

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

Aug 4, 2019 • 28min
Carl Rollyson
Carl Rollyson discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can read more about Carl and his books at www.carlrollyson.com.
Harriet Hume by Rebecca West https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1982/08/12/staying-the-course/
The Searching Wind by Lillian Hellmann https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-searching-wind
Fallen Angel http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2005/07/fallen-angel-1945-72005.html
Clash by Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_by_Night
The Mansion by William Faulkner https://brickmag.com/the-mansion-by-william-faulkner/
Plutarch award for biography https://biographersinternational.org/topic/plutarch-award/

Jul 28, 2019 • 28min
JS Watts
The poet JS Watts talks to Ivan about six things she thinks should be better known. Her books include The Submerged, Sea, Years Ago You Coloured Me and Witchlight. More information is at www.jswatts.co.uk.
Basil Ede https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/10/28/basil-ede-wildlife-artist--obituary/
Chalk Streams https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/why-britains-chalk-rivers-are-under-threat/
Bartlow Hills, Cambridgeshire http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cambridgeshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8692000/8692856.stm
Bats https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/13-incredible-bat-facts.htm
Poetry https://www.huffpost.com/entry/importance-of-poetry_b_884319
French Horn https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/arts/music/13horn.html

Jul 21, 2019 • 29min
David Lough
David Lough discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. David is the author of Darling Winston and No More Champagne.
Prison Reading Groups http://prisonreadinggroups.org.uk/
Henry Strakosch https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/no-more-champagne-churchill-and-money-david-lough-review/
Lucy Jones https://www.flowersgallery.com/artists/view/lucy-jones
Namib desert https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/namib_desert/
The London Library https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Library
Cystic fibrosis and orkambi https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/the-work-we-do/campaigning-hard/life-saving-drugs/orkambi

Jul 14, 2019 • 29min
Matthew Sturgis
Matthew Sturgis, biographer of Oscar Wilde, talks to Ivan about six things which should be better known.
Oscar Wilde’s duologues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critic_as_Artist
The Mortdecai thrillers of Kyril Bonfiglioli https://www.economist.com/prospero/2010/09/29/an-unsung-classic
The voice of the Brazilian singer Virginia Rodrigues https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/virginia-rodrigues-the-diva-of-the-favelas-63902.html
Spaghetti caccio-pepe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AztjQDIi3Sw
Fitzrovia Chapel www.fitzroviachapel.org
Sickert’s late works https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp04107/walter-richard-sickert

Jul 7, 2019 • 30min
Geoff Dyer
Novelist Geoff Dyer discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can read more at www.geoffdyer.com.
Joanna Hogg https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/20/joanna-hoggs-self-portrait-of-a-lady
Steve Gunn https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/steve-gunn-the-unseen-in-between-interview-777194/
Eve Babitz https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/rare-interview-eve-babitz-long-sober-cool-author
Lomer shoes http://www.lomer.it/en-UK/
Luigi Ghiri https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Ghirri
Calabash literature festival in Jamaica https://www.vogue.com/article/calabash-literary-festival-in-jamaica-is-the-islands-best-kept-secret

Jun 30, 2019 • 29min
Paul Anthony Jones
Paul Anthony Jones talks to Ivan about six things which he thinks should be better known. Paul's books include The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities and Around The World in 80 Words. There is more information at www.paulanthonyjones.com/books.
John Atkinson Grimshaw https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/atkinson-grimshaw-227
The Sage Gateshead https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/5285/Sage-Gateshead
Wait Until Dark www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wait-until-dark-1968
Eric Partridge’s slang dictionaries https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/07/highereducation.referenceandlanguages
James Gordon Bennett Jr http://mentalfloss.com/article/64130/fabulously-eccentric-life-james-gordon-bennett-jr
Tori Amos’ 2011 album Night of Hunters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_Hunters

Jun 23, 2019 • 30min
Clare Bucknell
Clare Bucknell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. You can read her articles for the London Review of Books at www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/clare-bucknell.
Female grand tourists in the late eighteenth century https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt2bz968nw/qt2bz968nw.pdf
Real tennis https://www.irtpa.com/real-tennis-general-information/
Travelling in Austria (apart from skiing) https://globalgrasshopper.com/destinations/europe/10-beautiful-places-visit-austria/
The satirist John Wolcot, aka Peter Pindar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wolcot
Nighty Night https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/nov/13/nighty-night-box-set-review-julia-davis
TH White’s The Sword in the Stone https://barbarah.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/book-review-the-sword-in-the-stone/

Jun 16, 2019 • 29min
Gary Dexter
Gary Dexter discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known.
The scourge of asthma www.asthma-international.org.uk
The early albums of Queen www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/queen-the-first-five-albums
The continuing threat of nuclear war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock
Japanese religious syncretism https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/07/how-japan-rubs-along-with-two-religions-plus-fake-christian-weddings/
The novels of Bernard Malamud www.nybooks.com/articles/1984/01/19/the-shaman-and-the-schlemiel/
The international space station and its achievements www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/15_ways_iss_benefits_earth/

Jun 9, 2019 • 29min
Henriette van der Blom
Henriette van der Blom, Senior Lecturer in Ancient History in the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham, discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
The oratory of Julius Caesar https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/oratory-and-political-career-in-the-late-roman-republic/0FF23CFD58211BCB8085B9F75664CD72
Ancient rhetoric http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/cor
The work and legacy of the Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann https://videnskab.dk/naturvidenskab/inge-lehmann-og-de-usynlige-danske-videnskabskvinder
The classical derivation of English words https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_words_of_Greek_origin
Limiting the overuse of modern antibiotics http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170607-how-we-can-stop-antibiotic-resistance
Learning a new language is good for you https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/does-being-bilingual-make-you-smarter

Jun 2, 2019 • 29min
Irenosen Okojie
Novelist Irenosen Okojie talks to Ivan about six things which she thinks should be better known.
Electric Arches by Eve L. Ewing https://poetryschool.com/reviews/review-electric-arches-by-eve-ewing/
Autograph Gallery http://www.autograph.org.uk
Black in The Day www.instagram.com/blkintheday/
Eve's Bayou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve%27s_Bayou
The Bunker Theatre www.bunkertheatre.com
New Daughters of Africa Anthology edited by Margaret Busby www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/review-new-daughters-of-africa/