Better Known

Pete Brown

14 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pete Brown discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Pete Brown (https://petebrown.net/) is a British author, journalist, broadcast...

Sandy Pentland

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sandy Pentland discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alex Pentland is a Stanford HAI Fellow and MIT Toshiba Professor. Named on...

Jaime Davila

30 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jaime Davila discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jaime Dávila earned an engineering degree in the United States. Choosing a ...

400th episode

23 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate the 400th episode of Better Known, previous guest Richard Elwes discusses with Ivan Wise six aspects of the Better Known podcast which Iv...

Christopher Hill

16 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Hill discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Christopher Hill was working in finance in London when, in 2002, he took...

Eleanor Doughty

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eleanor Doughty discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Eleanor Doughty began her career in journalism at the Daily Telegraph, be...

Sasha Butler

02 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sasha Butler discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sasha Butler is a Birmingham based writer. Her first novel, The Marriage Con...

Doug Lemov

26 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Doug Lemov discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Doug Lemov is a former teacher and school principal whose books describe the t...

Sudhir Hazareesingh

19 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sudhir Hazareesingh discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Professor Sudhir Hazareesingh was born in Mauritius. He is a Fellow o...

Ana Schnabl

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ana Schnabl discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Ana Schnabl is a Slovenian writer and editor. She writes for several Slovenia...

Adam Lind

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Lind discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Through living on a narrowboat on the British waterways, Adam Lind has unexpect...

Andrew Turvil

28 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Food critic Andrew Turvil discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Described by The Independent as one of the UK’s ‘arbiters o...

Andy Reid speaks negatively about six films

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Andy Reid discusses with Ivan six films chosen by previous guests which he thinks should not, after all, be better known. With apologies to Daria Lave...

Matt Greene

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Greene discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Matt Greene is an author, teacher, former screenwriter, and stay-at-home dad....

Danny Scott

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Danny Scott discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Danny Scott grew up in an East Midlands mining village, serving his apprentic...

Alan Green

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Green grew up on the north coast of Cornwall and now lives in south London. As an environmental science graduate, he remains passionate about pro...

Laurence Bergreen

24 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurence Bergreen discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Laurence Bergreen is an award-winning biographer, historian, and chroni...

Sam Sedgman

17 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Sedgman discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sam Sedgman is a bestselling children's author, confirmed nerd and enthusiast...

Jordan Prosser

10 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jordan Prosser discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jordan Prosser is a writer, filmmaker and performer from Victoria, Austra...

Michel-Yves Bolloré

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michel-Yves Bolloré discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Michel-Yves Bolloré is an engineer and entrepreneur whose career sp...

Simon Hall

03 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Hall discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Simon Hall studied history at Sheffield and Cambridge, and held a Fox Internat...

Kasim Ali

27 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kasim Ali discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Kasim Ali was born and raised in Alum Rock, Birmingham, where he spent the firs...

Sally Smith

20 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sally Smith discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sally Smith spent all her working life as a barrister and later KC in the Inn...

Hal LaCroix

13 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hal LaCroix discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Hal LaCroix lives outside Boston with his wife, Elahna. He has worked as a jo...

Peter Lamont

06 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Lamont discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Peter Lamont is Professor of History and Theory of Psychology at the Univer...

Sarah Stein Lubrano

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Stein Lubrano discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Sarah Stein Lubrano holds a PhD from the University of Oxford and ...

Sarah Dunant

22 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Dunant discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sarah Dunant studied history at Newnham College, Cambridge from where she we...

AE Gauntlett

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

AE Gauntlett discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. AE Gauntlett completed an MA in English Literature at King’s College Londo...

Simon Tolkien

25 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Tolkien discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Simon Tolkien is the grandson of JRR Tolkien and a director of the Tolkien ...

Daria Lavelle

18 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Daria Lavelle discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Daria Lavelle was born in Kyiv, immigrated to the US with her family as a c...

Michelle Young

11 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michelle Young discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Michelle Young, a journalist and professor of architecture at Columbia Un...

Roisin Lanigan

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Róisín Lanigan discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Róisín Lanigan is an editor and writer based in London and Belfast. He...

Laura Spinney

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laura Spinney discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Laura Spinney is a writer and science journalist. Her writing on science ha...

Sara Leila Sherman and Mort Sherman

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sara Leila Sherman and Mort Sherman discuss six things which should be better known. Sara Leila Sherman is a distinguished classical musician and educ...

Jo Harkin

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jo Harkin discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jo Harkin studied literature at university. She daydreamed her way through vari...

Madeleine Gray

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Madeleine Gray discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Madeleine Gray is a writer and critic from Sydney. She was a 2021 Finalist...

Alex Conner

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Conner discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alex Conner is an ADHD coach and brain scientist who combines his personal ex...

Rebecca Lemov

23 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Lemov discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Rebecca Lemov is a historian of science at Harvard University and has been ...

Kate Kemp

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Kemp discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Kate Kemp is an Australian writer living in the UK. She trained as an occupatio...

Shari Dunn

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Shari Dunn discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Shari Dunn is a polymath, an accomplished journalist, and a former attorney, n...

Imran Mahmood

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Imran Mahmood discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Imran Mahmood is a criminal defence barrister with over thirty years’ exp...

Dani Heywood-Lonsdale

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dani Heywood-Lonsdale discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dani Heywood-Lonsdale is a writer with family roots in Hawaii and t...

Kathleen deLaski

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kathleen deLaski discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Kathleen deLaski is an education and workforce designer, as well as a fu...

Retrospective part two

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ivan selects five conversations from previous Better Known episodes, including discussions with Henry Hemming, Brooke Allen, Mark William Jones, AJ Ja...

Jeff Sebo

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jeff Sebo discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jeff Sebo is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Affiliated Professor...

Diana McCaulay

26 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Diana McCaulay discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Diana McCaulay is a Jamaican environmental activist and the award-winning ...

Better Known: a retrospective

19 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For this week’s episode, enjoy some of the highlights of Better Known over the years, featuring excerpts from Ivan’s interviews with Jonathan Saye...

Adam Howorth

12 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Howorth discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Adam Howorth was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire and grew up in rural Northam...

Nilanjana Dasgupta

05 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nilanjana Dasgupta discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Nilanjana Dasgupta is provost professor of psychology and inaugural di...

James Marriott

15 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

James Marriott discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. James Marriott is a columnist at The Times, writing about society, culture...

Keetie Roelen

08 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 longs...

Matt Kohut

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Kohut discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Matthew Kohut is the author of Speaking Out: The New Rules of Business Leaders...

Adam Higginbotham

24 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Higginbotham discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Adam Higginbotham is the author of Midnight in Chernobyl, winner of the...

Al Murray

17 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

To mark the 350th episode, comedian Al Murray discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Al Murray's alter ego, The Pub Landlord, is...

Jon Moynihan

10 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jon Moynihan discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Jon Moynihan is a businessman and venture capitalist who started his career ...

Delayed Gratification

03 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Delayed Gratification co-founders Rob Orchard and Marcus Webb discuss with Ivan six things which should be better known. Rob Orchard and Marcus Webb a...

Andrew Hindmoor

27 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Hindmoor discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Andrew Hindmoor grew up in Sheffield, left, went to Australia, and boomer...

Josie Lloyd

20 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Josie Lloyd discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Josie Lloyd, also writing as Joanna Rees, is the Sunday Times No.1 bestsellin...

Alice Hunt

13 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Alice Hunt discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alice Hunt is Professor of Early Modern Literature and History at th...

Nabeel Qureshi

06 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nabeel Qureshi discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Nabeel S. Qureshi is an entrepreneur and researcher specializing in artifi...

Edward Carey

29 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Edward Carey discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Edward Carey is a writer and illustrator who was born in North Walsham, Norf...

Steve Prest

22 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Prest discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Steve Prest was a Weapon Engineer Officer who joined the Royal Navy after rea...

Stop the war

15 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ivan Wise discusses four anti-war plays which should be better known. Post Mortem by Noel Coward http://www.ww1plays.com/2015/07/noel-cowards-seriou...

Marieke Bigg

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. Writin...

Kathy Willis

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kathy Willis discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Katherine Willis CBE is Professor of Biodiversity in the department of Biolo...

Bruce Omar Yates

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

Pedro Domingos

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pedro Domingos discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Pedro Domingos is a renowned AI researcher, tech industry insider, and Pro...

Harriet Constable

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Harriet Constable is a journalist and filmmaker based in London. Her journalism and documentary work has featured in outlets including the BBC, Econom...

C. Michelle Lindley

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

C. Michelle Lindley discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. C. Michelle Lindley’s writing has been featured in The Georgia Revi...

Richard Davenport-Hines

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Davenport-Hines discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Richard Davenport-Hines is a British historian and literary biogr...

Susanna Rustin

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

AJ Jacobs

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 das...

Katherine Bucknell

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Katherine Bucknell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Katherine Bucknell edited all four volumes of Christopher Isherwood's ...

Tom Newton Dunn

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Newton Dunn is a presenter, political commentator and writer. He first made his name as an award-winning defence correspondent covering the Iraq a...

Alex Edmans

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Jonn Elledge

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. H...

Henry Oliver

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Henry Oliver discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Henry Oliver is a writer, speaker, and brand consultant. He writes regularly...

Jamaica Kincaid

02 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Caroline Eden returns

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Fina...

Caroline Crampton

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Hi...

Kathryn Hughes

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kathryn Hughes discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Kathryn Hughes is the critically acclaimed author of The Victorian Governe...

Elaine Lin Hering

05 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Manag...

Andrew Finkel

28 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Andrew Finkel discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Andrew Finkel has spent years reporting for media organisations ...

Bill Weir

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 20...

Chioma Okereke

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. ...

Ash Bhardwaj

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ash Bhardwaj discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Ash Bhardwaj is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and keynote speaker...

Anthony Daniels

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Daniels discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Anthony Daniels was born in London in 1949. He retired from medical pract...

Leah Redmond Chang

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Leah Redmond Chang discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Leah Redmond Chang is a former Associate Professor of French...

Alice Loxton

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Charlie Russell

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Charlie Russell discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Charlie Russell she/her. Creative Associate and co-founder at Mischief. T...

Sunny Singh

03 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sunny Singh discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Sunny Singh is a writer, novelist, public intellectual, and a champion for de...

Alexandra Tolstoy

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Alexandra Tolstoy discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Alexandra Tolstoy is an Anglo-Russian mother, adventurer, author and TV...

Julius Taranto

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

Faye Begeti

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Faye Begeti discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Faye Begeti is a practising neurology doctor and neuroscientist at Oxford ...

Kelly Link

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 f...

Alice Kinsella

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Robert McCrum

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Robert McCrum discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Robert McCrum is a writer and editor whose most recent book, Shakespearean ...

Less well known

14 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 no...

Matthew Rice

07 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Richard Mills

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Mills discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Dr Richard Mills is Associate Professor in English Literature and Popular C...