is the author of a novel, How I Won a Nobel Prize, which is available at https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/julius-taranto/how-i-won-a-nobel-prize/9781035006830 . His other writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Phoebe. He attended Yale Law School and Pomona College. He lives in New York. Cynthia Ozick https://centerforfiction...
Feb 18, 2024•30 min
Faye Begeti discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Faye Begeti is a practising neurology doctor and neuroscientist at Oxford University Hospitals. She completed her medical degree and PhD at Cambridge, and currently conducts research into Parkinson’s disease alongside seeing her neurology patients. Her Instagram account @the_brain_doctor was started to share her knowledge more widely and has since amassed a community of over 134K followers. She lives in Oxfordshire with ...
Feb 11, 2024•30 min
Kelly Link discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Kelly Link is the author of White Cat, Black Dog; Get in Trouble, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction; Magic for Beginners; Stranger Things Happen; and Pretty Monsters. Her short stories have been published in The Best American Short Stories and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards. She is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellow and has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the co-founder of Smal...
Feb 04, 2024•29 min
Alice Kinsella discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alice Kinsella is a poet from Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland. She is the author of Sexy Fruit (Broken Sleep, 2018) and editor of Empty House: poetry and prose on the climate crisis (Doire Press, 2021). Milk (Picador, 2023) is her debut book of prose. She is an Arts Council of Ireland Next Generation Artist. The Loneliest Whale in the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwDXwcF3iw Happy Tummy Company https://www.th...
Jan 28, 2024•28 min
Robert McCrum discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Robert McCrum is a writer and editor whose most recent book, Shakespearean was published to great acclaim in 2021. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber, and literary editor of the Observer, he is also the author of Wodehouse: A Life (2004), and a classic memoir, My Year Off (1998). From 1980 to 1996, McCrum was editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber, where he published Kazuo Ishiguro, Hanif Kureishi, Milan Kund...
Jan 21, 2024•28 min
Ivan looks back at previous discussions with a variety of guests and picks out the things which they think should be less well known. Foregoing the normal positivity, guests rant, complain and moan about famous people, books, television shows, sports, ideas and 90s dances which they find deeply tiresome. The guests and topics are: James Runcie on Lord of the Rings Helen Thompson on The West Wing Paul Willetts on Meghan Markle Matthew Parris on Alistair Campbell Irenosen Okojie on The Sun Daisy D...
Jan 14, 2024•27 min
Matthew Rice discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Matthew Rice paints, writes and runs courses in the summer which utilise his garden, which is the focus of the rest of his time. Over his career he has published 11 books on architecture, designed many millions of mugs for the business he ran with his then wife Emma Bridgewater, and illustrated for Country Life magazine. His interests in architecture have led to a series of charity roles in that area. Matthew grew up in a ...
Jan 07, 2024•29 min
Richard Mills discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Richard Mills is Associate Professor in English Literature and Popular Culture at St Mary’s University, London. He has been programme director for the Film and Popular Culture, Cultural Studies and Irish Studies degrees. He has published extensively on popular music, Irish literature and culture, film, fashion and British television. Mills is the author of The Beatles and Fandom: Sex, Death and Progressive Nostalgia (B...
Dec 17, 2023•29 min
Noreen Masud discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Noreen Masud is a Lecturer in Twentieth Century Literature at the University of Bristol, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker 2020. Her first book for non-academic audiences is A Flat Place (2023): a memoir-travelogue about the beauty of flat places, and how they might help us relate to each other. The beauty of flat landscapes https://theartsdesk.com/books/noreen-masud-flat-place-reflective-landscapes The history of non...
Dec 10, 2023•30 min
Bob Cryer discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Bob Cryer is an actor and writer best known for Coronation Street and Hollyoaks. He is the youngest child of Barry Cryer. He collaborated with his father on Barry's book of anecdotes, Butterfly Brain, in 2010. Shortly afterwards, they created the book series Mrs Hudson's Diaries, which was adapted into a play for Wilton's Music Hall. Mrs Hudson's Radio Show soon followed for Radio 4 in 2018. Their joint podcast, Now Where Wer...
Dec 03, 2023•30 min
Martin Knight discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Martin Knight is a British author. He has written autobiographies with footballers George Best, Dave Mackay, Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke also Alan Longmuir founder member of the Bay City Rollers. In addition he has authored true crime titles and novels. His latest book Justice Killer is released in November 2023. His collaboration with ex-criminal Ronnie Field Nefarious will be published by Harper Collins in 2024. Bird...
Nov 26, 2023•30 min
To mark the 300th episode of Better Known, actor Henry Lewis discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Henry Lewis is a power house creative: writer, actor, director and puzzle genius. He is the Artistic Director of Mischief and writes, produces and performs for the company. His work with Mischief includes: The Play that Goes Wrong (Broadway, West End, UK & International Tours), Peter Pan Goes Wrong (BBC1, West End & UK Tours), The Comedy About A Bank Robbery (West End...
Nov 19, 2023•28 min
Lucy Eaton discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Lucy Eaton’s theatre credits include: The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Trafalgar Studios), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Donmar Warehouse), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Southwark Playhouse), Daisy Pulls it Off (Park Theatre), Khadija is 18 (Finborough Theatre) and Almost, Maine (Park Theatre). TV credits include BBC1's lockdown smash comedy Staged, alongside David Tennant and Michael Sheen, an...
Nov 12, 2023•30 min
Simon Garfield discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Simon Garfield was born in London in 1960. He is the author of an appealingly diverse and unpredictable canon of non-fiction, including the bestsellers Mauve, Just My Type and On The Map. He is a trustee of Mass Observation, and is the editor of several books of diaries from the archive, including Our Hidden Lives and A Notable Woman. His recent books include Timekeepers, In Miniature, and All the Knowledge in the World:...
Nov 05, 2023•29 min
Leah Morgan discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Leah Morgan is a project engineer and science communicator working in fusion energy research. She makes science and engineering videos on her YouTube channel Leah Morgan and gives talks all about the energy of the future! You can find her at www.leahmorgan.co.uk and on TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram @LeahLoveScience. Fusion energy research https://www.iaea.org/topics/fusion Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell https://scientificwomen....
Oct 29, 2023•30 min
Max Décharné discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Max Décharné‘s new book Teddy Boys – Post-war Britain and the First Youth Revolution is published by Profile Books on 25 January 2024. He was the drummer of the band Gallon Drunk, and has been the singer and songwriter with The Flaming Stars since 1994. An authority on the 1950s and 1960s counterculture, his other books include Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of British Slang, A Rocket in My Pocket, Hardboiled Holly...
Oct 22, 2023•29 min
Nigel Planer discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Nigel Planer is an actor, writer and musician. He played Neil in the BBC comedy The Young Ones and Ralph Filthy in Filthy Rich & Catflap. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His play, It’s Headed Straight Towards Us, is co-written with Adrian Edmondson, stars Samuel West and Rufus Hound, and is on at the ...
Oct 15, 2023•30 min
Danell Jones discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Danell Jones is a writer with a PhD in literature from Columbia University. She is the author of The Virginia Woolf Writers Workshop; the poetry collection Desert Elegy; and An African in Imperial London, which won the High Plains Book Award for Nonfiction. Her newest book is The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race, and the Dreadnought Hoax. Julia Margaret Cameron’s Photographs of Alamayou, Prince of Abyssinia https://collec...
Oct 08, 2023•30 min
Angus Jackson discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Angus Jackson is a screen and stage director and writer. For the screen he has directed the feature length film Elmina’s Kitchen for the BBC for which he was nominated for a BAFTA as best new director. For The Royal Shakespeare Company he has directed Oppenheimer, Don Quixote, Coriolanus and Julius Caesar. He wrote and directed Secret Cinema Presents Casino Royale in London and Shanghai in collaboration with Eon Productio...
Oct 01, 2023•29 min
Cathi Unsworth discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Cathi Unsworth is a novelist, writer and editor who lives and works in London. She began her career on the legendary music weekly Sounds at the age of 19. Her novels include The Not Knowing, Weirdo and That Old Black Magic. She is currently teaching novel writing for Curtis Brown Creative's online platform. Her latest book is Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth. The magazine Fortean Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/0...
Sep 24, 2023•30 min
Doreen Cunningham is an Irish-British writer born in Wales. After studying engineering she worked briefly in climate related research at NERC and in storm modelling at Newcastle University, before turning to journalism. She worked for the BBC World Service as a international news presenter, editor, producer and reporter, for twenty years. She won the RSL Giles St Aubyn Award 2020, was shortlisted for the Eccles Centre and Hay Festival Writers Award 2021, and longlisted for the Wainwright Prize f...
Sep 17, 2023•29 min
