Ivan Yates returns to Newstalk with his unique take on the big political and business stories of the week.
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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.
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Marieke Bigg discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Marieke Bigg is the author of Waiting for Ted, and This Won’t Hurt. Writing across fiction and non-fiction, she deconstructs the cultural givens around bodies, minds and identity. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, where she studied the technologic…
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Kathy Willis discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Katherine Willis CBE is Professor of Biodiversity in the department of Biology and the Principal of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. She is also a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. Previous roles include Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and a m…
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Bruce Omar Yates discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Bruce Omar Yates was born in London to an English father and an Indian mother. Bruce grew up in the South of France before returning to London to study Literature and Film at King’s College London. Bruce is principal songwriter for the cult rock groups Famy, who released …
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Pedro Domingos discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Pedro Domingos is a renowned AI researcher, tech industry insider, and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. He is the author of the best-selling book The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Wil…
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Harriet Constable is a journalist and filmmaker based in London. Her journalism and documentary work has featured in outlets including the BBC, Economist and New York Times. She is a graduate of Colombia University’s School of Journalism summer school, is a Pulitzer Center grantee and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Her first novel is The In…
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C. Michelle Lindley discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. C. Michelle Lindley’s writing has been featured in The Georgia Review, Conjunctions, and more. She has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Berkeley in Engli…
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Richard Davenport-Hines discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Richard Davenport-Hines is a British historian and literary biographer. His history of the Profumo scandal, An English Affair, was published in 2013. His book on espionage scandals, Enemies Within: Communists, the Cambridge Spies and the Making of Modern Britain wa…
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Susanna Rustin discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Susanna Rustin is a leader writer on social affairs at The Guardian, where she has worked for more than 20 years. Before that, she worked at the Financial Times. Sexed is her first book. The "Reform Firm" - the group of women's rights campaigners with Barbara Leigh Smith Bo…
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A.J. Jacobs is an author, podcaster and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. His most recent book is "The Year of Living Constitutionally," in which he tries to understand our nation’s primary document by adopting the mindset and lifestyle of our Founding Fathe…
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Katherine Bucknell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Katherine Bucknell edited all four volumes of Christopher Isherwood's Diaries , a volume of letters between Christopher Isherwood and his partner Don Bachardy (The Animals), and W.H. Auden's Juvenilia: Poems 1922-1928. Co-editor of Auden Studies, a founder of The W. H. …
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Tom Newton Dunn is a presenter, political commentator and writer. He first made his name as an award-winning defence correspondent covering the Iraq and Afghan wars. He went on to be Political Editor of The Sun for 11 years, leading coverage of four general election campaigns and the Brexit referendum, and interviewed seven British Prime Ministers …
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Alex Edmans discusses with Ivan six things which should be less well known. Alex’s new book is May Contain Lies, about misinformation, and so, in a reversal of the usual format, he discusses six ideas and beliefs which have been overexposed. Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School. Alex has a PhD from MIT as a Fulbright Schola…
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Jonn Elledge is a New Statesman columnist, and a contributor to the Big Issue, the Guardian, the Evening Standard, and a number of other newspapers. He was previously an assistant editor at the New Statesman, where he created and ran its urbanism-focused CityMetric site, and spent six happy years writing about cities, maps and borders and hosting t…
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Henry Oliver discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Henry Oliver is a writer, speaker, and brand consultant. He writes regularly for outlets like the New Statesman, The Critic, and UnHerd. He writes the popular Substack The Common Reader, which was recently mentioned in the Atlantic. His book Second Act is about late bloomers.…
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Jamaica Kincaid discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John’s, Antigua. Her books include At the Borrom of the River; Annie John; Lucy; The Autobiography of My Mother; My Brother; Mr Potter; and See Now Then. She teaches at Harvard University and lives in Vermont. Her new book is an Encylopedia …
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Caroline Eden returns to discuss with Ivan six things which should be better known. Caroline Eden is a writer and book critic contributing to the Financial Times, Guardian andthe Times Literary Supplement. Her new book is Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Journeys. Her earlier books include Samarkand, Black Sea and Red Sands, winner of the prestigio…
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Caroline Crampton discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Caroline Crampton is the author of The Way to the Sea: The Forgotten Histories of the Thames Estuary (Granta, 2019). Her award-winning podcast, Shedunnit, is distributed by BBC Sounds. Her journalism has appeared in the New Statesman, The Times and the Guardian. An exper…
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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 P…
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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 w…
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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 Cor…
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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 Origi…
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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, …
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Ash Bhardwaj discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Ash Bhardwaj is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and keynote speaker, whose work explores the intersection of travel, current affairs and human behaviour. He has reported from around the world for outlets including the BBC, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and Condé Nast…
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Anthony Daniels discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Anthony Daniels was born in London in 1949. He retired from medical practice except for medico-legal work in 2005. He has written several books, including an account of a journey across Africa by public transport, and under his pseudonym, Theodore Dalrymple, has written ma…
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Historian Leah Redmond Chang discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Leah Redmond Chang is a former Associate Professor of French and Director of the French Literature Programme at George Washington University, and was most recently a Senior Research Associate at University College London. She is the author of two previous book…
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Historian Alice Loxton discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alice Loxton is a 28 year old history broadcaster and writer with over two million followers on social media (@history_alice). She has appeared on many channels including Sky Arts, Channel 5, BBC News and History Hit, and has worked with a wide array of organisation…
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Charlie Russell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Charlie Russell she/her. Creative Associate and co-founder at Mischief. Trained at LAMDA. Work with Mischief includes Groan Ups (West End); The Play That Goes Wrong (UK Tour, West End, Broadway); Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Pleasance, West End, BBC1 adaptation, Broadway); The Co…
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Sunny Singh discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sunny Singh is a writer, novelist, public intellectual, and a champion for decolonisation and inclusion across all aspects of society. She is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, Hotel Arcadia, With Krishna’s Eyes, and Nani’s Book of Suicides, a study of Amitabh Ba…
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Alexandra Tolstoy discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alexandra Tolstoy is an Anglo-Russian mother, adventurer, author and TV presenter. She organises adventurous horse riding holidays in Kyrgyzstan, and runs The Tolstoy Edit, a curated shop of her favourite interiors discoveries. Kyrgyzstan https://alexandratolstoytravel.c…
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Novelist Julius Taranto discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Julius Taranto is the author of a novel, How I Won a Nobel Prize, which is available at https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/julius-taranto/how-i-won-a-nobel-prize/9781035006830. His other writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Ch…
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Faye Begeti discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Faye Begeti is a practising neurology doctor and neuroscientist at Oxford University Hospitals. She completed her medical degree and PhD at Cambridge, and currently conducts research into Parkinson’s disease alongside seeing her neurology patients. Her Instagram account @th…
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Kelly Link discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Kelly Link is the author of White Cat, Black Dog; Get in Trouble, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction; Magic for Beginners; Stranger Things Happen; and Pretty Monsters. Her short stories have been published in The Best American Short Stories and Prize Stories: The O. H…
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Alice Kinsella discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alice Kinsella is a poet from Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland. She is the author of Sexy Fruit (Broken Sleep, 2018) and editor of Empty House: poetry and prose on the climate crisis (Doire Press, 2021). Milk (Picador, 2023) is her debut book of prose. She is an Arts Coun…
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Robert McCrum discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Robert McCrum is a writer and editor whose most recent book, Shakespearean was published to great acclaim in 2021. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber, and literary editor of the Observer, he is also the author of Wodehouse: A Life (2004), and a classic memoir, My …
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Ivan looks back at previous discussions with a variety of guests and picks out the things which they think should be less well known. Foregoing the normal positivity, guests rant, complain and moan about famous people, books, television shows, sports, ideas and 90s dances which they find deeply tiresome. The guests and topics are: James Runcie on L…
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Matthew Rice discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Matthew Rice paints, writes and runs courses in the summer which utilise his garden, which is the focus of the rest of his time. Over his career he has published 11 books on architecture, designed many millions of mugs for the business he ran with his then wife Emma Bridgewat…
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Richard Mills discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Richard Mills is Associate Professor in English Literature and Popular Culture at St Mary’s University, London. He has been programme director for the Film and Popular Culture, Cultural Studies and Irish Studies degrees. He has published extensively on popular music, Iris…
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Noreen Masud discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Noreen Masud is a Lecturer in Twentieth Century Literature at the University of Bristol, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker 2020. Her first book for non-academic audiences is A Flat Place (2023): a memoir-travelogue about the beauty of flat places, and how they might help…
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Bob Cryer discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Bob Cryer is an actor and writer best known for Coronation Street and Hollyoaks. He is the youngest child of Barry Cryer. He collaborated with his father on Barry's book of anecdotes, Butterfly Brain, in 2010. Shortly afterwards, they created the book series Mrs Hudson's Diaries…
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Martin Knight discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Martin Knight is a British author. He has written autobiographies with footballers George Best, Dave Mackay, Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke also Alan Longmuir founder member of the Bay City Rollers. In addition he has authored true crime titles and novels. His latest book Ju…
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To mark the 300th episode of Better Known, actor Henry Lewis discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Henry Lewis is a power house creative: writer, actor, director and puzzle genius. He is the Artistic Director of Mischief and writes, produces and performs for the company. His work with Mischief includes: The Play that Goes Wro…
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Lucy Eaton discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Lucy Eaton’s theatre credits include: The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Trafalgar Studios), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Donmar Warehouse), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Southwark Playhouse), Daisy Pulls it Off (Park Theatre), Khadija is 18 (Finbo…
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Simon Garfield discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Simon Garfield was born in London in 1960. He is the author of an appealingly diverse and unpredictable canon of non-fiction, including the bestsellers Mauve, Just My Type and On The Map. He is a trustee of Mass Observation, and is the editor of several books of diaries fro…
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Leah Morgan discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Leah Morgan is a project engineer and science communicator working in fusion energy research. She makes science and engineering videos on her YouTube channel Leah Morgan and gives talks all about the energy of the future! You can find her at www.leahmorgan.co.uk and on TikTok,…
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Max Décharné discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Max Décharné‘s new book Teddy Boys – Post-war Britain and the First Youth Revolution is published by Profile Books on 25 January 2024. He was the drummer of the band Gallon Drunk, and has been the singer and songwriter with The Flaming Stars since 1994. An authority on the 19…
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Nigel Planer discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Nigel Planer is an actor, writer and musician. He played Neil in the BBC comedy The Young Ones and Ralph Filthy in Filthy Rich & Catflap. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie and the Choco…
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Danell Jones discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Danell Jones is a writer with a PhD in literature from Columbia University. She is the author of The Virginia Woolf Writers Workshop; the poetry collection Desert Elegy; and An African in Imperial London, which won the High Plains Book Award for Nonfiction. Her newest book is…
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Angus Jackson discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Angus Jackson is a screen and stage director and writer. For the screen he has directed the feature length film Elmina’s Kitchen for the BBC for which he was nominated for a BAFTA as best new director. For The Royal Shakespeare Company he has directed Oppenheimer, Don Quixot…
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Cathi Unsworth discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Cathi Unsworth is a novelist, writer and editor who lives and works in London. She began her career on the legendary music weekly Sounds at the age of 19. Her novels include The Not Knowing, Weirdo and That Old Black Magic. She is currently teaching novel writing for Curtis…
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Doreen Cunningham is an Irish-British writer born in Wales. After studying engineering she worked briefly in climate related research at NERC and in storm modelling at Newcastle University, before turning to journalism. She worked for the BBC World Service as a international news presenter, editor, producer and reporter, for twenty years. She won t…
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