In this interview Ruth Scurr tells me about Napoleon’s relationship with gardens throughout his life. Napoleon was interested in botany and tending gardens satisfied his inherent scientific curiosity.  However, Napoleon also viewed gardens as a space for reflection and where he could have deep philosophical conversations with his peers.

Paul Valéry wrote that it ‘is a pity to see a mind as Napoleon’s devoted to trivial things such as empires, historic events, the thundering cannons

In that quote Valéry essentially asks us: What path would Napoleon choose if he decided not to become a military genius?

This is a question, that I believe, Dr. Ruth Scurr explores in her brilliant book Napoleon: A life in Gardens and Shadows

📌 Dr. Scurr's Profile: 

📌 Her book: 

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This is a story about Florentine manuscript hunters. A group of people who travelled across Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries in search of lost ancient works on philosophy and literature. At the centre of this story is a man who is often referred to as ‘Michelangelo of bookselling’. His name is Vespasiano da Bisticci.

The most powerful figures across Europe came to him when they needed to find lost or rare editions of Aristotle, Plato, Quintilian or Cicero.

In this episode Vashik Armenikus speaks to Ross King, the author of a brilliant book ‘The Bookseller of Florence’ which illuminates the stories behind some of the greatest intellectuals who became manuscript hunters in Renaissance Italy.

Ross King's profile: https://artidote.uk/episodes/ross-king

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In this interview the Italian pianist Federico Albanese tells about his inspirations from writers such as Virginia Woolf to film-makers like Terrence Malick. He also tells about his latest collaborative EP with Tara Nome Doyle.

You can find Federico's EP and all the references of the episode here:

https://artidote.uk/episodes/federico-albanese

You can listen to EP on our playlist on Spotify.

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This episode was mastered by Ilia Rogatchevski. You can find his other work here.

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In this interview the Italian pianist Federico Albanese tells about his inspirations from writers such as Virginia Woolf to film-makers like Terrence Malick. He also tells about his latest collaborative EP with Tara Nome Doyle.

You can find Federico's EP and all the references of the episode here: 

https://artidote.uk/episodes/federico-albanese

You can listen to EP on our playlist on Spotify.

Subscribe to my newsletter for more on classical music: http://eepurl.com/he7YKD

Get Audible Trial: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audible-Free-Trial-Digital-Membership/dp/B00OPA2XFG?tag=artidote-21

This episode was mastered by Ilia Rogatchevski. You can find his other work here.

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Everyone perceives Japan in their own unique way. Everyone ‘invents’ their own Japan as Oscar Wilde said in his essay ‘The Decay of Lying’.

In this episode Matt Alt - the author of a brilliant book ‘Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World’ - tells the story behind the unique products such as anime, manga, video games or karaoke.

Matt lives in Tokyo since 2003 and runs a localization company with his wife Hiroko Yoda, which produces the English-language versions of popular Japanese video games, comic books, and other forms of entertainment.

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Matt Alt's profile: https://artidote.uk/episodes/matt-alt

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This episode was mastered by Ilia Rogatchevski. You can find his other work here.

In this interview Vashik Armenikus speaks to Professor Nicholas McDowell, the author of a recent biography of the poet John Milton.  In his groundbreaking biography, Prof. McDowell explores the formative years of John Milton and what led to the creation of the greatest narrative poem in English language - Paradise Lost.

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Professor McDowell's profile: https://artidote.uk/episodes/nicholas-mcdowell

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This episode was mastered by Ilia Rogatchevski. You can find his other work here.

In the 7th episode of the ARTIDOTE podcast, Vashik Armenikus speaks with the Austrian photographer Stefan Draschan. 

Stefan is an award winning photographer and author of the ‘Reflections on Art’ photography series. 

In this interview he talks about his journey to becoming photographer after first working as a music journalist.  He also shares his favourite masterpieces of cinematography, fine art and literature.

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Stefans's profile: https://artidote.uk/episodes/stefan-draschan

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This episode was mastered by Ilia Rogatchevski. You can find his other work here.

In October 2018, I attended a concert by a German pianist Martin Kohlstedt held here in London. It was one of the most atmospheric concerts that I can remember in my life.

In this interview Martin told me about his hometown, about the role that subconscious plays in creation of his  music and about his connection with trees and why he calls himself 'a child of the forest'.

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Martin's profile: https://artidote.uk/episodes/martinkohlstedt

            website: https://martinkohlstedt.com/

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I wanted to meet the award-winning street artist Alice Pasquini since 2015, that was when I accidentally stumbled upon her work on Brick Lane in London. I instantly fell in love with her art. In this episode, she told me about her journey to becoming street-artist. She told me about the most dangerous countries in the world to be a street artist; we talked about what influences her and what is it like to be a woman in street art.

Enjoy listening,

Vashik Armenikus.

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Alice's profile: https://artidote.uk/episodes/alicepasquini

            website: https://www.alicepasquini.com/

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