Thomas Curran discsses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Thomas Curran is a professor of psychology at the London School of Economics and author of a landmark study that the BBC hailed as “the first to compare perfectionism across generations.” His TED Talk on perfectionism has received more than three million views. His research has been featured in media ranging from the Harvard Business Review to New Scientist to CNN and he has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. His new book is The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough.

1. Perfectionism is not high standards https://www.thementalfitnesscompany.com/perfectionism-or-high-standards/

2. It does not make us more successful https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-successful-people-rarely-perfectionists-john-mclachlan-2f

3. Perfectionism has many faces https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/manyfaces

4. It is rising rapidly among young people https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/01/perfectionism-young-people

5. Perfectionism is nature and nurture https://thedaily.case.edu/perfectionism-is-a-mix-of-nature-nurture-says-psychologys-amy-przeworski/

6. The antidote to perfectionism is self-acceptance https://www.kindfulbody.com/blog/self-compassion-antidote-perfectionism

Photo by Albane Brand

Anna Katharina Schaffner discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Anna Katharina Schaffner is a cultural historian and professional burnout coach. Her books include The Art of Self-Improvement: Ten Timeless Truths, Exhaustion: A History and the novel The Truth about Julia. Anna writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement and Psychology Today.

1. Feelings of exhaustion are nothing new  https://aeon.co/ideas/why-exhaustion-is-not-unique-to-our-overstimulated-age

2. We are not our thoughts https://www.the-exhaustion-coach.com/post/what-s-so-great-about-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy

3. Mind metaphors matter https://psyche.co/ideas/youre-not-a-computer-youre-a-tiny-stone-in-a-beautiful-mosaic

4. We are profoundly shaped by stories about ourselves https://ideas.ted.com/the-two-kinds-of-stories-we-tell-about-ourselves/

5. Dead man’s goals are not enough for creating sustainable behavioural change https://joshuanhook.com/2018/02/04/turn-around-your-dead-mans-goals/

6. Only Lovers Left Alive https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/20/only-lovers-left-alive-review

Ivan Wise adopts six quiz show formats and asks himself some searching questions. He uses Family Friends to try and work out if we all think of the same extinct bird, American prison and canyon, He adopts Uiversity Challenge to try and answer the text of Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood – A Novel? in which every sentence is a question. He employs Who Wants to be a Millionaire to consider the exact wording of King Henry II’s request about Thomas Beckett.

1. Wilhelm Gustloff https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/deadliest-disaster-sea-happened-75-years-ago-yet-its-barely-known-why-180974077/
2. Charlton Athletic v Huddersfield, 1957 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Athletic_F.C._7%E2%80%936_Huddersfield_Town_A.F.C.
3. Ignaz Semmelweis https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/12/375663920/the-doctor-who-championed-hand-washing-and-saved-women-s-lives
4. Manuscripts destroyed by fire https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/ralph-ellisons-slow-burning-art
5. Spanish flu https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic
6. Charborough Wall http://www.charborough.co.uk/

David Robson discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

David Robson is an award-winning science writer based in London. His latest book, The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life (Canongate/Henry Holt), was a Financial Times Best Book of 2022 and won the British Psychological Society Book Award in 2023. His was previously a features editor at New Scientist and a senior journalist at the BBC, and he writes regularly for the Guardian, the Observer, and the Psychologist.

1. How the nocebo effect makes us sick https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150210-can-you-think-yourself-to-death

2. Why speaking in the third person makes us smarter https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230411-illeism-the-ancient-trick-to-help-you-think-more-wisely

3. How to escape the illusion of knowledge: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220812-the-illusion-of-knowledge-that-makes-people-overconfident

4. Reframing fatigue can boost your workouts: https://psyche.co/ideas/physical-fatigue-is-in-the-brain-as-much-as-in-the-body 

5. Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/hiding-in-plain-sight-natalia-ginzburgs-masterpiece

6. Love Soup https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/12/love-soup-box-set-review

Hana Ayoob discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Hana Ayoob is a science communicator and illustrator using art and events to explore the world around us. She speaks at a range of events from science festivals to comedy nights, produces illustrations for books and other projects, and provides training and consulting for universities and other organisations. 

1. Honey badgers https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/63407/11-fierce-facts-about-honey-badger

2. Leonardo Da Vinci (the man rather than the myth) https://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/08/world/europe/leonardo-da-vinci-life/index.html

3. Singapore https://www.timeout.com/singapore/things-to-do/9-hidden-gems-you-never-knew-existed-in-singapore

4. How to draw anything by Scriberia https://info.scriberia.com/free-chapter-howtodrawanything

5. How useless the human sinuses are https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-sinuses-the-mysterious-holes-in-our-heads-2006jul16-story.html

6. Henna https://stepfeed.com/8-things-you-didn-t-know-about-henna-4526

Lewis Dartnell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Professor Lewis Dartnell is a research scientist, presenter and author based in London.

He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class degree in Biological Sciences and completed his PhD at University College London in 2007. He now holds the Professorship in Science Communication at the University of Westminster. His research is in the field of astrobiology and the search for microbial life on Mars. He has also held a STFC Science in Society Fellowship and is very active in delivering live events at schools and science festivals, working as a scientific consultant for the media, and have appeared in numerous TV documentaries and radio shows. He has won several awards for his science writing and outreach work and regularly freelances for newspapers and magazine articles. He has also published five books: The Knowledge was the Sunday Times ‘New Thinking’ Book of the Year and international bestseller, and Origins: How the Earth Made Us is a Sunday Times top History book of 2019. Being Human: How our Biology shaped World History is now out.

1. Dave Gingery and his lathe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._Gingery

2. SODIS https://www.sodis.ch/methode/index_EN.html

3. How voting in the US southern states follows a 75-million-year-old seafloor https://www.history.co.uk/article/how-earth-shaped-human-history-interview-with-lewis-dartnell-about-origins

4. Link between a defunct gene in human DNA and the emergence of the Mafia https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts/199-being-human-lewis-dartnell-on-how-our-biology-shapes-our-actions/

5. How tropical diseases helped bring about the union between England and Scotland https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/scotland-and-darien/

6. Titan and possibility of two biospheres https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28jun_titanocean

Oliver Burkeman discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Oliver Burkeman is the author of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks, about embracing limitation and finally getting round to what counts, along with The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. For many years he wrote a popular column for the Guardian, This Column Will Change Your Life. In his email newsletter The Imperfectionist, he writes about productivity, mortality, the power of limits and building a meaningful life in an age of distraction. He lives in the North York Moors. 

1. The Zettelkasten https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/

2. Death: The End of Self-Improvement by Joan Tollifson https://www.joantollifson.com/book-death-the-end-of-self-improvement.html

3. The fact that everyone is just winging it https://www.theguardian.com/news/oliver-burkeman-s-blog/2014/may/21/everyone-is-totally-just-winging-it

4. Rosedale Chimney Bank and Spaunton Moor https://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walk-1921-description

5. “Ought implies can” https://platofootnote.wordpress.com/2016/06/13/ought-implies-can-or-does-it/

6. This Jungian Life https://thisjungianlife.com/

Rachel Nuwer discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Rachel Nuwer is an award-winning freelance science journalist and author who regularly contributes to the New York Times, Scientific American and National Geographic. Her first book, Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking, took her to a dozen countries to investigate the multi-billion dollar illegal wildlife trade. Her new book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, delves into the history, science, politics and culture of MDMA. She lives in Brooklyn. 

1. MDMA has been used by therapists since the 1970s https://www.amazon.com/Feel-Love-Quest-Connection-Fractured/dp/1635579570/

2. Most health problems and deaths attributed to MDMA are the result of prohibition https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61734334

3. Composting is a really easy way to support the environment https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/essays-culture/compost-new-york-city-zero-waste/

4. Trophy hunting contributes to conservation in Africa https://www.biographic.com/africas-conservation-conundrum/

5. Arresting poachers won’t solve the problem of illegal wildlife trade https://www.amazon.com/Poached-Inside-World-Wildlife-Trafficking/dp/0306825503

6. Rabbits are incredible pets and should be kept indoors http://allaboutrabbitsrescue.org/rabbits-101/

Jack Ashby discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Jack Ashby is the Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. His zoological focus is on the mammals of Australia, but his work more broadly centres on engaging people with the natural world, chiefly through museums, and exploring the colonial biases that museums often exhibit. His books, Platypus Matters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals and Animal Kingdom: A Natural History in 100 Objects combine these scientific and social stories.

From 2022-23 he was an Art Fund Headley Fellow. He is a trustee of the Natural Sciences Collections Association, an Honorary Research Fellow in UCL Science and Technology Studies, and formerly sat on the Council of the Society for the History of Natural History.

1. Platypuses https://www.amazon.co.uk/Platypus-Matters-Extraordinary-Australian-Mammals/dp/0008431477/

2. Ali from Sarawak https://theconversation.com/i-am-ali-wallace-the-malay-assistant-of-alfred-russel-wallace-an-excerpt-85738

3. Biases in natural history museum displays https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/october/more-male-than-female-specimens-in-natural-history-collections.html

4. Stockholm’s Biologiskamuseet https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/biologiska-museet

5. Tasmanian devils https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/tasmanian-devil

6. Gran Paradiso National Park https://www.cicerone.co.uk/five-ways-to-enjoy-italys-gran-paradiso-national-park

Christian Donlan discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Chris Donlan is a writer and journalist. He was born in Los Angeles and now lives in Brighton with his family. His first book, The Unmapped Mind, was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley prize.

1. Ellen Raskin https://www.eurogamer.net/something-solid-in-a-world-of-liars-the-tattooed-potato-and-the-most-haunted-address-in-new-york-city

2. HP https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/minds-behind-the-brain-stanley-finger/1101398997

3. William Marlow https://artuk.org/discover/artists/marlow-william-17401813

4. I and My Chimney, a short story by Herman Melville https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2694/2694-h/2694-h.htm

5. LA Dept of Water and Power building https://waterandpower.org/museum/Construction_of_the_GOB.html

6. Hubert Julian https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-black-eagle-of-harlem-95208344/