

Better Known
Ivan Wise
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 9, 2020 • 30min
Olivia Fane
Olivia Fane discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known.
Olivia is the author of five novels and The Conversations, 66 reasons to start talking. Her new book is Why Sex Doesn't Matter. She is married with five sons, and lives in West Sussex.
Armenia as a tourist destination https://www.regent-holidays.co.uk/country/armenia-holidays/
The poet Katrina Porteous www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/category/katrina-porteous
Meister Eckhart www.eckhartsociety.org
Marcus Aurelius Meditations https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n14/mary-beard/was-he-quite-ordinary
Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies by Margaret Mead https://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Temperament.pdf
The Living Rulers of Mankind by HN Hutchinson https://archive.org/details/livingrulersofma00hutc/page/n8/mode/2up
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Feb 2, 2020 • 30min
Margot Livesey
For the hundredth episode, Margot Livesey talks to Ivan about six things which she thinks should be better known.
Margot Livesey is a novelist. Her novels include Homework, Eva Moves the Furniture and The Flight of Gemma Hardy. Her eighth novel, Mercury, was published in 2016. She teaches at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
St. Kilda https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/st-kilda
The Weir of Hermiston https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/11/the-double-life-of-robert-louis-stevenson/306474/
ME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG5g4M7KWv8
Frittatas https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/fritatta
Joan Mitchell https://joanmitchellfoundation.org/
Oh, Lucky Man! https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/14/archives/screen-o-lucky-manenglish-comedy-tells-of-a-classic-innocent-the.html
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Jan 26, 2020 • 29min
Fiona Maddocks
Fiona Maddocks discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known.
Fiona is music critic of the Observer and author of books on Hildegard of Bingen, Harrison Birtwistle and 20th century music. Her Music for Life (Faber) is now in paperback.
Shandy Hall https://www.laurencesternetrust.org.uk/shandy-hall.php
Peckham Peculiar and Bruton Dove https://peckhampeculiar.tumblr.com/ and http://thedovemagazine.blogspot.com/
Cumnock Tryst https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/13/cumnock-tryst-review-james-macmillan-royal-scottish-national-orchestra-sondergard and https://www.thecumnocktryst.com/
Nottingham Alabasters https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07qb3tl
Aldeburgh bookshop https://www.aldeburghbookshop.co.uk/
Hildegard https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571302437-hildegard-of-bingen.html
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Jan 19, 2020 • 30min
George Butler
Artist George Butler discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known.
George is an award winning artist and illustrator specialising in travel and current affairs. In 2014, with three friends, he set up the Hands Up Foundation. The aim was to remind the people they had met in Syria that they had not been forgotten. Find out more about George at www.georgebutler.org.
The work of Ronald Searle https://lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v08/n08/graham-hough/prisoners
Evelyn the movie https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/26/evelyn-review-moving-documentary-on-a-familys-loss
Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club https://medium.com/@elliotimes/my-all-timers-31-sam-cooke-live-at-the-harlem-square-club-1963-debc240f358a
EO Wilson https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/04/08/the-homer-of-the-ants/
Hands Up Foundation https://handsupfoundation.org/
Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-book-prize/2017/other-minds/
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Jan 12, 2020 • 29min
Tarik O'Regan
Composer Tarik O'Regan discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known.
Tarik O'Regan has written music for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and the Royal Opera House, London.
He is currently working on a saxophone concerto, which has been commissioned for soloist Amy Dickson by the Presteigne Festival to be premiered during his tenure as Composer-in-Residence in 2020.
Tarik O’Regan’s work, recognized with two GRAMMY® nominations and two British Composer Awards, has been recorded on 39 albums.
Librettists https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/08/nights-at-the-opera
Western Addition http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Western_Addition:_A_Basic_History
Eswatini https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43821512
Musical commission fees https://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2014/aug/18/future-new-music-composers-report-pay
Vermouth https://talesofthecocktail.com/in-depth/9-myths-about-vermouth-debunked
Original songs which became famous cover versions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJKe2j9Wjh4
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Jan 5, 2020 • 28min
Emma Vandore
Emma Vandore discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known.
Emma is a writer and journalist. She has reported from over 30 countries on six continents, published in all of them, and now focuses on thought leadership content. Her long form work includes Schizophrenie Francaise, a satirical take on French politics that Paris Match described as the book all presidential candidates should read. In 2016, an idea for a novel won her a place on Escalator talent development scheme run by the National Centre for Writing and she has been working on it ever since. An early draft was shortlisted for London Book Fair’s The Write Stuff. She also runs a monthly creative writing workshop which meets in Bishop’s Stortford. Find out more at www.emmavandore.com
Harlow https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-to-do-in-harlow-essex-england/
Mooncups https://www.mooncup.co.uk/why-mooncup/
Story talent https://ingridsundberg.com/2013/05/28/literary-talent-vs-story-talent/
Punjab https://www.indianholiday.com/punjab/
Open water swimming https://www.clublasanta.co.uk/what-are-the-benefits-of-open-water-swimming/
Appreciation of the little things in life https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Pleasures-Life-Philippe-Delerm/dp/1861591160
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Dec 29, 2019 • 28min
Christina Gascoigne
Photographer, children’s book illustrator and potter Christina Gascoigne discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known.
Great River Race https://www.greatriverrace.co.uk/
The Other Final https://lesserspottedfootball.com/the-other-final-review/
Theo Jansen’s kinetic sculptures https://www.artfutura.org/v3/en/theo-jansen/
Helen Schjerfbeck https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/helene-schjerfbeck
Muriel Herbert https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/09/muriel-herbert-musical-compositions
Combat Stress https://www.combatstress.org.uk/
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Dec 22, 2019 • 29min
Kathleen Alcott
Novelist Kathleen Alcott talks to Ivan about six things which should be better known. Kathleen is the author of the critically acclaimed novels America Was Hard to Find, Infinite Home and The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets. You can find out more about her at www.kathleenalcott.com.
The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin https://www.gutenberg.org/files/365/365-h/365-h.htm
News From Home https://vimeo.com/47911048
Time of the Last Persecution https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review.php/817
James Salter’s Twenty Minutes https://www.vogue.com/article/james-salter-tribute
The Volcano Lover by Susan Sontag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Volcano_Lover
Fitnessblender.com https://explorationsofelliese.com/2018/02/23/fitness-blender-depth-review/
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Dec 15, 2019 • 29min
JJ Bola
JJ Bola talks to Ivan about six things which should be better known. JJ Bola is a writer, poet and author of Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined.
Pedagogy of the oppressed by Paulo Freire https://beautifultrouble.org/theory/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed/
Crisis in Congo https://congojustice.org/
Paul Lewin art work https://www.instagram.com/paullewinart/
Karim Kamar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0KCw-t3nkc
United Borders and 4 Front http://unitedborders.org/ and https://www.4frontproject.org/
The Upright Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Vlt41HPUE
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Dec 8, 2019 • 29min
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Small presses in the UK https://www.thisissplice.co.uk/about-splice/small-presses-in-the-uk/
Amateurs https://fs.blog/2017/08/amateurs-professionals/
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/stories/wilson-bentley-pioneering-photographer-snowflakes
Lucia Berlin https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n23/patricia-lockwood/sex-on-the-roof
Sally O’Reilly https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/learn/writer-in-residence/sally-oreilly/
Chris Cutler’s Probes series of podcasts https://rwm.macba.cat/en/probes_tag
Peter is a writer, graphic artist, songwriter and broadcaster. He has been making music since the mid 70s with Slapp Happy, Faust, Henry Cow, John Greaves, The Golden Palominos, John Zorn, Andy Partridge and others.
His weekly comic strip, Leviathan, ran in the Independent on Sunday from 1991-98 and The Book of Leviathan was published in the UK and the US in 2000. A Mandarin translation was published in 2010. A French translation won le Prix de Révelation at Angoulême Festival in 2014. The Pedestrian, a photo-based strip, is online here: http://www.electrocomics.com/strips.htm
He has supplied BBC Radio 3 with ‘eartoons’ since 2002, and has won two Sony awards for his radio work, one in 2003 and one in 2012 (the latter for Use It Or Lose It a collaboration with Iain Chambers).
He taught Creative Writing at the University of Warwick for 15 years and was Senior Tutor in Visual Writing at the Royal College of Art, London from 2012 - 2015. He has taught several illustration workshops at the Die Hochschule Luzern – Design & Kunst.
In 2011 he was elected president of the London Institute of Pataphysics.
An introduction to his life-long multi-media epistemological project Imagine, Observe, Remember is online here: http://www.amateur.org.uk
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