
Better Known
Each week, a guest makes a series of recommendations of things which they think should be better known. Our recommendations include interesting people, places, objects, stories, experiences and ideas which our guest feels haven't had the exposure that they deserve.
Latest episodes

Jul 9, 2023 • 25min
Hana Ayoob
Hana Ayoob discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Hana Ayoob is a science communicator and illustrator using art and events to explore the world around us. She speaks at a range of events from science festivals to comedy nights, produces illustrations for books and other projects, and provides training and consulting for universities and other organisations.
Honey badgers https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/63407/11-fierce-facts-about-honey-badger
Leonardo Da Vinci (the man rather than the myth) https://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/08/world/europe/leonardo-da-vinci-life/index.html
Singapore https://www.timeout.com/singapore/things-to-do/9-hidden-gems-you-never-knew-existed-in-singapore
How to draw anything by Scriberia https://info.scriberia.com/free-chapter-howtodrawanything
How useless the human sinuses are https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-sinuses-the-mysterious-holes-in-our-heads-2006jul16-story.html
Henna https://stepfeed.com/8-things-you-didn-t-know-about-henna-4526
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Jul 2, 2023 • 30min
Lewis Dartnell
Lewis Dartnell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Professor Lewis Dartnell is a research scientist, presenter and author based in London. He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class degree in Biological Sciences and completed his PhD at University College London in 2007. He now holds the Professorship in Science Communication at the University of Westminster. His research is in the field of astrobiology and the search for microbial life on Mars. He has also held a STFC Science in Society Fellowship and is very active in delivering live events at schools and science festivals, working as a scientific consultant for the media, and have appeared in numerous TV documentaries and radio shows. He has won several awards for his science writing and outreach work and regularly freelances for newspapers and magazine articles. He has also published five books: The Knowledge was the Sunday Times ‘New Thinking’ Book of the Year and international bestseller, and Origins: How the Earth Made Us is a Sunday Times top History book of 2019. Being Human: How our Biology shaped World History is now out.
Dave Gingery and his lathe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._Gingery
SODIS https://www.sodis.ch/methode/index_EN.html
How voting in the US southern states follows a 75-million-year-old seafloor https://www.history.co.uk/article/how-earth-shaped-human-history-interview-with-lewis-dartnell-about-origins
Link between a defunct gene in human DNA and the emergence of the Mafia https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts/199-being-human-lewis-dartnell-on-how-our-biology-shapes-our-actions/
How tropical diseases helped bring about the union between England and Scotland https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/scotland-and-darien/
Titan and possibility of two biospheres https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28jun_titanocean
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Jun 25, 2023 • 29min
Oliver Burkeman
Oliver Burkeman discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Oliver Burkeman is the author of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks, about embracing limitation and finally getting round to what counts, along with The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. For many years he wrote a popular column for the Guardian, 'This Column Will Change Your Life'. In his email newsletter The Imperfectionist, he writes about productivity, mortality, the power of limits and building a meaningful life in an age of distraction. He lives in the North York Moors.
The Zettelkasten https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/
Death: The End of Self-Improvement by Joan Tollifson https://www.joantollifson.com/book-death-the-end-of-self-improvement.html
The fact that everyone is just winging it https://www.theguardian.com/news/oliver-burkeman-s-blog/2014/may/21/everyone-is-totally-just-winging-it
Rosedale Chimney Bank and Spaunton Moor https://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walk-1921-description
"Ought implies can" https://platofootnote.wordpress.com/2016/06/13/ought-implies-can-or-does-it/
This Jungian Life https://thisjungianlife.com/
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Jun 18, 2023 • 28min
Rachel Nuwer
Rachel Nuwer discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Rachel Nuwer is an award-winning freelance science journalist and author who regularly contributes to the New York Times, Scientific American and National Geographic. Her first book, Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking, took her to a dozen countries to investigate the multi-billion dollar illegal wildlife trade. Her new book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, delves into the history, science, politics and culture of MDMA. She lives in Brooklyn.
MDMA has been used by therapists since the 1970s https://www.amazon.com/Feel-Love-Quest-Connection-Fractured/dp/1635579570/
Most health problems and deaths attributed to MDMA are the result of prohibition https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61734334
Composting is a really easy way to support the environment https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/essays-culture/compost-new-york-city-zero-waste/
Trophy hunting contributes to conservation in Africa https://www.biographic.com/africas-conservation-conundrum/
Arresting poachers won't solve the problem of illegal wildlife trade https://www.amazon.com/Poached-Inside-World-Wildlife-Trafficking/dp/0306825503
Rabbits are incredible pets and should be kept indoors http://allaboutrabbitsrescue.org/rabbits-101/
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Jun 11, 2023 • 29min
Jack Ashby
Jack Ashby discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Jack Ashby is the Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. His zoological focus is on the mammals of Australia, but his work more broadly centres on engaging people with the natural world, chiefly through museums, and exploring the colonial biases that museums often exhibit. His books, Platypus Matters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals and Animal Kingdon: A Natural History in 100 Objects combine these scientific and social stories.
From 2022-23 he was an Art Fund Headley Fellow. He is a trustee of the Natural Sciences Collections Association, an Honorary Research Fellow in UCL Science and Technology Studies, and formerly sat on the Council of the Society for the History of Natural History.
Platypuses https://www.amazon.co.uk/Platypus-Matters-Extraordinary-Australian-Mammals/dp/0008431477/
Ali from Sarawak https://theconversation.com/i-am-ali-wallace-the-malay-assistant-of-alfred-russel-wallace-an-excerpt-85738
Biases in natural history museum displays https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/october/more-male-than-female-specimens-in-natural-history-collections.html
Stockholm’s Biologiskamuseet https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/biologiska-museet
Tasmanian devils https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/tasmanian-devil
Gran Paradiso National Park https://www.cicerone.co.uk/five-ways-to-enjoy-italys-gran-paradiso-national-park
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Jun 4, 2023 • 29min
Christian Donlan
Christian Donlan discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Chris Donlan is a writer and journalist. He was born in Los Angeles and now lives in Brighton with his family. His first book, The Unmapped Mind, was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley prize.
Ellen Raskin https://www.eurogamer.net/something-solid-in-a-world-of-liars-the-tattooed-potato-and-the-most-haunted-address-in-new-york-city
HP https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/minds-behind-the-brain-stanley-finger/1101398997
William Marlow https://artuk.org/discover/artists/marlow-william-17401813
I and My Chimney, a short story by Herman Melville https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2694/2694-h/2694-h.htm
LA Dept of Water and Power building https://waterandpower.org/museum/Construction_of_the_GOB.html
Hubert Julian https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-black-eagle-of-harlem-95208344/
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May 28, 2023 • 29min
Kate Harford
Kate Harford discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Rev. Kate Harford serves as University Chaplain at Oxford Brookes University, and the European vocations adviser for the Metropolitan Community Churches as well as a recovering bookseller and keen amateur flautist. She's currently studying for a master's degree at the Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education and has a particular interest in queer and disabled theologies with an emphasis on mental health and neurodiversity.
Metropolitan Community Church https://www.mccchurch.org/
Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch https://www.denofgeek.com/books/an-introduction-to-the-rivers-of-london-series/
The Story Museum, Oxford https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/
ADHD in girls and women https://chadd.org/for-adults/women-and-girls/
Valerie Coleman https://www.vcolemanmusic.com/
The Anchoress https://iamtheanchoress.bandcamp.com/
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May 21, 2023 • 30min
Jeremy Musson
Jeremy Musson discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Jeremy Musson is an author of many books on the country house and historic buildings and related subjects, How to Read A Country House, English Ruins, The Drawing Room, Up and Down: Stairs the history of the country house servant, and a contributor or contributing editor to many more, including with Prof Sir David Cannadine, The Country House: Past, Present and Future.
Born in London in 1965, he grew up in London and Surrey, and after a law degree, at University College, London, and an M Phil in renaissance history, at the Warburg Institute, he worked for the Victorian Society as an architectural adviser, before moving to the National Trust, in East Anglia, as a junior curator. From 1995, he worked for Country Life magazine, as architectural writer and then architectural editor.
Since 2007, he has been an independent author, expert and consultant, advising on the care of numerous historic buildings, including St Paul’s Cathedral, Bevis Marks Synagogue, Red House, Chartwell - Churchill’s country home - and Oxburgh Hall and Hardwick Hall, as well as advising on a number of new architectural projects in sensitive contexts. An occasional television presenter on architectural subjects, he was the presenter and co-writer of the two BBC 2 series of The Curious House Guest.
A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, he also teaches for the University of Cambridge, the University of Buckingham and New York University (London programmes). He sits on the FAC for Ely Cathedral, is a trustee of the Historic Houses Foundation, and is chair of the Hall Bequest Trust. He is also a former Trustee of the Stowe House Preservation Trust and the Pevsner Book Trust. He is married with two grown up daughters, has lived in Cambridge since 1993, and is an active member of the Champion of the Thames Rowing Club in Cambridge.
Stanway https://www.stanwayfountain.co.uk/
The Dennis Severs House https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jul/25/dennis-severs-house-recreates-his-eccentric-tours-based-on-found-tapes
The churchyard garden, Little St Mary’s Church in Cambridge https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/little-st-marys-churchyard
The Compton Mortuary Chapel https://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/visit/explore-our-site/watts-cemetery-chapel
Homes Sweet Homes by Osbert Lancaster https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/osbert-lancaster
Friendships by Mark Girouard https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-writer-who-goes-where-historians-dont-dare/
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May 14, 2023 • 28min
Richard Fisher
Richard Fisher discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Richard Fisher is the author of The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time, a senior journalist for BBC.com and an honorary research associate at University College London. He tweets @rifish and writes the newsletter The Long View: A Field Guide.
Kent Cochrane https://slate.com/technology/2014/04/amnesia-patient-kc-was-kent-cochrane-the-hippocampus-makes-memories-personal.html
Hutton’s Unconformity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esqxYO5vsEI
The Future Library https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220630-the-norwegian-library-with-unreadable-books
The sublime https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221205-the-upsides-of-feeling-small
Google Earthview https://earth.google.com/web/
The U-shaped happiness curve https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00148-020-00797-z
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May 7, 2023 • 28min
Fiona Bae
Fiona Bae discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Fiona Bae is the author of a book Make Break Remix: The Rise of K-style by Thames & Hudson, which was featured in the Financial Times, Guardian, Monocle Radio, Wallpaper magazine, British Vogue, and Le Figaro among others. Fiona was born and raised in Korea and is proud of her heritage and passionate about promoting her country and culture. Following graduation from Seoul’s Yonsei University, she has lived around the world, including stints at the UN in New York and four years in Hong Kong, and now resides in London. Fiona has her own consultancy that looks to bridge Korean culture and the rest of the world by supporting multinational companies and brands to enter Korea and promoting Korean artists, designers and architects internationally. She handles communications for Frieze Seoul, represented the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and worked with museum M+ in Hong Kong. She is now also helping Thames & Hudson to discover more book ideas related to Korea. When not evangelising about Korea, she spends her time with her husband George, a twelfth-generation gin distiller, and her son Jun. Fiona and George are developing a Korean gin together.
Rise of the K-style https://www.wallpaper.com/art/make-break-remix-korean-culture-book
Korean aesthetics https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/mak-and-bium-imperfection-and-emptiness-in-korean-aethetics
Illegality of getting a tattoo in Korea https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjb5dd/why-does-south-korea-ban-tattooing
Korea has the world's lowest fertility rate https://www.npr.org/2023/03/19/1163341684/south-korea-fertility-rate
The history of gin-making https://www.masterofmalt.com/distilleries/thames-distillers-branded-gin-distillery/
Coronet Theatre https://www.thecoronettheatre.com/
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