Better Known – Details, episodes & analysis

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Better Known

Ivan Wise

Society & Culture

Arts

Tv & Film

Frequency: 1 episode/8d. Total Eps: 419

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.

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
12/03/2026
#97
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
11/03/2026
#91
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
10/03/2026
#93
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
09/03/2026
#98
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
27/02/2025
#80
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
26/02/2025
#59
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
25/02/2025
#51
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
24/02/2025
#41
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
23/02/2025
#41
🇬🇧 Great Britain - societyAndCulture
24/12/2024
#93

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://zencast.fm
382 shares
https://www.ifixit.com/
4 shares
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/deadliest-disaster-sea-happened-75-years-ago-yet-its-barely-known-why-180974077/
4 shares

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari
4 shares
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportpalast_speech
4 shares
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes
2 shares

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Score global : 69%

Publication history

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James Marriott

Sunday, December 15, 2024 • Duration 30:41

James Marriott discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

James Marriott is a columnist at The Times, writing about society, culture and ideas.

The poetry of Geoffrey Hill https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v07/n06/tom-paulin/the-case-for-geoffrey-hill
CAT S22 Flip https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/16p2an2/cat_s22_flip_reviewjustwow/?rdt=55955
Uzbekistan https://www.wildfrontierstravel.com/en_GB/blog/places-to-visit-in-uzbekistan
The acronym WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WEIRDest_People_in_the_World
The War Against Cliche by Martin Amis https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/apr/14/fiction.martinamis
Rossini's opera L'Italiana in Algeri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPodHwCbE5k&pp=ygUQI2l0YWxpYW5hZW5hcmdlbA%3D%3D

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Keetie Roelen

Sunday, December 8, 2024 • Duration 30:02

Keetie Roelen discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Keetie Roelen is a leading thinker in poverty and social policy and a longstanding advocate for social justice. She currently works as a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Deputy Director at the Centre for the Study of Global Development at The Open University, the largest university in the UK. She is also founder and host of the podcast Poverty Unpacked, exploring the hidden sides of poverty in conversation with a broad range of experts.

Keetie has a PhD in Public Policy and has been working in the field of poverty, social policy, and international development for more than 15 years. Keetie has widely published in academic journals and books, and her work has featured in media such as the Guardian and BBC World Service. She has spoken about how to address poverty to multiple audiences, ranging from government ministers at the UN and MPs in UK parliament to students and activists. Keetie is passionate about contributing to a fairer world and creating more prosperous lives for all. Across her career, she has listened to personal accounts of hundreds of families and interviewed dozens of experts, building a deep appreciation of the complexities and opportunities for addressing adversity. Her new book is The Empathy Fix (https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/the-empathy-fix/) which seeks to tell a new story about why hardship persists and how we can break the cycle.

European films https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/10/european-film-must-see-25-movies
Transplant Games https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66336861
Early paintings by Van Gogh https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/early-paintings-by-vincent-van-gogh.htm
Assistance dogs https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/assistance-dogs-guide-businesses-and-service-providers
ATD Fourth World https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/who-we-are/

Nabeel Qureshi

Sunday, October 6, 2024 • Duration 30:21

Nabeel Qureshi discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Nabeel S. Qureshi is an entrepreneur and researcher specializing in artificial intelligence and healthcare. He is the CEO of a new startup company and a Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Nabeel is based in New York and grew up in Manchester, England.

The filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/17/the-metaphysical-world-of-apichatpong-weerasethakuls-movies
Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1975/01/23/incomparable-empson/
Wittgenstein's late notebooks, Culture and Value https://prismatically.blog/2020/08/30/wittgenstein-culture-and-value-whereof-one-cannot-speak-thereof-one-must-be-silent/
The pianist Grigory Sokolov, especially his recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations https://open.spotify.com/track/0iD6SmRyOj23fCKyG4x8zj?si=decbea5bd38f4515&nd=1&dlsi=ce22c9bdf87a4ba4
The essay Art as Technique by Viktor Shklovsky https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/fulllist/first/en122/lecturelist-2015-16-2/shklovsky.pdf
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n08/john-lanchester/indian-summa

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Anna Ploszajski

Sunday, October 23, 2022 • Duration 28:49

Anna Ploszajski discusses with Ivan six things which she thinks should be better known.

Dr Anna Ploszajski is an award-winning materials scientist, comedian and storyteller based in London. She’s a materials generalist, equally fascinated by metals, plastics, ceramics, glasses and substances from the natural world. Anna channels her passion for storytelling about materials through writing, podcasting, presenting and training scientists and engineers in the art of storytelling. Her first book, Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making, is out now. In her spare time, Anna plays the trumpet in a funk and soul covers band and is an ultra-endurance open water swimmer. Find out more at www.annaploszajski.com.

Materials science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_science
Into the Woods by John Yorke https://www.waterstones.com/book/into-the-woods/john-yorke/9780141978109
Ultra-swimmer Sarah Thomas https://sarahthomasswims.com/.
Trumpets can play quietly! https://www.alisonbalsom.com/
Barberette https://www.barberette.co.uk/
IFIXIT https://www.ifixit.com/

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Helen Gordon

Sunday, October 16, 2022 • Duration 28:01

Helen Gordon discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Helen Gordon’s books include Notes from Deep Time (Profile), Landfall (Penguin) and, with Travis Elborough, Being a Writer (Frances Lincoln). She has written about nature, science, art and books for various newspapers and magazines including the Economist’s 1843 magazine, the Guardian, the TLS, Apollo and Wired UK. A former Granta magazine editor, she currently teaches creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire.

Deep time https://profilebooks.com/work/notes-from-deep-time/
James Hutton https://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edinburghs-geology/geological-pioneers/james-hutton/ and https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/GeositesSiccarPoint
Campi Flegrei https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=211010
The view towards London from Farthing Downs https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/farthing-downs/visit-farthing-downs
Man in the Holocene https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Man-in-the-Holocene-by-Max-Frisch-Geoffrey-Skelton/9781564784667
Desk Set https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v13391

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John King

Sunday, October 9, 2022 • Duration 27:52

Novelist John King discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

John King is the author of nine novels with a tenth (London Country) to be published in 2023. His debut The Football Factory was turned into a film starring Danny Dyer and Dudley Sutton, while his most recent (Slaughterhouse Prayer) is being developed for television. His first novella The Beasts Of Brussels appeared as one-third of The Seal Club in 2020 along with work by Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner. The second of a proposed trilogy (Seal Club 2: The View From Poacher’s Hill) is due in 2023. John co-owns London Books, edits the London Classics fiction list, publishes and edits the small-press fiction journal Verbal and co-runs the Human Punk nights at London’s 100 Club. He has also written articles and reviews for the likes of the New Statesman in the UK, la Repubblica in Italy and Le Monde in France. You can find out more at https://www.john-king-author.co.uk/

The Middle Path https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhadasa
The benefits of leaving the EU https://www.john-king-author.co.uk/liberal-politics
The realities of animal slaughter https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/til-the-pigs-come-round/
Drinking beer in public houses is good for our health https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/the-moon-under-water/
The so-called lowlife literature of 1930s London https://www.london-books.co.uk/
Dharma Blues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbAb9oqkHlQ

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Anton Muscatelli

Sunday, October 2, 2022 • Duration 29:21

Economist Anton Muscatelli discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow since 2009. An economist, his research interests are monetary economics, central bank independence, fiscal policy, international finance and macroeconomics.

Sir Anton was Chair (2016-21) of the First Minister’s Standing Council on Europe, a non-political group providing expert advice to Scottish ministers on Scotland’s relationship with the EU. He was a member of the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers 2015-21, and subsequently advised them on the National Strategy for Economic Transformation. He is a member of the advisory group for Sir Paul Nurse’s Review of the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape. From 2017-20 he was Chair of the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities. He has been a special adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on fiscal and monetary policy, and he has advised the European Commission and the World Bank. He holds an honorary degree from McGill University in Canada.

The life of James McCune Smith https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH24115&type=P&o=&start=0&max=20&l=
The importance of central bank independence https://www.ft.com/content/c233c60e-7d88-465a-9b8b-c35b6a5ca339 (paywall)
Cooking with fresh (Apulian) artichokes https://personalpuglia.com/2012/11/27/an-abundance-of-artichokes-food-itlay/
Sostiene Pereira by Antonio Tabucchi https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/21/pereira-maintains-tabucchi-review
The game of Maniglia/Manille https://www.pagat.com/manille/mariglia.html

Kamila Shamsie

Sunday, September 25, 2022 • Duration 28:53

Novelist Kamila Shamsie discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Kamila Shamsie was born and grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. Her novel, Home Fire, won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018. It was also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017, shortlisted for the Costa Best Novel Award, and won the London Hellenic Prize. She is the author of six previous novels including Burnt Shadows, shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and A God in Every Stone, shortlisted for the Women’s Bailey’s Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages. Kamila Shamsie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist in 2013. She is professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester and lives in London. Her new novel is Best of Friends, which is available at https://www.waterstones.com/book/best-of-friends/kamila-shamsie/9781526657862.

Kamila Shamsie is in conversation with Nesrine Malik at London’s Southbank Centre on Wednesday 28th September. Tickets are available at https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/literature-poetry/kamila-shamsie-best-friends?eventId=907048.

The Peshawar Museum https://aboutkp.kp.gov.pk/page/peshawar_museaum
Women’s cricket https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-womens-cricket-from-englands-greens-to-the-world-stage-132904
How to dress on scorchingly hot days https://www.gearpatrol.com/style/a736579/how-to-dress-cool-through-hot-weather/
The Pakistan floods https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/world/asia/pakistan-floods.html

Philip Ball

Sunday, September 18, 2022 • Duration 28:49

Philip Ball discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Philip Ball is a freelance writer and broadcaster and worked previously for over 20 years as an editor for Nature. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media and has authored many books on the interactions of the sciences, the arts, and the wider culture, including H2O: A Biography of Water, Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, The Music Instinct and Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. His book Critical Mass won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. Philip is a presenter of Science Stories, the BBC Radio 4 series on the history of science, and is the 2022 recipient of the Royal Society’s Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal for contributions to the history, philosophy or social functions of science. He trained as a chemist at the University of Oxford, and as a physicist at the University of Bristol. His latest book is The Book of Minds (2022), a survey of the varieties of mind that do and might exist. Find out more at www.philipball.co.uk.

Our genome is not a blueprint for us https://aeon.co/essays/our-genome-is-not-a-blueprint-for-making-humans-at-all
Emmy Noether https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxmDphojQUU
Glenn Branca https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/may/14/glenn-branca-dead-guitarist-composer
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1997/07/17/paradise-in-a-dream/
What mercury feels like https://www.quora.com/What-does-mercury-feel-like
The deceptive cadence https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/beatles-blog/the-beatles-use-of-deceptive-cadences

Tharik Hussain

Sunday, September 11, 2022 • Duration 27:46

Travel writer Tharik Hussain discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known.

Tharik Hussain in an author and travel writer whose work often serves to counter popular and authorised narratives. His debut book, Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe, was nominated for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year award and the Baillie Gifford Prize in Non Fiction, and named a Book of the Year in the New Statesman, Prospect Magazine and the Times Literary Supplement. Hussain is also a Lonely Planet author who has written for the BBC, National Geographic and The Guardian. He developed Britain’s first Muslim heritage trails in Woking, Surrey and is a Fellow at the University of Groningen’s Centre for Religion and Heritage.

You can find out more about Tharik's work at https://linktr.ee/TharikHussain and www.tharikhussain.co.uk

You can find out more about the Muslim heritage trails: https://www.everydaymuslim.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/01Trail-EM-WMHT-WokingTrail.pdf and https://www.everydaymuslim.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/02Trail-EM-WMHT-MuhCemWalk.pdf

Offa's Dinar https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/gold-dinar-of-king-offa
The Shah Jahan Mosque https://shahjahanmosque.org.uk/
Twelve centuries of European Jewish-Muslim co existence https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2019/1105/Where-an-ancient-Jewish-Muslim-coexistence-endures
Indigenous European Muslim culture https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/forgotten-muslims-southeastern-europe

Better Known – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

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Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

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Better Known – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

The Guardian99+

Wikipedia99+

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

The Guardian99+

Wikipedia99+