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 Daily Telegraph and “no better introduction to today’s Turkey” by Andrew Mango. The Adventure of the Second Wife is his debut novel.

1. 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

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

3. Cornucopia https://www.cornucopia.net

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

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

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

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.

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

2. 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

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

4. 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

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

6. 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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Traveller.

Before travel writing, Ash was a ski instructor, science teacher and wannabe cowboy. He is an officer in the British Army Reserve, and a lecturer in travel journalism at City, University of London. Why We Travel is his first book.

1. Great Polynesian Migration https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/encounters/polynesian-voyaging

2. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

3. Ukraine (as a place, not just a site of war) https://theculturetrip.com/europe/ukraine/articles/the-top-20-attractions-in-ukraine

4. Turning grief into hope https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/oceania/new-zealand/my-mother-died-of-cancer-new-zealand-turned-my-grief/

5. How beliefs and behaviours work https://iulianionescu.com/blog/how-our-beliefs-and-values-shape-our-behavior/

6. Psychogeography https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/psychogeography

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 many essays for publications such as City Journal, some of which were collected in Life at the Bottom (2001), which has been translated into several languages. His new book is Buried But Not Quite Dead: Forgotten Writers of Père Lachaise. He divides his time between England and France.

1. The Fire Raisers by Max Frisch https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2007/nov/01/thearsonistsstillburnsbrig

2. The Hospital Poems by WE Henley https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1931720414002025

3. A Mother Peeling Apples by Pieter de Hooch https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/a-woman-peeling-apples-209233

4. Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne-Melchior_de_Vog%C3%BC%C3%A9

5. That Le Corbusier was a fascist https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32546182

6. That the poor are disproportionately the victims of crime https://www.theguardian.com/society/2006/apr/18/socialexclusion.crime

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 books: Into Print: The Production of Female Authorship in Early Modern France and Portraits of the Queen Mother: Polemics, Panegyrics, Letters, winner of the Josephine Roberts Award from the International Society for the Study of Early Modern Women. She lives with her husband and three children, and divides her time between Washington, DC and London. Her new book is Young Queens.

1. Fake news goes back at least to the 16th century https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/fake-news-history-long-violent-214535/

2. 16th-century Europe was dominated by female leaders https://www.historytoday.com/archive/review/young-queens-leah-redmond-chang-review

3. The Renaissance Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/03/this-italian-artist-became-the-first-female-superstar-of-the-renaissance

4. The teenaged queen consort of Spain, Elisabeth de Valois https://flhwnotesandreviews.com/2018/06/11/book-review-elizabeth-de-valois-queen-of-spain-and-the-court-of-philip-ii-by-martha-walker-freer/

5. The story of the 16th-century French peasant Martin Guerre and his wife Bertrande https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/martin-guerre-0016613

6. Letter-locking https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210616-how-the-forgotten-tricks-of-letterlocking-shaped-history

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 organisations to bring history to mainstream audiences, including Christie’s, Meta, The National Trust, 10 Downing Street, The Royal Collection Trust, The National Portrait Gallery and The National Gallery. UPROAR! Satire, Scandal and Printmaking in Georgian London is Alice’s first book. Her second book, Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives, comes out in August 2024. 

1. James Gillray https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v23/n12/peter-campbell/at-tate-britain

2. The fact that Napoleon wasn’t short https://www.history.com/news/napoleon-complex-short

3. Landmark Trust  https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/may/12/how-a-derelict-scottish-tower-was-turned-into-a-sumptuous-retreat

4. The French House, Soho https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/french-house

5. Parish churches https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/days-out/britains-most-beautiful-churches

6. The London Library https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v13/n18/john-sutherland/sod-off-readers

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 Comedy About A Bank Robbery (West End); The Goes Wrong Show (BBC Sitcom); Improviser, Mischief Movie Night (West End, UK Tour), Austentatious, Yes Queens. Charlie wrote and performed a run of her first solo show, Charlie Russell Aims To Please, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. Other acting work includes Kat in Kite Strings (Short Film), Doctors (BBC 1), And Then There Were None (BBC1 & Mammoth Screen), #FindTheGirl (BBC3 Online) and A Twist Of Dahl (BBC Radio 4). Charlie can next be seen starring in Fanny at The Watermill Theatre in May 2024.

1. 500 Acts of Kindness group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2074795452542346/

2. Fanny Mendelssohn https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/23/arts/music-review-fanny-mendelssohn-was-audacious-too.html

3. The game Worldle https://thinkygames.com/reviews/worldle-a-treasure-trove-for-geography-nerds/

4. Improv https://www.hooplaimpro.com/improv-comedy-club-london-bridge.html

5. A Short History of Queer Women by Kirsty Loehr. https://www.gscene.com/arts/books/book-review-a-short-history-of-queer-women-by-kirsty-loehr/

6. Therapy https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/benefits-of-talking-therapies/

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 Bachchan for the BFI’s film star series, and the recent, A Bollywood State of Mind: A Journey into the World’s Biggest Cinema. She has recently completed a collection of stories linked by the theme of war and is currently working on a new novel, and a non-fiction book about writing ethically. In 2017 she launched the celebrated Jhalak Prize. She is also a founder of the Jhalak Foundation that focuses on a range of literary, artistic and literacy initiatives in the UK and beyond. Sunny lives in London where she is Professor of Creative Writing and Inclusion in the Arts at the London Metropolitan University.

1. Bollywood movies https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/a-bollywood-state-of-mind-a-journey-into-the-worlds-biggest-cinema-by-sunny-singh/

2. Backpacking https://nomadsworld.com/6-reasons-backpacking-good/

3. Intersectionality https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination

4. Senegal http://hipafrica.com/features/9-reasons-visit-senegal/

5. Open water swimming (and adult swimming lessons) https://www.brighton.ac.uk/news/2023/is-open-water-swimming-good-for-you

6. The excellence and range of literature by British writers of colour https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/03/akala-bernardine-evaristo-ben-okri-and-more-pick-20-classic-books-by-writers-of-colour

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.

1. Kyrgyzstan https://alexandratolstoytravel.com/

2. Ronald Welch https://foxedquarterly.com/ronald-welch-carey-novels-telegraph-review/

3. Darning and patching https://pieceworkmagazine.com/your-guide-to-mending/

4. Ivan Bilibin http://textualities.net/jennie-renton/the-art-of-ivan-bilibin

5. 19th century European novels https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2021/06/14/review-the-semi-detached-house-by-emily-eden/

6. Victoria sponges https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/grannys-victoria-sponge