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.

Bertha Bracey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09DF0zeuFXM
A cure for insomnia https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/14/finally-a-cure-for-insomnia
Webster’s Second Edition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Dictionary
Mikado arcade https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/30/inside-game-center-mikado-one-of-the-best-arcades-in-japan
Fact checkers https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-art-of-fact-checking
War games https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-deadly-war-game-of-the-battle-of-the-atlantic/


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Simon Parkin

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.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Arts

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Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

TV & Film

Kathryn Hughes discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Kathryn Hughes is the critically acclaimed author of The Victorian Governess, The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton, which was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, and the hugely acclaimed George Eliot: The Last Victorian, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography. Her new book is Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World. Educated at Oxford University, she holds a PhD in Victorian studies. She is a visiting lecturer at several British universities and reviews regularly for The Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Literary Review.


Mrs Cotman, portrait by John Sell Cotman (hanging in Norwich Castle Museum) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Mrs_John_Sell_Cotman.jpg


Frances Simpson https://cat-o-pedia.org/frances-simpson.html


The Heart of Wales railway line https://news.tfw.wales/news/heart-of-wales-railway-line-best-in-europe


The proper use of the word “disinterested” https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/disinterested-vs-uninterested


Linley Sambourne House https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/sambourne-house


The Gas Man Cometh (1963) by Flanders and Swann https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1dvAxA9ib0



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Kathryn Hughes

Elaine Lin Hering discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Elaine Lin Hering has been a lecturer at Harvard Law School and a Managing Partner at Triad Consulting Group. She has worked with a wide range of clients in Fortune 500 companies, including American Express, Capital One, Google, Merck, Nike, Shell and Pixar, as well as with government and non-profit organisations.
Elaine "has all the ingredients to become the next Brené Brown” - Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, co-authors of NYT Bestseller, Difficult Conversations.
Elaine’s new book is Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent and Lead with Courage, available at https://www.waterstones.com/book/unlearning-silence/elaine-lin-hering/9781529900170.


The real costs of AI https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ais-climate-impact-goes-beyond-its-emissions/


Babble hypothesis of leadership https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/leaders-talk-more-babble-hypothesis/


No-knead pizza dough https://www.seriouseats.com/jim-laheys-no-knead-pizza-dough-recipe


Social change ecosystems https://buildingmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Ecosystem-Guide-April-2022.pdf


Use of low power language is strategic https://www.yourpowerunleashed.org/blog/2023/5/21/womens-use-of-low-power-language-at-work-is-not-diminishing-but-very-strategic


Forest-bathing is healthy https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/



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Elaine Lin Hering

Journalist Andrew Finkel discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Andrew Finkel has spent years reporting for media organisations including The Times, The Economist, New York Times and CNN. He has covered wars and earthquakes, market booms and busts, and in his capacity as a food critic and contributing editor for Istanbul’s Cornucopia magazine, the postmodernity of the kebab. His experiences working in the Turkish-language press prompted him to co-found P24, an association to promote freedom of expression, and the Istanbul literature house, Kiraathane. He has written a number of non-fiction titles, including Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know which was “called a succinct, readable and expert briefing on the modern country” by the Daily Telegraph and “no better introduction to today’s Turkey” by Andrew Mango. The Adventure of the Second Wife is his debut novel.


The obsession of the Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II for Sherlock Holmes https://www.thebulwark.com/p/plagues-of-the-body-and-plagues-of-the-mind-orhan-pamuk


The art of the dramatically satisfying ending https://www.vulture.com/article/the-101-best-movie-endings-of-all-time-ranked.html


Cornucopia https://www.cornucopia.net/


The Big Green Egg https://www.biggreenegg.co.uk/


The plight of Turkish journalism https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/turkey-after-an-attempted-coup-the-journalists-nightmare


The periphery of Istanbul https://www.istanbulmeetandgreetservice.com/the-5-most-charming-small-villages-near-to-istanbul/



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Andrew Finkel

Bill Weir discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Bill Weir is a veteran anchor, writer, producer, and host who came to CNN in 2013 after a decade of award-winning journalism at ABC News.
In 2019, he was named the network’s first Chief Climate Correspondent, drawing on his experience creating and hosting the primetime CNN Original Series “The Wonder List with Bill Weir,” now streaming on Discovery+.
His first book, Life As We Know It (Can Be) was published by Chronicle Prism in April 2024.


The Goldilocks Earth https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-host-bill-weir-plans-to-hold-bidens-feet-to-the-fire-on-climate-change


Humanity’s role models will be beavers, camels and gentoo penguins https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/climate/life-as-we-know-it-book-bill-weir/index.html


We need thoughtful YIMBYs https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/23/us/climate-crisis-earth-day-weir-letter/index.html


The home of the future will come with much thicker walls https://www.builderonline.com/products/building-construction-materials/cnn-report-examines-alternative-way-to-build-homes


The new industrial revolution https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2024/02/05/clean-revolution-weir-pkg.cnn


Veggie burgers can do more environmental harm than a steak https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/03/us/climate-crisis-cattle-amp-grazing/index.html



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Bill Weir

Chioma Okereke discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.
Born in Nigeria, Chioma Okereke grew up in London and studied law at UCL. She started her writing career as a performance poet before turning her hand to prose. Her debut novel, Bitter Leaf (Virago), was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and her short story, Trompette De La Mort, received First Runner Up in the Costa Short Story Award. Her new novel is Water Baby.


Jamaica Kincaid https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/04/07/jamaica-kincaids-rope-of-live-wires/


Cadaqués https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/cadaques


PRP (platelet rich plasma) https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/platelet-rich-plasma-injections


Raye https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/raye-escapism-21st-century-blues-interview-1234671381/


Tiger nuts https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772753X23003325


Andre Brink https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/08/andre-brink



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Simon Parkin

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