Better Known

Matt Hill discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Matt Hill is the Philip K. Dick Award-nominated author of Lamb, The Breach, Zero Bomb, Graft, and The Folded Man. He lives in Glossop, on the edge of the Peak District. His new novel is Wrecks, which is available at https://deadinkbooks.com/products/wrecks-matt-hill.

1. You have to rinse the suds off your dishes when you’ve washed them. Sounds trite, e...

Joel Christensen discusses with Ivan six things about The Odyssey which should be better known.

Joel P. Christensen is Professor of Classics at the CUNY Graduate Center where he also serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. Joel has previously taught at UT San Antonio and Brandeis University. His research interests include early Greek poetry, myth, and literary theory. With Elton Barker, Joel has published ...

Jessica Fellowes discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Jessica Fellowes is an author, journalist and public speaker. The Mitford Murders is her debut series as a novelist and has been nominated for awards in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, and sold into eighteen territories. Jessica is also the author of five official companion books to ‘Downton Abbey,’ various of which hit the New York Times ...

Sarah Wilson discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Sarah Wilson is a multi-New York Times bestselling author, journalist, social philosopher, international keynote speaker and philanthropist. Sarah leads dynamic, global conversations about modern philosophy, creativity, existential risk, and climate change via her keynote speaking, Wild podcast, and her Substack and social communities. She lives nomadically, ...

Ian Proud discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Ian Proud is an expert in strategic thinking, politico-economic analysis and diplomatic tradecraft. He was a member of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. During that time, he was one of the Foreign Office's most accomplished crisis experts and was Chair of the Crisis Committee at the British Embassy in Moscow when the Salisbury nerve agent attac...

Sahar Hashemi discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Sahar Hashemi OBE has enjoyed a successful career as an entrepreneur, bestselling author and business thought leader. Initially forging her success as the Co-Founder and former CEO of Coffee Republic, the UK’s first American-style coffee bar chain, Sahar has since built great authority as a business leader and earned an appointment of OBE for her servi...

Eleanor Anstruther discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Eleanor Anstruther was educated at Westminster School but dropped out of university to travel the world where she was lost and found for twelve years. When she inherited a farm in southern England she set up a commune and began to write. Her debut, A Perfect Explanation (Salt Books) was a finalist for the Desmond Eliot Prize & Not The Booker. She no...

Mark Leonard discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Mark Leonard is Co-Founder and Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the first pan-European think-tank. His new book is Surviving Chaos: Geopolitics When The Rules Fail, which is available at https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=surviving-chaos-geopolitics-when-the-rules-fail--9781509575220.

1. Xi Jinping’s “Great C...

Tahmima Anam discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Tahmima Anam is the author of the Bengal trilogy and a recipient of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book and the O. Henry Award. Her short story ‘Garments’ was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. She is a Granta Best of Young British Novelist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Born ...

Séamas O'Reilly discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Séamas O'Reilly is a writer and author who has worked as a columnist for the Observer, the Irish Times and the Irish Examiner. He is Features Editor of London satirical magazine, The Fence and his writing has appeared in The Guardian, the New Statesman and the New York Times. His memoir Did Ye Hear Mammy Died topped the Irish Times Bestseller List for seve...

Ed Maklouf discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Ed Maklouf attended school in England before moving to the USA to study at Stanford University, where he conducted specialized research into group communication and how people make decisions together. After graduating, he went on to found several start-up companies in the emerging field of “democracy technology,” building tools designed to improve p...

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen discuss with Ivan six things which they think should be better known.

Emer McLysaght & Sarah Breen are co-authors of the Aisling series. Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling was the bestselling fiction title of 2017 in Ireland and its sequel, The Importance of Being Aisling, won the award for best popular fiction book at the 2018 Irish Book Awards. The third book in the series, Once, Twice, Three Ti...

Charles Moore discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known.

Charles Moore was editor of the Daily Telegraph from 1995 to 2003, editor of the Sunday Telegraph from 1992 to 1995 and editor of the Spectator magazine from 1984 to 1990. He is now the Chairman of The Spectator. He became a non-affiliated peer in July 2020. He wrote the authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher, which is available at https://www....

Sean Murphy discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Sean Murphy is founder of the non-profit 1455 Lit Arts and directs the Center for Story at Shenandoah University. He has been publishing fiction, poetry, reviews (of music, movie, book, food), and essays on the technology industry for over twenty years. His latest book is red, white, and blues, his fourth poetry collection, which is available at https://www.se...

Steven Seidenberg discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Steven Seidenberg is the author of Anon (Omnidawn, 2022), plain sight (Roof Books, 2020), Situ (Black Sun Lit, 2018) Null Set (Spooky Action Books) and Itch (RAW ArT Press, 2015). His books have been published in Italian, Portuguese and Swedish translation, and his collections of photographs include The Architecture of Silence: Abandoned Lives of the Ita...

Daniel Hahn discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, author and editor of numerous fiction and non-fiction works. He is one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, the first volume of which won the Blue Peter Book Award. Other titles include children’s works such as Happiness Is a Watermelon on Your Head (a picture-book for children) and a new edition of The O...

Joanna Jensen discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Joanna Jensen is the founder of the British multi-award-winning baby and child personal care brand, Childs Farm which she created in 2010 as a result of her own daughters’ sensitive and eczema prone skin.

A former Investment Banker in both London and Hong Kong, Jensen transformed an emotional need into a commercial brand from day one. Her brand was la...

Alexandra Tolstoy returns to the podcast with a special live episode, recorded at a school. She discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

1. Kyrgyzstan https://alexandratolstoytravel.com/

2. Female Explorers (Lady Jane Digby, Isabel Burton and the Decembrist Wives) https://www1.essex.ac.uk/history/documents/conferences/hero-soroka.pdf

3. Sailor’s Valentines https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/sailors-v...

Natalie Kyriacou discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Natalie Kyriacou OAM is an award-winning environmentalist, writer, professional public speaker and charity director with a passion to spark curiosity about the natural world. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia and the Forbes 30 Under 30 honour for her services to wildlife and environmental conservation in 2018 and was recognised as o...