Fraser Allen and Leila Johnston are back with a summer episode exploring life behind the scenes at the Library of Mistakes.
Looking to the northern shores of Lake Geneva, Fraser interviews Boris Zhilin, the investment expert who has established a Library of Mistakes in Lausanne. Boris tells us about his career journey from growing up in the former Soviet Union to Syrcuse University, Bear Sterns and then life in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Leila asks our Edinburgh Librarian Helen Williams for summer reading recommendations, while CEO David Clarke updates us on upcoming events.
Any feedback or ideas? Please do get in touch with [email protected] or [email protected]

In conversation with Emma Horgan, Russell Napier explores the Irish Bank Strike of 1966, which resulted in shopkeepers and publicans stepping in to keep the economy ticking over as unofficial bankers. What can this extraordinary episode teach us about economics, human resilience – and how we might be able to cope in the event of a huge fintech failure? Emma is the co-author of a paper on the strike, with Dr Sean Kenny and Dr Jason Leonard. If you would like a working copy, please contact Emma at [email protected].

In our latest, behind-the-scenes look at the Library of Mistakes, Leila Johnston joins author and journalist Ray Perman on the streets of Edinburgh, as they explore the Library of Mistakes walking tour, Money Talks, Money Walks. Join them to discover lots of fascinating nuggets about the financial history of Scotland's capital city. Meanwhile, Fraser Allen catches up with David Clarke and Helen Williams to find out what is coming up at the library – and which books make useful companions to our Practical History of Financial Markets course.
Any comments, feedback or ideas? Please do get in touch:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Russell Napier invites Duncan Mavin back for a second appearance on the podcast – this time to discuss his recent book on Credit Suisse. Their fascinating discussion explores how decades of a rotten corporate culture dating back to WWII developed into the scandals and reputational disasters that eventually brought the Swiss bank down.

Fraser Allen and Leila Johnston take you behind the scenes at the Library of Mistakes once more. This month we hear from the brilliant behavioural finance expert Herman Brodie, discover the colourful back story of Didasko CEO David Clarke, and find out more about the library itself with Lauren Hotson and Helen Williams.
If you have any queries about hiring the Library as a venue, simply email Lauren at [email protected] or visit www.libraryofmistakes.com – where you can also find out about our Practical History of Financial Markets course.
And to provide any feedback regarding the podcast, ask questions or make suggestions, please email [email protected] or [email protected].

Leila Johnston and Fraser Allen are back to take you behind the scenes at the Library of Mistakes. And in this packed episode we...
•Hear from theatre director and actor Liam Rees about his show The Land That Never Was. It's based on the adventures of 19th century Scottish conman Gregor MacGregor, who sold bonds on behalf of a South American country that was a figment of his imagination!
•Explore what happened at the Weekend of Mistakes in Hay-on-Wye (including clips from speakers).
•Chat to the team behind Leavers' Money Skills, helping Scottish school-leavers to cope with the life of finance ahead of them.
•And our Librarian Helen Williams discusses our books on Russia, Putin and Trump!

If you have any feedback, ideas or can name the song briefly alluded to at the end of this episode (and the band that originally sung it) – you could win a Library of Mistakes mug! – simply email [email protected] or [email protected]

Russell Napier enjoys a fascinating chat with Mauricio Drelichman who (together with Hans Joachim-Voth) is the author of Lending to the Borrower from Hell: Debt, Taxes, and Default in the Age of Philip II. Together, they explore how this account of the freely-defaulting 16th century King of Spain changes our perceptions of financial history.

In the first of a new thread of monthly episodes, we take you behind the scenes at the Library of Mistakes. Join us as we turn the tables on our resident interrogator Professor Russell Napier by putting the questions to him. We also interview David Clarke of Didasko, Helen Bradley of Future Asset and our librarian Helen Williams. And fear not, Russell's regular interviews with financial historians will also continue here as normal.
Shelf Life is presented by Leila Johnston & Fraser Allen – please do contact us with any feedback, ideas or questions at [email protected] or [email protected].

Russell Napier quizzes Felix Martin about his book, Money – The Unauthorised Biography. A fascinating listen for anyone interested in the true nature of money, illuminated through entertaining examples such as the Irish Bank Strike of 1970, the Argentinian Crédito and the Bristol Pound.

Lionel Barber, the former editor of the Financial Times, discusses his fascinating biography of Masayoshi Son, one of the world's least-known but most consequential investors. Regarding himself as an 'empire builder' rather than a CEO, Son was briefly the world's richest man and has ruffled many feathers on his rise from a Korean slum in Japan to the modern-day temples of power. Russell Napier asks the questions.

•The Library of Mistakes runs an outstanding course called the Practical History of Financial Markets. To find out more, go to: www.libraryofmistakes.com/course