Better Known

David Pickard discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

David Pickard studied Music at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, before starting his career as Company Manager of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Following this, David worked at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park and was the Assistant Director for the Japan Festival (1991) before becoming Sir John Drummond’s deputy at the European Arts Festival. In 1993 he was appointed Chief Executive of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment where he significantly increased the orchestra’s artistic reputation and international profile, helping to establish the OAE as the pre-eminent period-instrument orchestra in the world.

In 2001 he was made General Director of Glyndebourne Festival where during his tenure he created an extensive digital programme including online streaming, big-screen and cinema relays and broadened the company’s audience base through specially priced performances for young people and a pioneering education programme.

In November 2015, David took up the role of Director of the BBC Proms. Since then he has introduced a number of initiatives, all in support of the Proms’ central mission: to bring ‘the best of classical music to the widest possible audience.’ These have included an innovative series called ‘Proms at…’ exploring music in new spaces, both in London and around the UK. He has introduced greater diversity among the composers, conductors and soloists showcased by the Proms - both in gender and ethnicity - and has also made youth music-making and youth audiences a major focus. He has expanded the range of genres explored in the festival to include gaming music, contemporary jazz, world music and, in 2018, a twenty minute animated light show projected onto the external and internal façades of the Royal Albert Hall, accompanied by a new work for orchestra and chorus by Anna Meredith.

Women composers https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/great-women-composers/

Lorenz Hart https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2002/08/15/he-took-manhattan/

Digital meat thermometer https://www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/info-2022/importance-of-meat-thermometers.html

I, An Actor by Nigel Planer and Christopher Douglas http://thedabbler.co.uk/2012/10/1p-book-review-i-an-actor-by-nicholas-craig/

Franconian Switzerland https://www.thecrowdedplanet.com/visit-franconian-switzerland/

Piano duets https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/06/arts/the-ins-and-outs-of-piano-duets.html

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Simon Parkin discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Simon Parkin is a contributing writer for the New Yorker, and a critic for the Observer newspaper. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and the author of three books. His most recent, The Island of Extraordinary Captives, about the Hutchinson internment camp on the Isle of Man, is a New York Times recommended read, and winner of the 2023 Wingate Literary Prize. He previously wrote A Game of Birds and Wolves and Death by Video Game.

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Dale Salwak discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Dale Salwak is Professor of English and American literature at Southern California’s Citrus College. He was educated at Purdue University (B.A.) and the University of Southern California (M.A., Ph.D.) under a National Defense Education Act competitive fellowship program. His 28 books include Living with a Writer (2004), Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature (2008), Writers and Their Mothers (2018), The Life of the Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne (2023), as well as studies of Kingsley Amis, John Braine, A. J. Cronin, Philip Larkin, Barbara Pym, Carl Sandburg, Anne Tyler, and John Wain, and the forthcoming Writers and Their Teachers (2023). He is a recipient of Purdue University’s Distinguished Alumni Award as well as a research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is also a frequent contributor to the (London) Times Higher Education Magazine and the Times Educational Supplement.

The writer’s secret life https://nicolebianchi.com/hobbies-of-famous-writers/

Importance of solitude https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2017/08/05/7-science-backed-reasons-you-should-spend-more-time-alone/?sh=351850f81b7e

The spirit of place https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/aug/23/biography

The value of teachers https://online.merrimack.edu/importance-of-teachers/

The natural world https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-40228457.html

The importance of the classics of literature https://joseardila93.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/literature-other-aspects-of-society-i-find-interesting/

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Naoíse Mac Sweeney discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Naoíse Mac Sweeney is Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. She previously held posts at Cambridge and Leicester Universities, and has won numerous academic awards for her work on classical antiquity and myths both in the UK and the EU. Her previous book was shortlisted for major awards, and she has appeared on Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4 and was a reporter on BBC4's Digging for Britain TV series with Alice Roberts. Her new book is The West: A New History of an Old Idea, which is available at https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/285724/naoise-mac-sweeney.

Al-Kindi https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/al-kind/

Tullia D’Aragona https://projectvox.org/tullia-daragona-c-1505-1556/

Phyllis Wheatley https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/how-phillis-wheatley-was-recovered-through-history

Mary Fisher https://www.friendsjournal.org/mary-fisher/

Juan Latino https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/latino-juan-c-1518-c-1594/

Hans Joachim Winkelmann https://www.theflorentine.net/2015/06/25/johann-joachim-winckelmann/

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Amit Katwala discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Amit Katwala is a journalist and author, based in London. He is a writer and editor at WIRED magazine, and has written three books. The latest, Tremors in the Blood: Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector blends true crime, science and history in 1920s San Francisco and 1930s Chicago. He also co-hosts the All Consuming podcast on BBC Radio 4.

Planet X https://www.wired.co.uk/article/search-for-planet-nine-planet-x-solar-system

The truth about the lie detector https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720693/tremors-in-the-blood-by-amit-katwala/

Katalin Kariko https://www.wired.co.uk/article/mrna-coronavirus-vaccine-pfizer-biontech

Fritesauce https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/desert-island-dips/id1303459662

WIRED magazine https://www.wired.co.uk/subscribe

Pre-Columbian America https://www.amazon.co.uk/1491-Revelations-Americas-Columbus-Vintage/dp/1400032059

Blocksite https://blocksite.co/

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Dillie Keane discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Dillie Keane is a performer and songwriter best known as one third of the satirical trio, Fascinating Aïda. Of late, she has taken to blogging about ecological issues having been a doom-mongering greenie for many decades. Her ecoblog, shityoudontneed.blog, aims to persuade people to change their planet-damaging habits in an entertaining way.

Dillie has been awarded two doctorates for her contribution to the gaiety of nations. Well, the citations didn’t exactly say that, but she can’t think why else she might have got them.

And in spite of all efforts to kill it off several times, Fascinating Aïda is still going after 40 years. The indomitable trio are planning yet another tour which starts in September this year. https://www.fascinatingaida.co.uk/tour-dates/

Greta Keller https://der-bussard.de/en/2021/05/15/greta-keller-the-viennese-diseuse/

Hester Street https://themovieisle.com/2021/09/30/film-review-hester-street-1975/

The Silver Vaults https://silvervaultslondon.com/

Christine Bovill https://christinebovill.com/index.html

The Wimbledon Poisoner by Nigel Williams https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/27/wimbledon-poisoner-book-changed-me-suburbia

André Devambez https://www.apollo-magazine.com/andre-devambez-petit-palais-paris/

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Tim Richardson discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Tim Richardson is an historian and critic specialising in landscape design and art. He is the author of more than 20 books on landscape and garden subjects including Arcadian Friends: The Invention of the English Landscape Garden, The New English Garden and Sissinghurst: The Dream Garden. He began his career at Country Life magazine as gardens editor (where he was also theatre critic for 23 years), was subsequently editor of the award-winning (but short-lived) New Eden magazine and landscape editor at Wallpaper. He is a garden columnist on the Daily Telegraph and is currently art critic at The Idler. He lectures at institutions around the world and has taught landscape history at post-graduate level for several years; his course on English landscape history is currently available online via Oxford University. Tim is a published poet and founder-director (from 2012) of the Chelsea Fringe Festival, the independent not-for-profit alternative gardens festival. He lives in London.

Little Sparta https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/homes-and-gardens/little-sparta-ian-hamilton-finlays-garden-one-scotlands-best-kept-secrets-1414642

Boiled sweets https://www.walesartsreview.org/dahl100-a-storyteller-in-the-golden-age-of-sweets/

Hackfall Gorge https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/hackfall/

Guided by Voices https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/universal-truths-and-cycles-an-appreciation-of-robert-pollard-and-gbv

Andrea del Sarto’s Last Supper https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/last-supper-in-san-salvi.html

Cigars https://trulyexperiences.com/blog/brief-history-cigars/

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Kate Mosse is the author of nine novels & short story collections, including the No 1 bestselling The Joubert Family Chronicles, The Burning Chambers and The City of Tears – as well as the multimillion selling Languedoc Trilogy – Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel – and No 1 bestselling Gothic fiction including The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist’s Daughter, which she adapted for the stage for 2022. Her books have been translated into 38 languages and published in more than 40 countries. Her latest book, part detective story, part family history and part dictionary of 1000 women missing from history - Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World - will publish in October 2022. She has also written three others works of non-fiction – including An Extra Pair of Hands (Wellcome Collection, 2021) – four plays, contributed essays and introductions to classic novels and collections. Her novel for Quick Reads, The Black Mountain, came out in April 2022 and she’s one of twelve writers contributing a story to a new Miss Marple Collection of Short Stories – Marple – publishing in September 2022.

Kate is currently preparing a theatre tour for Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries for Spring 2023 and working on the third novel in The Joubert Family Chronicles, a historical crime thriller set in 17th century France, Tenerife and South Africa for publication in July 2023.

Eunice Newton Foote https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/happy-200th-birthday-eunice-foote-hidden-climate-science-pioneer

The first ever statue to a female football player https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55884099

There are more statues in Edinburgh to animals than to women https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/campaign-seeks-change-fact-edinburgh-statues-animals-women-58867

Josephine Cochrane https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/time-saving-patent-paved-way-modern-dishwasher-180967656/

14% of blue plaques are to women https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/blue-plaque-stories/women-pioneers/

Women were only allowed to receive degrees in 1919 https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/womens-history/visible-in-stone/university/

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Devoney Looser discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Devoney Looser, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, is the author or editor of ten books, including Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës, The Making of Jane Austen, and The Daily Jane Austen: A Year of Quotes. Looser, a Guggenheim Fellow and an NEH Public Scholar, has published essays in The Atlantic, New York Times, Salon, Slate, TLS, and The Washington Post. Her series of 24 30-minute lectures on Austen is available through The Great Courses and Audible. In addition to being a quirky Janeite book nerd, she’s played roller derby under the name Stone Cold Jane Austen. Find out more at http://Devoney.com.

The Porter sisters https://sisternovelists.com

Love on the Spectrum https://www.netflix.com/title/81265493

The Church of Stop Shopping and Reverend Billy https://revbilly.com/

The Ring Theory https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-xpm-2013-apr-07-la-oe-0407-silk-ring-theory-20130407-story.html

Roller Derby https://www.wired.com/story/womens-roller-derby-has-a-plan-for-covid-and-it-kicks-ass/

Jane Austen’s Lady Susan https://www.nybooks.com/online/2016/05/27/love-and-friendship-unserious-austen/

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Kevin Jared Hosein discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Kevin Jared Hosein is a Caribbean novelist. He has also worked as a secondary school Biology teacher for over a decade. He was named overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, and was the Caribbean regional winner in 2015. He has published two books: The Repenters and The Beast of Kukuyo. The latter received a CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature, and both had been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His writings, poetry, fiction and non-fiction, have been published in numerous anthologies and outlets including Granta.com, Lightspeed Magazine, Moko, Wasafiri and adda. He lives in Trinidad and Tobago. His new novel is Hungry Ghosts, which is available at https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hungry-ghosts-kevin-jared-hosein/7073687?ean=9781526644480.

The origin story of the inflatable tube man http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2014/12/03/roman_mars_99_invisible_the_origin_story_of_the_inflatable_man.html

The man who built a temple in the sea https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/sewdass-sadhu-the-man-who-built-the-temple-in-the-sea-6.2.1129526.60ba2c4ac5

Alternate reality games (ARGs) and transmedia storytelling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game

The Scenic Simpsons Instagram gallery https://metro.co.uk/2017/01/25/any-self-respecting-simpsons-fan-needs-to-follow-this-beautiful-instagram-feed-scenic-simpsons-6405954/

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and videogames as a storytelling medium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b35MVzhr7K8

Doubles https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210526-doubles-trinidads-favourite-street-food

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