Better Known

Author Jini Reddy discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Jini Reddy’s most recent book Wanderland has been shortlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize. The prize celebrates the best in UK travel and nature writing. Her first book Wild Times was published in 2016. It won the book prize at the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards 2017. You can follow her @Jini_Reddy...

As a bonus episode, in a surprising turn of events, Ivan gets invited to an office summer party via Zoom and is asked to provide some entertainment for the benefit of a group of bewildered colleagues. He discusses with Jacob Cunningham, Angharad Hopkinson and Ezekiel Jacob three things which they think should be better known. This episode was recorded in front a live audience, but unfortunately th...

Kris Hollington discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Kris Hollington is a bestselling non-fiction author and ghost-writer of over twenty books, mostly covering crime, several of which have been adapted for TV dramas and documentaries and nominated for various awards. In 2017 he won the People’s Book Prize for non-fiction and his latest book, Corrupt Bodies, writte...

Author Dorian Lynskey discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Dorian Lynskey is an author and journalist who writes about music, politics, film and books for publications including the Guardian, the Observer, GQ, Billboard and the New Statesman. He is the author of 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs (Faber, 2011) and The Ministry of Truth: A Biogra...

Actor Jack Gilpin discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Jack Gilpin is an American actor and Episcopal priest. He currently stars in television drama series Billions and has previously performed in Succession and Law & Order. He has acted in many films including Quiz Show, Mulan and Adventureland. The Bible https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheep_and_the_Goats...

Author Richard Askwith discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Richard Askwith is author of six books, including the award-winning Feet in the Clouds (about fell-running); Today We Die A Little (an acclaimed biography of the Czechoslovak runner Emil Zátopek); and, most recently, Unbreakable: The Countess, the Nazis and the World’s Most Dangerous Horse Race, which won...

Journalist and author Louise Gray discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Louise Gray is the author of The Ethical Carnivore which discusses the ethics of meat by only eating animals she had killed herself. She was previously environment correspondent of The Daily Telegraph. Squirrel Kebabs https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethical-Carnivore-Year-Killing-Eat/dp/1472933109/re...

Psychologist Stuart Ritchie discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Stuart Ritchie is a Lecturer in the Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King's College London. His new book, Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science, is available now. More details are at http://sciencefictions.org . Bach's cantatas https://www.youtu...

Anand Menon discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College London and director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative. His many books include Brexit and British Politics, which he co-wrote with Geoffrey Evans. 13 Minutes to the Moon https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xttx2 The Middle htt...

Historian David Vincent discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. David Vincent is Professor of Social History at the Open University, where he was previously Pro Vice Chancellor. He is an Honorary Professor of History at Keele University, a recent visiting research fellow at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at Cambridge, and a Resear...

Author Rose George discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. You can find out more about her at www.rosegeorge.com Janet Vaughan https://longreads.com/2015/03/10/a-very-naughty-little-girl/ The bidet https://www.bidet.org/blogs/news/history-of-the-bidet Dr. George Merryweather https://whitbymuseum.org.uk/whats-here/collections/special-collections/tempest-prognosticator/ Lucio Ba...

Novelist Emily Temple discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Emily Temple is the Managing Editor at Literary Hub, where she recommends more books than anyone could read. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published in June 2020 by the Borough Press (UK) and William Morrow (US). You can read more about Emily at https://www.emilytemple.net/ and see her Lit Hub work...

Writer Cal Flyn discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Cal Flyn’s first book Thicker Than Water was published in 2016. It deals with the colonisation of Australia and questions of inherited guilt. Her second book, Islands of Abandoment, is due out in 2021. A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book...

David Spiegelhalter discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter is Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication in the University of Cambridge, which aims to improve the way that statistical evidence is used by health professionals, patients, lawyers and judges, media and policy-makers. He advises organisations and gove...

Brooke Allen discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Brooke Allen has a PhD in English from Columbia University. She writes frequently for newspapers and magazines and has published two volumes of literary essays as well as works of history, travel, and biography. She spent eight years on the Literature faculty at Bennington College in Vermont, and currently teaches...

Deirdre Mask discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Deirdre Mask is a lawyer, a writer and sometime academic. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Economist, Lit Hub, The Harvard Law Review, The New Hibernia Review, The Dublin Review and Irish Pages. Her first book The Address Book is out now. Missing Maps www.missingmaps.org...

Peter Gatrell discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Peter Gatrell teaches modern history at the University of Manchester. His books include a trilogy on refugee history: the prize-winning book A Whole Empire Walking: Refugees in Russia during World War 1, Free World? The Campaign to Save the World's Refugees, 1956-1963 and The Making of the Modern Refugee. His late...

Lucy Jones discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known. Lucy Jones is a writer and journalist. She previously worked at NME and the Daily Telegraph, and her writing on culture, science and nature has been published in BBC Earth, BBC Wildlife, The Sunday Times, the Guardian and the New Statesman. She is the author of Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild (Allen Lane) a...

Ali Thurm discusses six things with Ivan which she thinks should be better known. Ali is a novelist, poet and teacher. After balancing a career in primary teaching with writing part time, she was taken on by the literary agency Emily Sweet Associates in 2016. Her debut novel, One Scheme of Happiness was published in February 2020 by Retreat West Books. Find out more about Ali on her blog: https://...

Ivan Wise discusses six things which he thinks should be better known, on the theme of Stories about Writers. The rehearsals for Pygmalion https://www.stuckinabook.com/the-truth-about-pygmalion-by-richard-huggett/ Arrow in the Blue and The Invisible Writing by Arthur Koestler https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2000/02/10/the-afterlife-of-arthur-koestler/ Writers' pseudonyms https://lithub.com/the-su...

Daisy Dunn discusses six things with Ivan which she thinks should be better known. Daisy is a classicist and critic and author of, mostly recently, In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny, Of Gods and Men: 100 Stories from Ancient Greece & Rome, and Homer: A Ladybird Expert Book. Find out more about Daisy at www.daisydunn.co.uk. Hesiod http://www.impossibleobjectsmarfa.com/fragments-2/early...

Private Eye journalist and novelist Adam Macqueen discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can find more about Adam at https://adammacq.wordpress.com . Adam’s political thriller Beneath the Streets is available now. If you type RINKA at the checkout at http://eye-books.com/books/beneath-the-streets , you can get 30% off and free P&P within the UK. His non-fict...

Timandra Harkness talks to Ivan about six things which she thinks should be better known. Timandra is a presenter, writer and comedian. She has presented BBC Radio 4 documentaries including Divided Nation and the FutureProofing series. Her book, Big Data: Does Size Matter? was published in 2016. Find out more about Timandra at https://timandraharkness.com/ . Kingdom Coming (aka Year of Jubilo) by...

Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Find out more about Lindsay at www.lindsayjohns.com The novels of Alex La Guma https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09qcyy0 Archibald Motley, Jr https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000f6xd To A Poet A Thousand Years Hence by James Elroy Flecker https://beta.spectator.co.uk/article/why-james-elroy...

Aceil Haddad talks to Ivan about six things which she thinks should be better known. British seaside towns https://www.roughguides.com/special-features/britains-30-best-seaside-towns/ Charity Shops for sustainable fashion https://www.charityretail.org.uk/charity-shops-the-ethical-and-sustainable-alternative-to-fast-fashion/ Maternity and Pregnancy discrimination https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/ Sp...