Better Known

Ivan Wise
  • 4.8 (11)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

  1. 5D AGO

    Erin Somers

    Erin Somers discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Erin Somers is a reporter and news editor at Publishers Lunch. Her first novel, Stay Up with Hugo Best was a Vogue Best Book of the Year in 2019. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Paris Review, New York Times Book Review, New Republic, New York Magazine, Atlantic, Esquire, GQ, Best American Short Stories and many other publications. She has been the recipient of an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the NYC Centre for Fiction, a fellowship from the Millay Colony, and was a 2020 finalist for a National Magazine Award. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley with her family. Her new novel is The Ten Year Affair, which is available at https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-ten-year-affair-erin-somers/7940888?ean=9781837264568&next=t. The record Entrance Music by Okonski https://okonski.bandcamp.com/album/entrance-music The author Max Apple https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/books/review/Hodgman-t.html The film 101 Reykjavik https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,501343,00.html This recording of October in the Railroad Earth by Jack Kerouac and Stephen Allen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hjPZpaXNsw The Codex Seriphinianus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Seraphinianus Colony Pizza in Fairfield County, Connecticut https://colonygrill.com/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    27 min

  2. FEB 1

    Tharik Hussain returns

    Tharik Hussain, who previously appeared on the podcast in 2022, discusses with Ivan six further things which should be better known. Tharik Hussain is an award-winning author and journalist specialising in global Muslim heritage and culture. He has written for newspapers such as The Times, Guardian and Telegraph, magazines such as National Geographic Traveler, and broadcast media such as Al Jazeera and the BBC. For the latter, he produced award-winning radio program America’s Mosques. Tharik has written or contributed to travel books on areas including the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, and his book on Islam in the Western Balkans, Minarets in the Mountains, was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year, and won the Adele Evans Award. His new book is Muslim Europe and is available at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458266/muslim-europe-by-hussain-tharik/9780241742822. Ibn Jubayr https://muslimheritage.com/ibn-jubair-capturing-the-decline-of-islamic-power/ King Henry II’s relationship with Muslim culture https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/king-henry-ii-muslim-monarch-england-convert-islam/ The tomb of Hala Sultan https://www.cyprusalive.com/en/hala-sultan-tekke King Charles III’s view of Europe’s Muslim history https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/king-charles-iii-five-things-islam-muslims 5 .The Nasrid ‘ruby’ in the Imperial State Crown of UK https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/crown-jewels/?id=6209 The synagogues of Toledo https://jguideeurope.org/en/region/spain/castilla-la-mancha/toledo/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    29 min

  3. JAN 25

    Richard Johnson and Lee Evans

    Richard Johnson and Lee Evans discuss with Ivan six things which should be better known. Richard Johnson is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Queen Mary University of London. With Lee Evans, he is the co-host of the 'Since Attlee and Churchill' podcast. He is the author of several books on British and US politics, including The End of the Second Reconstruction: Obama, Trump, and the Crisis of Civil Rights and Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Labour Party in Opposition since 1922 (with Gavin Hyman and Mark Garnett). Lee David Evans is John Ramsden Fellow at the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London. You can buy their books at https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/books-by-richard-lee?&new-list-page=true and you can listen to their podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZZKNZvT1JLCTELwCoRtAc. The Reconstruction era in the US https://www.amazon.co.uk/End-Second-Reconstruction-Richard-Johnson/dp/1509538348 Lord Timothy Dexter https://shahmm.medium.com/the-ridiculous-rise-of-lord-timothy-dexter-a-tale-of-lucky-blunders-and-accidental-brilliance-4b9037a62bdd Anne Kerr MP https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/11/anne-kerr-labour-party-mp-rochester-vietnam-apartheid-chicago-europe-france Peter Walker https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v13/n23/hugo-young/rubbishing-the-revolution Quiet Court https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/what-happened-to-the-grace-and-favour-house-for/id1785733887?i=1000683681568 Memory Hold the Door by John Buchan https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1966/02/17/the-sweet-smell-of-success/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    30 min

  4. JAN 18

    Brooke Newman

    Historian Brooke Newman discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr. Brooke Newman is an Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She specializes in the history of early modern Britain and the British Atlantic, with a focus on slavery and its legacies. She is the author of the award-winning book, A Dark Inheritance: Blood, Race, and Sex in Colonial Jamaica (Yale, 2018), and The Crown's Silence: The Hidden History of Slavery and the British Monarchy (Mudlark, 2026), which is available at https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/the-crowns-silence-the-hidden-history-of-slavery-and-the-british-monarchy-brooke-newman?variant=55509554397563. Her writing and research have been featured in the Guardian, the Washington Post, Der Spiegel, and Smithsonian Magazine, and she has served as a historical expert for HBO's Last Week Tonight, Vox, the BBC, and NPR, among others. The difference between historians and journalists https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/journalists-and-historians-april-2023/ What it’s like to work in an archive https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/news/day-life-ofan-archivist The value and limitations of archives https://slimkm.com/blog/advantages-and-limitations-of-archival-research/ The Stuart monarchs launched England into the transatlantic slave trade https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/kings-queens/royal-african-company-how-the-stuarts-birthed-britains-slave-trade/ The South Sea Company was not just a Ponzi scheme https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/South-Sea-Bubble/ Formerly enslaved people appealed directly to the Royal Family to abolish the slave trade https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/06/british-monarchy-ties-slavery-historical-archives-slaves This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    31 min

  5. JAN 11

    Dean Koontz

    Dean Koontz discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition when he was a senior in college, and has been writing ever since. Fourteen of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list (One Door Away From Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, Intensity, Sole Survivor, The Husband, Odd Hours, Relentless, What the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street), making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. Sixteen of his books have risen to the number one position in paperback. His books have also been major bestsellers in countries as diverse as Japan and Sweden. Many of his books have been made into films. Dean Koontz lives in Southern California with Gerda and their golden retriever, Elsa. Dean and Gerda share a deep love of dogs. His new book is The Friend of The Family, which is available at https://www.deankoontz.com/book/the-friend-of-the-family/. What quantum mechanics tells us about the strangeness of the universe. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26635393-200-what-does-quantum-theory-really-tell-us-about-the-nature-of-reality/ What’s wrong with the dictum “Write what you know.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/02/dont-write-what-you-know-write-what-you-feel-bestselling-authors-offer-tips-on-world-book-day The true nature of dogs. https://www.thedogwitchwholehealthandbehaviour.com/blogs/understanding-the-true-nature-of-dogs Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon https://www.caymus.com/caymus-california-cab/ The music of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Kamakawiwo%CA%BBole Creme Brulee is just a pudding. Yes it is. https://thecookful.com/creme-brulee-caramel/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    28 min

  6. JAN 4

    Ryan Gingeras

    Ryan Gingeras discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Ryan Gingeras is a professor in the Institute of Regional and International Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School and is an expert in modern Eastern European and Middle East history. He is the author of seven books, including The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire and Sorrowful Shores: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912–1923, which was shortlisted for numerous book prizes. He has published on a wide variety of topics related to history and politics in publications such as Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Washington Post, Times Literary Supplement and Foreign Policy . He currently lives with his wife and children in the Santa Cruz Mountains. His new book is Mafia: A Global History, which is available at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Mafia-A-Global-History/Ryan-Gingeras/9781398531673. Mafias should be seen as significant historical figures in the making of modern history. Mafias are not as old as you think. The laws that "made" mafias a global phenomenon are also not as old as you think. Al Capone set the mold for the modern gangsters worldwide. Coppola's The Godfather marked the critical moment in the making of modern mafias. Mafias are more integrated into the workings of the modern world than ever before. This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    28 min

  7. 12/21/2025

    Stuart Jeffries

    Stuart Jeffries discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Stuart Jeffries was born in Wolverhampton in 1962. He was educated in Dudley, Oxford and London. Stuart started his journalistic career as a cub reporter at the Birmingham Post and Mail in 1985. He used to edit the Walsall Observer's children's page under the pseudonym Uncle Tom. Later he was the jazz critic of the Morning Star under the pseudonym Lew Lewis. In 1987, he moved to the Hampstead and Highgate Express, where he had many duties, chief among which was interviewing Hampstead lady novelists, which he liked a lot.  In 1990, he started work for the Guardian, working as subeditor, TV critic, Friday Review editor, Paris correspondent and feature writer. In 2010 he took voluntary redundancy and since then  has been a freelance journalist and author. His work has appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, The Spectator, the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph, Prospect, the New Statesman. and the London Review of Books, among others. He is the author of Mrs Slocombe’s P***y (2000), Grand Hotel Abyss (2016), and Everything, All the Time, Everywhere (2021) and A Short History of Stupidity (2025), which is available at https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=a-short-history-of-stupidity--9781509563494. Several Nazis tried at Nuremberg were judged geniuses according to IQ tests. IQ tests are terrible for establishing a person's stupidity or intelligence. Until 1975 hysterectomies were performed on black women in certain US states to stop them breeding morons. Stupidity has its uses - especially in the office. Donald Trump is more stupid than he thinks he is. What the prostate is. This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    30 min

  8. 12/14/2025

    Pete Brown

    Pete Brown discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Pete Brown (https://petebrown.net/) is a British author, journalist, broadcaster and consultant specialising in food and drink. Since February 2025, he has been the Sunday Times Magazine’s weekly beer columnist – the only regular broadsheet newspaper or magazine beer columnist in the UK. He is currently Chair of Judges for the World Beer Awards. He was named British Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2021, has won three Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, been shortlisted twice for the André Simon Awards, and in 2020 was named an “Industry Legend” at the Imbibe Hospitality Awards. His books include Tasting Notes and Clubland. Burton-on-Trent (the most important beer town in world history) https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/burton-upon-trent-beer-town-zctn9787n Perry (what some people refer to as pear cider) https://cideruk.com/what-is-cider-and-perry/ How working men’s clubs shaped modern Britain https://www.petebrown.net/book/clubland-how-the-working-mens-club-shaped-britain/ Norwich https://www.number82theunthank.co.uk/10-surprising-facts-about-norwich/ How music changes your perception of flavour https://www.petebrown.net/book/tasting-notes-the-art-of-science-of-pairing-beer-with-music/ It’s possible to disagree with someone politically and still have a civil, enriching conversation https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/smarter-living/learn-to-argue-productively.html This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

    31 min
See All (415)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Ivan Wise
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    415
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2017
  • Show Website
    Better Known

You Might Also Like