Better Known

Richard Davenport-Hines discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Richard Davenport-Hines is a British historian and literary biographer. His history of the Profumo scandal, An English Affair, was published in 2013. His book on espionage scandals, Enemies Within: Communists, the Cambridge Spies and the Making of Modern Britain was published in January. His other books include biographies of W. H. Auden, Marcel Proust and John Maynard Keynes. He was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in 2016. His new book is History in the House: Some Remarkable Dons and the Teaching of Politics, Character and Statecraft. Anthony Quayle's novel Eight Hours from England https://thelastwordbookreview.com/2019/09/22/eight-hours-from-england-by-anthony-quayle/ Wrest Park in Bedfordshire https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wrest-park/ The Merlin app that can identify birdsong https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ Christopher Spence, founder of London Lighthouse hospice https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/may/23/publicservicesawards29 Raccoons https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/13-astounding-facts-didnt-know-raccoon-dogs/ Feedback, the global campaign against food-waste & the ecological damage done by bad agricultural practices https://feedbackglobal.org/about-us/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Susanna Rustin discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Susanna Rustin is a leader writer on social affairs at The Guardian, where she has worked for more than 20 years. Before that, she worked at the Financial Times. Sexed is her first book. The "Reform Firm" - the group of women's rights campaigners with Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon at the centre of it, in the middle of 19th century. They organised the first big suffrage petition presented in the House of Commons, ran a magazine for women from Langham Place (just off Oxford Circus), campaigned for jobs and education - Bodichon co-founded Girton college with Emily Davies and she was George Eliot's dear friend. But apart from feminist historians and biographers, hardly anyone knows about them. Victorians are deeply unfashionable for some very good reasons but there is lots to admire about them as well. Feminist evolutionary biology - feminists going all the way back to George Eliot were deeply and justifiably suspicious of his theory of natural and sexual selection, which they realised would be used as an argument for the naturalness of male dominance and authority, and female passivity and inferiority. But there is the most wonderful tradition of research by female evolutionary biologists and anthropologists - many of them American but some important Brits too - who from the 1970s onwards published research that presented a radical, alternative view of female primate and human behaviour, and countered the masculinist bias in evolutionary science up to that point. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's book Mother Nature first published in 1999, 25 years old this year, is a beautiful and deeply illuminating book. I think people educated in social sciences/ humanities need to take off their blinkers when it comes to the ways in which humans have - like every other life form! - been shaped by evolutionary forces. Winifred Holtby - wonderful novelist and essayist; overlooked feminist thinker. She died aged 37: her posthumously published South Riding is a wonderful, sweeping, romantic novel about local government in Yorkshire. a writer for an era of devolution and the return of deep poverty. The law that enables people to set up parish councils (also called town councils and community councils), in the area they live in - and collect taxes locally - known as a precept - to spend on neighbourhood improvements and services. The gender gap in higher education - girls now significantly outnumber boys at UK universities and this isn't discussed enough. The history of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in Britain This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

A.J. Jacobs is an author, podcaster and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. His most recent book is "The Year of Living Constitutionally," in which he tries to understand our nation’s primary document by adopting the mindset and lifestyle of our Founding Fathers. The result is “fascinating and necessary” (Booklist) and “marvelously witty and wise” (Kirkus). He hosts the “The Puzzler With A.J. Jacobs,” a daily podcast produced by iHeart media, in which he gives short, audio-friendly puzzles to celebrity guests. His previous books include “The Year of Living Biblically,” “The Know-It-All” and “Thanks a Thousand.” He has told several Moth stories, and given several TED talks that have amassed over 10 million views. His weekly newsletter can be found at https://substack.com/subscribe/experimentalliving. He was the answer to 1 Down in the March 8, 2014 New York Times crossword puzzle. Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography — specifically his advice on epistemic humility https://apuedge.com/humility-benjamin-franklin-and-arguing-with-humility-part-ii/ James Madison’s notes on the Constitution https://lawmagazine.bc.edu/2016/02/a-cautionary-tale-about-the-notes-of-james-madison/ Walking sticks https://www.stickandcaneshop.co.uk/country-sticks The World Jigsaw Championships https://www.worldjigsawpuzzle.org/ Padel https://ipadel.co.uk/The-Rules The MIT Mystery Hunt http://puzzles.mit.edu/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Katherine Bucknell, an expert on Christopher Isherwood, discusses Isherwood's novel Prater Violet and DH Lawrence's The Lost Girl. She also explores the Nucleo Project, Marfa Stance, and the value of memorizing poetry. Bucknell sheds light on Auden's life in America and shares her unique experience at Oxford.

Tom Newton Dunn is a presenter, political commentator and writer. He first made his name as an award-winning defence correspondent covering the Iraq and Afghan wars. He went on to be Political Editor of The Sun for 11 years, leading coverage of four general election campaigns and the Brexit referendum, and interviewed seven British Prime Ministers and US President Donald Trump. Moving to broadcast, Tom helped launch Times Radio as the new station’s Chief Political Commentator and the presenter of its flagship Sunday morning political programme. He moved to TalkTV on its launch to anchor an hour-long weeknight news programme. He continues to write for The Times and The Evening Standard. His book is Letters from Everest, available at https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/letters-from-everest-unpublished-letters-from-mallorys-life-and-death-in-the-mountains-tom-newton-dunn?variant=40964397269070. Britain once invaded Tibet, and by brutal force (in 1904). This was the earliest origin of the modern day conquest of Mount Everest. Mallory was bisexual, and had homosexual affairs with other Bloomsbury Group members Mallory had ADHD - or at least, I'm certain he did, as it explains much about him, from his obsessiveness to his forgetfulness (though of course he was never diagnosed) The Mallory family think George's habit of climbing with a photograph of wife Ruth could be a key clue to whether he reached the top We revere noble failure more than success - we do for Mallory More than 300 climbers have died while trying to summit Everest since. Mallory was only the first This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Alex Edmans discusses with Ivan six things which should be less well known. Alex’s new book is May Contain Lies, about misinformation, and so, in a reversal of the usual format, he discusses six ideas and beliefs which have been overexposed. Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School. Alex has a PhD from MIT as a Fulbright Scholar, and was previously a tenured professor at Wharton and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. Alex has spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, testified in the UK Parliament, and given the TED talk What to Trust in a Post-Truth World and the TEDx talks The Pie-Growing Mindset and The Social Responsibility of Business with a combined 2.8 million views. He serves as non-executive director of the Investor Forum, on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Responsible Investing, on Royal London Asset Management’s Responsible Investment Advisory Committee, and on Novo Nordisk’s Sustainability Advisory Council. Alex’s book, Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit, was a Financial Times Book of the Year and has been translated into nine languages, and he is a co-author of Principles of Corporate Finance (with Brealey, Myers, and Allen). His latest book is May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It, available at https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520403932/may-contain-lies. His six things which should be less well-known are: Mothers should exclusively breast-feed their babies You can be an expert in anything if you devote 10,000 hours to it Starting with why is the secret to success Diverse teams always perform better More information makes you more informed Grit is more important than IQ in driving achievement This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Jonn Elledge is a New Statesman columnist, and a contributor to the Big Issue, the Guardian, the Evening Standard, and a number of other newspapers. He was previously an assistant editor at the New Statesman, where he created and ran its urbanism-focused CityMetric site, and spent six happy years writing about cities, maps and borders and hosting the Skylines podcast. He has written over a hundred editions of the Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything. His new book is A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps. He previously wrote The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything: All the Facts You Didn't Know You Wanted to Know and, with Tom Phillips, Conspiracy: A History of Bollcks Theories, and How Not to Fall for Them. Babylon 5 https://www.douxreviews.com/2015/08/babylon-5-series-review.html Life & Fate by Vasily Grossman https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v29/n20/john-lanchester/good-day-comrade-shtrum The Truth about Markets by John Kay https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=economics-faculty-publications Why there was no Danish holocaust https://www.history.com/news/wwii-danish-jews-survival-holocaust Nehru's affair with Lady Mountbatten https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/from-the-india-today-archives-1980-mountbattens-and-nehru-friendship-in-high-places-2413716-2023-07-30 Ethiopian food https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ethiopian-food-best-dishes-africa/index.html This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Henry Oliver, a writer and brand consultant, discusses lesser-known topics like Izaak Walton, Wren churches, Noel Coward's lyrics, Lichfield, Byron Janis' Bach recording, and Elizabeth Jenkins. They explore late bloomers, architectural creations, cultural insights, and hidden historical figures.

Jamaica Kincaid discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John’s, Antigua. Her books include At the Borrom of the River; Annie John; Lucy; The Autobiography of My Mother; My Brother; Mr Potter; and See Now Then. She teaches at Harvard University and lives in Vermont. Her new book is an Encylopedia of Gardening for Colored People at https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780374608255?gC=5a105e8b. Let Love Come Between Us by James and Bobby Purify https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32CgFcOSbxw 26 of the 50 United States bear the names of Native Americans https://thoughtcatalog.com/james-b-barnes/2014/10/26-states-that-were-named-by-native-americans-was-your-state/ The Travels of William Bartram https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/americas-first-great-enviromentalist-florida-william-bartram-180983452/ The first paragraph of the 3rd Chapter of the Life of Frederick Douglas https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/full-text/chapter-iii/ Ervartung, a mono-drama opera with music by Arnold Schoenberg https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/feb/01/artsfeatures.classicalmusicandopera The seed packet was invented by The Shakers, an English Protestant sect, who immigrated to America and made many beautiful and useful things for the home. Their beliefs were quite severe regarding sex so no children were produced to ruin the beautiful and useful things they made for the home https://digventures.com/2018/02/11-things-we-still-use-that-were-invented-by-the-shakers/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Caroline Eden returns to discuss with Ivan six things which should be better known. Caroline Eden is a writer and book critic contributing to the Financial Times, Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement. Her new book is Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Journeys. Her earlier books include Samarkand, Black Sea and Red Sands, winner of the prestigious André Simon Award and a Book of the Year for the New Yorker. Ukrainian borsch Uzbek melons Russian pirozhki Polish pierogi  Armenian lavash Turkish boza This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm