Podcasts about bodleian

In this solo episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas delivers his definitive guide to Oxford — his favorite city in England outside of London and the subject of his guidebook 101 Oxford Travel Tips and Tricks. From the bleary-eyed chaos of his first visit in 2012 with an angry 16-month-old and the Mini Cooper factory ring road at midnight, to two stays as a student on the Oxford Experience program, Jonathan brings nearly 15 years of personal history with the city to bear on a comprehensive, enthusiastic, and practically useful travel guide. The episode covers how to get there, how long to stay, the Oxford Experience immersive student program, the colleges you must see, the Bodleian Library's remarkable layers, the essential museums, the unrivaled bookstore scene led by Blackwell's and its famous five-mile Norrington Room, Oxford's extraordinary literary connections from Lewis Carroll to Tolkien to Philip Pullman, the day trips that demand your time — including Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds — and the practical tips that will make your visit infinitely more enjoyable. Links 101 Oxford Travel Tips and Tricks by Jonathan Thomas — [Anglotopia Store link] Oxford Experience at Christchurch English-Speaking Union Oxford Course Bodleian Library Tours — bodleian.ox.ac.uk Blackwell's Bookshop Oxford — blackwells.co.uk Oxford University Press Bookshop Scriptum, Turl Street Ashmolean Museum — ashmolean.org Pitt Rivers Museum — prm.ox.ac.uk Blenheim Palace — blenheimpalace.com Rousham House & Garden — rousham.org Didcot Railway Centre — didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk Oxford Walking Tours Morse Walking Tour Oxford The Randolph Hotel (now Graduate Oxford) Friends of Anglotopia ⠀ Takeaways Oxford is Jonathan's favourite city in England outside London — and most Americans either skip it or see it in a rushed half-day bus tour that barely scratches the surface. Two days minimum is the right call; three is better. Oxford is just 60 miles and 40-45 minutes by direct train from London Paddington, making it one of the easiest day trips or overnights in Britain — and you can also get there direct by bus from Heathrow without going into London at all. The Oxford Experience — a residential immersive programme at Christchurch offering one-week courses for adults in July and August — is Jonathan's single highest recommendation for anyone who wants to truly inhabit the city. Courses cost £1,500–£2,000 all-in and include room, board, lectures, and excursions; book in November when the schedule is released as popular courses fill within hours. The Bodleian Library is not one library but several — the Divinity School, Duke Humphrey's Library, the Radcliffe Camera, and the Weston Library — and the best way to see them properly is to book a guided tour well in advance, as they sell out. Blackwell's bookshop on Broad Street is arguably the greatest bookshop in the world — the underground Norrington Room alone has five miles of shelving beneath Trinity College — and Jonathan has never left without spending several hundred pounds. Staff will package books in brown paper and ship them back to the US at reasonable rates. Oxford's literary connections are extraordinary: Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland at Christchurch (Alice was the Dean's daughter); Tolkien and C.S. Lewis met with the Inklings at the Eagle and Child every Tuesday through the 1930s and 40s; Philip Pullman set His Dark Materials here; Oscar Wilde studied at Magdalen; and Inspector Morse has made every corner of the city feel like a crime scene. The Eagle and Child — the Inklings' famous pub on St. Giles' Street — has been closed since COVID and is currently being refurbished by new owners. It must reopen as a pub by heritage law, and is expected to reopen either in 2026 or 2027; keep an eye on the show notes link for updates. If you're in Oxford for even one day, you must go to Blenheim Palace — just eight miles away by bus, the only non-royal non-episcopal palace in England, birthplace of Winston Churchill, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and arguably the greatest country house in Britain. A bus from Oxford drops you at the gates. Jonathan's top Oxford hack: stay for at least one night. By 4-5pm the tour buses are gone, Oxford becomes a completely different city, and the cultural life — theatre, bookshop talks, music — begins. Arrive early to beat crowds at the sights, then save the evenings for culture and quieter exploration. Avoid mid-April to mid-June (exam season, colleges restrict access), avoid July if you run hot (medieval stone buildings have no air conditioning and bake in the heat), and buy a fan the moment you arrive if visiting in summer. September and October are ideal months to visit. ⠀ Soundbites "Most of my early memories of Oxford were driving the ring road at midnight with a toddler who would not go to sleep and who would only stop crying if he was in the car. We drove round and around, seeing nothing other than the Mini Cooper plant every time we went past." — Jonathan on his first trip to Oxford in 2012. "Oxford has this warmth to it — that yellow beige Cotswold stone, weathered and warm. And there's this scholarly, bookish vibe from the place that you don't really get anywhere else. It's not just a campus. Oxford University is the town of Oxford." — Jonathan on why Oxford grabs you. "I was immediately spellbound. I loved it immediately. And that's the thing about Oxford — it grabs you once you visit, and you're walking around this beautiful architecture surrounded by deep, deep history. They don't even know exactly how old the university is. It's over 800 years old. When Oxford was founded, the Aztec Empire hadn't even reached its peak." — Jonathan on falling in love with Oxford in 2016. "There were riots. There was full scale urban warfare in Oxford in 1355 — the St. Scholastica's Day riot. 63 scholars and 30 townspeople were killed. As a result, the town was forced to pay annual reparations to the university in a formal ceremony that continued into the Victorian era." — Jonathan on Oxford's violent town vs. gown history. "You basically get to live as an Oxford student for a week. Morning is lectures, afternoon is tours and excursions, evening is formal dinner in the Great Hall. And one night you're invited to high table — suit and tie, port, mingling with the professors. It's a very quintessentially British experience." — Jonathan on the Oxford Experience programme. "I've never gotten out of the Norrington Room without spending several hundred pounds. Let me just say that. Five miles of shelving underground beneath Trinity College. So many books." — Jonathan on Blackwell's legendary underground bookshop. "The Pitt Rivers Museum is like the Victorian cabinet of curiosities. Dimly lit, quiet — maybe people don't even know it's there. Polynesian canoes, samurai outfits, weapons, armour. A strange and wonderful melange of human culture from all over the world." — Jonathan on one of Oxford's most atmospheric museums. "If you're in Oxford and you don't go to Blenheim Palace, you've wasted a trip to Oxford. It's the only non-royal, non-episcopal palace in England. I would argue it's probably the greatest house in Britain. And a bus from Oxford drops you right at the gates." — Jonathan on Blenheim Palace. "By four or five o'clock in the afternoon, the tour buses are gone. And it's just you and the people who live and work and study in Oxford. Oxford becomes a completely different place. That's when the cultural life wakes up." — Jonathan's key Oxford overnight hack. "Scriptum on Turl Street — if you're a bookish type, you will love this place. Beautiful blank books, journals, diaries, fancy pens. I have a beautiful leather book from there with gorgeous cream pages that I cherish so much I haven't written anything in it. I'm afraid to ruin it." — Jonathan on his favourite hidden gem shop in Oxford. ⠀ Chapters 00:00 Introduction — Jonathan sets up the Oxford guide episode and plugs his Oxford guidebook 01:48 Jonathan's Relationship with Oxford — Brideshead Revisited, American universities, and the Oxford DNA in US campus culture 03:30 First Visit: Oxford 2012 — Diamond Jubilee trip, an angry toddler, and the ring road at midnight 06:20 Second Visit: Oxford 2016 — The train from Paddington, the proper day, and falling in love properly 08:42 A Brief History of Oxford — Ford of the Oxen, Alfred the Great, Henry II, 800 years, and the St. Scholastica's Day riot 13:30 The University Explained — 44 colleges, town vs. gown, the founding of Cambridge by Oxford exiles, and Oxford today 16:10 How to Get There — Train from Paddington, Oxford Tube bus, direct from Heathrow, and why not to drive 19:30 Getting Around Oxford — Walking, taxis, park-and-ride pitfalls, and Tolkien's grave 21:10 Day Trip vs. Overnight — Why staying beats leaving, and how Oxford transforms after 4pm 23:40 The Oxford Experience Programme — Christchurch, Worcester College, the Nelson course, high table, and the Enigma course Jonathan wants to do next 33:15 Accommodation Options — Hotels, staying in colleges out of term time, and the Randolph (Inspector Morse's pub) 35:20 The College System Explained — 44 semi-independent colleges, how to apply, porters, scouts, and visiting hours 38:00 Must-See Colleges — Christchurch, Magdalen, Worcester, Merton, Wadham (Brideshead), and the peculiar All Souls 43:00 The Bodleian Library — Five buildings, Duke Humphrey's Library, the Radcliffe Camera, the Divinity School, and why you must book a tour 47:00 Radcliffe Square & St. Mary's Church Tower — The most beautiful urban space in Britain and the best views in Oxford 48:40 The Ashmolean Museum — Britain's first public museum, the Alfred Jewel, Guy Fawkes's lantern, Turner paintings, and it's free 51:00 The Pitt Rivers Museum — Through the Natural History Museum, the shrunken heads, Polynesian canoes, and the Victorian cabinet of curiosities 53:00 Carfax Tower, Oxford Castle & Prison, and the Covered Market — Views, ruins, Brown's Café, and Ben's Cookies 55:30 The Botanic Garden & Broad Street — Riverside walks, the Martyrs' Cross, and the Reformation in Oxford 56:30 Shopping in Oxford — The High Street, Blackwell's, the Norrington Room, OUP Bookshop, Scriptum, The Last Bookshop, and why to skip the Harry Potter tat 01:03:00 Literary Oxford — Lewis Carroll, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Oscar Wilde, Philip Pullman, Inspector Morse, and the Eagle and Child update 01:09:00 Harry Potter Oxford — Divinity School, Duke Humphrey's Library, Bodleian courtyard, Christchurch Great Hall, and the new TV series 01:12:00 Day Trips from Oxford — Blenheim Palace, the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Rousham House, Didcot Railway Centre, and Bicester Village 01:18:00 Practical Tips — Book ahead, avoid exam season, avoid July heat, arrive early, save museums for the afternoon, walk everywhere, punt the river, visit Scriptum 01:24:00 Wrap-Up — Oxford rewards time and attention; two days minimum, the Oxford Experience if you can, and a call for listeners to share what they love about Oxford Video Version

Peter Pavel Vergerij sr. je bil pionir evropske pedagoške misli, ki je z razpravo O plemenitih navadah in izobrazbi mladih svobodnega rodu dolgoročno oblikoval naše predstave o tem, kaj se pravi biti resnično omikanZdi se, da v sodobnem svetu čislamo predvsem znanje, ki je neposredno uporabno, ki pride prav, kot se reče, v resničnem življenju. A ni še tako dolgo, kar je veljalo, da človek kratko malo ne more veljati za resnično izobraženega, resnično omikanega, če ni na široko razgledan po filozofiji in zgodovini, če ni vešč klasičnih jezikov, če ne zna na izust latinskih pregovorov ali vsaj kopice Prešernovih verzov. Pridobivanju tovrstne, na videz nekoristne vednosti je bila slej ko prej namenjena gimnazija, kakršna se je na Slovenskem oblikovala v drugi polovici 19. stoletja, a tu je vendarle treba reči, da so se avstro-ogrski pedagogi, ko so oblikovali gimnazijski kurikulum, navezovali na precej starejše predstave o smotrih in metodah vzgoje oziroma izobraževanja. Opirali so se namreč na pedagoške ideje in poglede, ki so se oblikovali v zgodnjerenesančni Italiji druge polovice 14. in prve polovice 15. stoletja. V tem kontekstu pa je eno ključnih vlog odigral bleščeč intelektualec iz Kopra, pionir evropske pedagoške misli, Peter Pavel Vergerij starejši, ki je leta 1402 v latinščini napisal vplivno razpravo O plemenitih navadah in izobrazbi mladih svobodnega rodu, ki je v gibkem prevodu Anje Božič pred nedavnim izšla pod založniškim okriljem Celjske Mohorjeve družbe. In kako natanko si Vergerij zamišlja ta izobraževalni proces, v katerem se vihravi mladeniči preoblikujejo v krepostne, modre može? – Natanko to je vprašanje, ki nas je zaposlovalo v tokratnem Kulturnem fokusu, ko smo pred mikrofonom gostili Anjo Božič, sicer raziskovalko na Inštitutu za slovensko literaturo in literarne vede, ki je svoj prevod razprave O plemenitih navadah opremila z izvrstno spremno besedo, za dobro mero pa je slovenski izdaji dodala še nekaj Vergerijevih pisem ter njegovo komedijo Paulus, tako da se zdaj lahko naposled res temeljito seznanimo s tem evropsko pomembnim in odmevnim učenjakom z današnjega slovenskega ozemlja, ki pa je bil pri nas doslej skoraj docela neznan. Foto: Vergerijev portret znotraj iniciale, s katero se začenja njegova razprava O plemenitih navadah v rokopisu, ki ga hrani oxfordska knjižnica Bodleian (detajl z naslovnice slovenske izdaje Vergerija starejšega)

What a pleasure it was to talk to Ruth Scurr, author of John Aubrey: My Own Life, about the great man himself, who was born four hundred years ago this month. Aubrey is best know for his splendid Brief Lives but he preserved a huge amount of knowledge which historians still rely on. There are many things we only know because of Aubrey—things about people Hobbes and Hooke, Stonehenge, architectural history. We also talked about Janet Malcom, the genre of biography, and modern fiction.HENRY OLIVER: Today I'm talking to Ruth Scurr. Ruth is a fellow of Gonville and Caius College in the University of Cambridge, where she specializes in the history of political thought. But more importantly, she is the biographer of John Aubrey, one of my favorite writers, who is celebrating 400 years of his birth this year. Ruth, hello.RUTH SCURR: Hi, Henry.OLIVER: Can you begin by giving us a brief life of John Aubrey?SCURR: So born in 1626, 17th-century antiquarian, collector, early fellow at the Royal Society. Well connected to scientific and the literary circles of his day. Someone who sees himself more as a whetstone: a person who could help sharpen other people's ideas. As a recorder, someone who treasured the details, the minutiae of the lives he encountered, and pass those details on to posterity.He's nonjudgmental, witty, kind, inventive. Very, very sociable. Very good friend. But he's hopeless at self-advancement. Begins his life as a gentleman, but he inherits debts from his father and he can never really achieve financial stability.Never marries, ends up homeless and worried about being arrested for his debts. And he has to sell his precious collection of books periodically through his life to raise some much-needed cash, but he keeps his manuscripts safe. And he does this at the end of his life by putting them into the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, afterwards known as the Bodleian, and where they still are today.OLIVER: So how many manuscripts did he save for us?SCURR: Of his own manuscripts or other people's manuscripts?OLIVER: Other people's. Because he was collecting all sorts of precious things.SCURR: Oh, absolutely. He was the person who, when someone died, would go round if he could to their house and ask what was happening about the manuscripts. He's particularly concerned, obviously, with his friends. So he had a close relationship with Robert Hooke and he wanted to make sure that Hooke's many inventions and scientific contributions were recorded.And he has this wonderful line in the life of Hooke where he says, “It's so hard to get people to do right by themselves.” And in his childhood, he had seen the fallout from the dissolution of the monasteries. He'd become very troubled by the habit of using manuscript pages which had been displaced in the dissolution. He saw them being used in schools to cover textbooks. He saw them being used to—or he heard about them at least being used—to wrap up gloves or to create stoppers in bottles. And this really troubled him from, from a very early age.And I think he has another beautiful line where he says after the dissolution of the monasteries, whereas these manuscripts had been kept safe, they flew around like butterflies. And he wanted to catch them and preserve them and to stop people letting the papers and the precious manuscripts of their relatives do the same. So he was very instrumental in rescuing manuscripts, other people's manuscripts. And then fortunately with his own, he knew Ashmole and they had the shared astrology interest.Ashmole was a very different sort of person who basically said to Oxford, look, I'll give you my collections, but there has to be a museum for them. And luckily Aubrey was able to use that museum as a safe place for his own manuscripts.OLIVER: So we know things about Robert Hooke and Thomas Hobbes and all these other luminaries of the 17th century, thanks to Aubrey. What else do we know, thanks to him?SCURR: We know what Stonehenge looked like in his day because he was a very good draftsman. He drew pictures of Stonehenge. He'd grown up in Wiltshire, he'd known those stones from childhood. He understood that Avebury nearby was a comparable monument, and he took Charles II to see it, and persuaded the king to get the locals to stop breaking up the stones, to reuse the stones, which was the practice.He also made drawings of windows because he was possibly the first person as a historian of architecture to realize that you could date buildings by the style of their windows. So we have those drawings. He was also interested in the history of costume. He did a survey of Surrey, of Wiltshire.So these are all sort of focuses in his manuscripts and people who've used them come to really appreciate how pioneering Aubrey was. But of course he doesn't finish them. He doesn't publish those manuscripts. So it's very easy really to overlook the innovation and the contribution and the wonderful imagination that he had.OLIVER: You mean if he'd published a book, he would have a much bigger reputation?SCURR: Well, I think there's two things. Yes, but in a sense, you know, the Brief Lives have been published after his death in various forms. But I think one of the most engaging things about Aubrey is that he's a modest and self-effacing person. And I already mentioned the idea he had of himself as a whetstone to other people's talents.There aren't that many people—certainly not in my life, maybe there are in yours—but who would effortlessly describe themselves as a whetstone to other people's talents. Most people want to be at the center. They're happy to have clever and literary friends, but they want a place there at the table as well.And Aubrey really was very, very invested in helping other people to do right by themselves, as he said about Hooke. And he very movingly—this is one of the inspirations really for my book that I wrote about him—he spent all that time collating the information about other people's lives. And for his own life, he puts down a few lines, a couple of facts and everything.He says, well, this could be used as the binding of a book. You know, it's sort of waste paper really. So he doesn't write his own life. Other people's lives he's going to convey to posterity. He doesn't see his own life as really being at that level of needing the attention that he gave, for example, to Milton or to Harvey or Hobbes, as you mentioned.OLIVER: He's born the year after Charles I comes to the throne. So he obviously lives through a fairly terrible period of history and very tumultuous, changeable in lots of different ways. The new world, the new learning, new religion, new politics, everything is changing. And he's obsessed with the old ways. How did these historical events—is he reacting against his time? Is he just born in a lucky time in a way?SCURR: So he was a student in Oxford during the Civil War. And you are right. The upheaval is very disturbing for his generation. It means he gets called back from Oxford by his father because it's dangerous to be there. And he's really, really upset by that because, it's like us, when we were students or our students today. You finally get away from your family and there you are in this place with all these exciting peers and access to books that you've never had before or at least to that extent, libraries, et cetera.And suddenly there's a war on and you've got to go home. So there's that disturbance. Then there is the fact that actually he was close to Hobbes. Hobbes actually was a Malmesbury man, so Wiltshire, very near Aubrey. And had come back to visit the school where Hobbes had been, which was where Aubrey was at school. And so they had met in Aubrey's childhood, and then he would've been aware of Hobbes having to go into exile. And then Hobbes coming back, of course. And that's a very important time in his life.And it's not an accident that Hobbes asks Aubrey to write his life because Hobbes knows how careful Aubrey is. And he knows that Aubrey has information that he can convey in the life. So that is really the first life that he writes. And it's different from the others. There's a different sort of origin. And it's after he's done that, that he starts to think, well, actually, you know, I can think of at least 50, 55 other people's lives. And now I've got my hand in, I might start on those as well.So in that period of upheaval there are wonderful stories. Maybe we'll look at some of the Brief Lives, but there's this amazing story that he captures in the life of William Harvey, which is a description of Harvey having been at the battlefield in Edgehill and recording one of the people who had been fighting and wounded, surviving by having the good sense to pull a dead body on top of himself, to keep himself warm on the battlefield. Things like that, which make the war very much alive. This is brutal, this civil war. It's a long time ago and we think we passed over it, but the really brutal reality of war is captured in the Brief Lives through the anecdotes and the stories of that generation that Aubrey preserves.OLIVER: How English is he?SCURR: Well, as opposed to what?OLIVER: Welsh.SCURR: Okay. Well he goes to Wales often and is very interested in Wales. I think he sees himself as English. I think he's very invested in English customs and stories and people. He's not nationalistic in any sense like that. What he's interested in is the inherited ways of living.And he's very interested in language and different dialects. That's one of the other things; he starts to collect different words. He was very aware of the Cornish dialect, for example. So I'd say it's a very decentered England that's rooted in customs, traditions, inherited stories.And there's a big place there for both the future and the past. Huge excitement about The Royal Society, English science, what can be achieved through the sharing of knowledge. But again, Aubrey's not an insular person in that respect. So, he wished he could go on the Grand Tour when he was a student. He would really have loved to have done that. It's one of the things that he actually talked to Harvey about, going and traveling as his contemporaries, for example, John Evelyn did.But Aubrey actually says—this is very typical of Aubrey—that his mother persuaded him out of it. His mother didn't want him going off on the Grand Tour. She was afraid for him. And he regretted it later in life. But it's so typical of Aubrey that he would pay attention to his mother and her anxieties.OLIVER: This interest in the present and the past—so he loves all the history, but he's in the Royal Society. One thing I like in your book is the way he talks about, oh, my grandfather still dresses in the old ways, like he's an Elizabethan, but at the same time he's doing a very sort of Baconian project. He's influenced by Bacon. Is Aubrey a sort of paradox? Does this make sense in a way?SCURR: Only in so far as lots of other people are as well. I was just looking at the Harvey life, and there's a story there about how when Harvey was a student he was meant to be setting sail with some friends. And he's stopped and told, “No, you can't get on this boat. You have to wait.” And he says, “Well, what have I done wrong? Why can't I get on this boat?” He said, “No, honestly, we need to have a word with you. You are not going on the boat.” And then the boat sinks, everyone dies. And this is apparently because the guy who stopped him had a dream that he needed to stop Harvey going. Harvey told Aubrey that story.Harvey also is—as Aubrey sort of slightly inaccurately puts it, is the inventor of the circulation of the blood. And you think, well, that's going a little bit far, perhaps not actually the inventor, but certainly the first person to discover, to understand about circulating blood.So there's another example of someone's life includes, I wouldn't be alive unless somebody had had this premonition and dream that I was about to die. Which is from a completely different world, from the rational, scientific understanding of the body or the other scientific advances that are going on at the time.OLIVER: And Aubrey's happy to just sort of coexist with both of those because of his interest in astrology?SCURR: And not just astrology. He's very interested in astrology and nativities, as he called it. In some of the Brief Lives, you see the sort of recording of the information that would be needed to cast an astrological shape for the life.But he is also interested in the fact that people believe in fairies and ghosts. He doesn't look down on those beliefs. Nor does he say that he necessarily believes in the presence of fairies or the interventions of the supernatural. But he's got a very open mind in relation to that. And certainly being simultaneously interested in early astronomy and astrology together is, to us, very striking. But then I think it was much more normal.OLIVER: Why do you think he resisted ordination?SCURR: Because he said the cassock stinks. He considered ordination several times because he knew it would be a living, it would be a way of being able to have some income, probably not very onerous duties. Some of his friends say to him, “Come on, Aubrey, it really won't be that much work. You'll just get a curate who'll do it all, and you'll get the living, and then you won't have to be worrying all the time about your paycheck. You haven't got a paycheck. It would be a living coming to you.”And on one occasion, one of the reasons he gives for not doing that is he thinks well, what if there's another religious upheaval and I have to change sides again? What if Roman Catholicism comes back and I ended up on the wrong side of it?And, again, would it really have been that difficult to go with the flow? But I think, in his own way, he had found his way of living, which was intensely sociable. And perhaps he didn't want that constraint of being a member of the clergy around him.OLIVER: Do you think he was a nonbeliever?SCURR: Well. I don't know the answer to that. I don't think so at all. I think he probably was a straightforward Christian believer. I think perhaps he'd seen enough of the religious conflicts and wars to be afraid of fanaticism on both sides. And that would fit certainly with his relationship with Hobbes.I don't have any reason to think he's an atheist. He's got a beautiful way of writing about death and there's this wonderful line he has when he says, “God bless you and me in our in and out world.” So the fact that we refer to his works as the Brief Lives because they're short, but everybody's life is brief.And even those who live, as he did, into his 70s, it feels brief. And there's these very moving descriptions of him at funerals. I was thinking about this the other day because he often records where someone's buried. And I recently wrote my first entry for the Dictionary of National Biography. I did the one for Hilary Mantel, which was a great honor and extremely interesting.And when I came back to the Brief Lives, I thought, gosh, I wish I'd put at the end of that DNB entry where she's actually buried, that would've made sense to do that. And I didn't do it because the DNB is quite formalized; they've got their formula and you need to stick to it.But maybe I'll add it in. Because it seems to me very moving to record where people are actually buried. That would fit I think with her religious sensibility, with a regard for the afterlife, and with the rites of passage at the end of life.OLIVER: What is it that makes Aubrey such a good biographer?SCURR: So I think the modesty that is in his spirit, the noticing, the minutiae that he both notices and values and his wit. He has a sensitivity to these funny and revealing quirky stories about the people that he knows. Or he finds them in the stories he's told by people who did know them.There's an eyewitness account aspect to it as well. Or at least it's an oral history. “I was told this by . . .” He's extremely precise. He'll try to assemble the facts so far as he can, and then he'll tell you what people's close friends said about them, and he will do so very, very carefully so that you know this is a story that he's been told that he's passing on.And then he doesn't pass moral judgment. He doesn't adjudicate. And finally, he thinks of himself as doing all of this for posterity and that posterity, i.e. us or the people who come after us, will find things there and he's not going to tell them what to find. He's not going to shape the life and say, this is what you should think about it.He will give you the raw materials, he'll give you the stories, he'll give you a flavor of the details of the life, and then posterity can look there and can see, for example, the disagreements between Hobbes and Isaac Newton. There are people who've written lives of Hooke and Newton. And there are people who've written lives and you can be team Newton or team Hooke. Interestingly, Aubrey is team Hooke. He doesn't write a life of Newton. And he wants, as I said, to do well by Hooke. But his way of doing that isn't to say Mr.Hooke was fantastic and Newton robbed him of lots of his ideas. He says, let me show you, let me assemble and make a catalog, if I can, of all these hundreds of contributions that Hooke made.OLIVER: When did you discover Aubrey?SCURR: So I discovered Aubrey because I was reviewing for the LRB, The Biographer's Tale, and I had come across a really interesting—and it's still in the introduction to my book—a really interesting reflection on the difference between Aubrey and Lytton Strachey, a reflection made by Anthony Powell, and I had quoted it or alluded to it in my review. And I had gone and started to read Aubrey as a result of that. So I was led to it through reviewing, via Anthony Powell, and then into the Brief Lives.But then another very strange thing happened, which is I met for the very first time, Janet Malcolm, who is someone who became very important in my life. And because she knew or had been told that I'd written this review, she read the review before we met. And she said to me, she said, “Ruth, I read your review”—and I doubt Janet Malcolm was a massive fan of A.S. Byatt, to be absolutely honest. We never really discussed that further, but she said, “I read your review and I was really interested in this Aubrey. I was so interested in what you quoted about Aubrey and the difference between his biographical approach and Lytton Strachey.”And then it sort of stuck in my mind and suddenly as I was coming toward the end of my first book, which was a totally different book on Robespierre and the French Revolution, I just knew I wanted to write about Aubrey. And I think at the time my then-husband really thought I'd gone mad actually, because you're not supposed to do that, are you?I mean, you're supposed to stick in your period and certainly build on it. So, you know, a book on Marra or even Napoleon would've been okay, that would've made sense. But to circle back to the 17th century and write about Aubrey seemed extremely eccentric.OLIVER: Well, what was Janet Malcolm like?SCURR: Oh, Janet was absolutely wonderful. She has this reputation of being sort of terrifying. And, of course, I was extremely interested in her forensic examination of biography which we had very interesting conversations about. She was a deeply kind person, extremely nurturing of younger writers, and extremely funny as well.That's the other thing that you don't associate with her sometimes from this sort of public image of a very austere interviewer, The Journalist and the Murderer, In the Freud Archives, et cetera. Actually, she was a really warm and extremely witty person.OLIVER: A lot of historians don't think biography is real history. Why do you take biography seriously?SCURR: Well, Michael Holroyd writes Works on Paper—and I love Michael Holroyd so much. And he has this wonderful line—I won't remember it exactly—but it's about biography being the b*****d offspring of history and the novel, and both are ashamed of it.And I think some of those distinctions actually have broken down. I know lots of historians who are very interested in biographical writing. I think it depends. There are certain historical schools that maybe are not so interested in lives.And to be fair, the history of ideas is—which I belong to, and in a sense I'm a rebel from—is one of those. I remember there coming a point where I had spent so much time thinking about the constitutional ideas for the representative republic in the middle of the French Revolution, that actually the French Revolution could have been happening on Mars for all it mattered about the actual sequence of events. What mattered was the structure of the ideas.And it's difficult because the school I belong to in Cambridge wants to put the ideas into context all the time. But again, by context you don't really mean people's lives; more the discourses and the conversations and the ideas of the time that are the landscape, the intellectual landscape, if you like.So I rebelled at a certain point and I was like, well, you know, I'm actually going to go through the revolution day by day because that period is short. And I think it really matters, the lived experience there. I think many, many history books quote Aubrey with enormous respect and say, “as Aubrey says,” or, “according to Aubrey,” and pull those details forwards.I suppose some history is quite instrumental in its use of biography, so it wants to draw the reader in with a few anecdotes and a little bit of what does somebody wear on their head? And who was their first love, that kind of thing. But it's perhaps not very engaged with the real work of trying to capture the shape or the feel of a life.OLIVER: And of a temperament, right? I think one thing biography gives us is that sense that a lot of these big decisions or events in history are quite temperamental. As well as being based in ideas and events.SCURR: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.OLIVER: Your life of Aubrey, at one point you tried to write as a novel.SCURR: Yeah. I had to stop that quite fast.OLIVER: Why?SCURR: Because Aubrey is too important. I didn't want to make up things for him. As someone who's come right up to that line of the history and the novel, I do think it's very clear to be on one side or the other. And again, going back to Hilary Mantel, she wrote those wonderful Reith Lectures on historical fiction.And, like her, I think that it's not about ignoring the facts or embellishing the facts. It is about the gaps. It's about imagining what isn't in the record and should have been, and trying to reconstruct that inside the novel. But at the time, I felt that the gaps with Aubrey didn't actually matter that much.There was so much there that I could pull together to give a sense of him and his sensibility. Now actually, scholars in this field will all be very, very keen to advance our knowledge of those gaps. And that's wonderful. You know, what exactly was Aubrey doing when he visited France? You know, at the time I wrote my book that seemed very unclear.I think my colleague in Oxford, Kate Bennett, knows that now and will write her own biography. And she will fill in many of these gaps that I sort of happily included in the form that I'd found for his life because giving him that first person voice, I was able to focus on the evidence that I thought had been very underused at that point.OLIVER: Now Kate Bennett did a wonderful edition of the Brief Lives with lots of excellent footnotes and investigations. And you wrote that it gave us a new understanding of Aubrey.SCURR: Absolutely. And of the lives themselves. And Kate and I got to know each other and became friends while we were both writing our books. And people we knew before we met were very keen to sort of set us against each other. So they would wind us up. I would meet someone and they'd say, “Ruth, there you are. You've written a book about the French Revolution and now you are going to write a book about Aubrey. But don't you know there is a scholar in Oxford who spent her entire academic life working on Aubrey?” And it built up a picture of fear that you shouldn't trespass on somebody else's ground.And then people would do a sort of reverse thing to her that they would say, “Oh, Kate, gosh, you've been working a long time on Aubrey and where is your Clarendon edition after all? And did you know there's somebody in Cambridge who's going to write this popular book about Aubrey?”Anyway, finally we met at a conference and we really actually just liked each other and we decided it's fine. I was doing my thing. She's doing something very different. And we became friends, and I see that as a triumph over a sort of more traditional, maybe even dare I say, male and territorial approach to academic life and to knowledge in general actually.OLIVER: Yeah. Because the two books are great complements to each other. They're not rivalrous in that sense.SCURR: Absolutely not. Kate's book, it's not just an addition. It's as much as you can ever do. It's a reconstruction of the manuscript as Aubrey left it and intended it with all the gaps and the notes to himself to fill this in. And his changes of mind and his deletions and all of that. And so it's an astonishing thing. Because it's not just a copy of it. It takes you in, it helps you understand what he was intending with those collections, as you called them, my pretty collections.And so that edition that she had been working on for a very long time came out in 2015, the same year as my book came out. And it felt like an amazing year for Aubrey. And now, we'll be celebrating the 400th anniversary of his birth. But that year, 2015, was a very special, obviously for us, but I think for Aubrey more broadly.OLIVER: How much of an influence has Aubrey had on English biography?SCURR: As we know, there's the huge influence in terms of “Aubrey says.” Open any book on the 17th century, and it will be “Aubrey says,” “according to Aubrey,” et cetera. So a huge influence in that respect. With regard to the actual form, I think it's very, very pervasive and important, and we have to look at it very carefully.I mentioned earlier the very important difference between what Aubrey does and what Lytton Strachey did. There are some similarities in so far as Strachey will go for the vivid detail. He give you these powerful anecdotes. But actually he spins them as well.And that's what Anthony Powell so brilliantly showed. And the example was of Francis Bacon, the life of Francis Bacon who Aubrey has a description of Bacon right at the end of his life, the circumstances leading up to Bacon's death where he is on Highgate Hill and he decides to conduct an experiment to see if snow will preserve a chicken or a hen as well as salt. So he is stuffing this carcass of the hen with snow. Catches a cold, ends up having to stay with a friend, sleeps in a bed that hasn't been aired for a long time, and dies. And that's the end of Lord Bacon.So Aubrey gives us all this, and then along comes Lytton Strachey. And he takes it, and he says an old man disgraced, shattered, alone on Highgate Hill, stuffing a dead foul with snow, which makes it sound like he's lost his mind at the end of his life. And then Anthony Powell examined that and he said, look, the story of stuffing the hen with snow is Aubrey's.Bacon was certainly an old man at the time of the incident. He was disgraced. He may have been shattered. No doubt at times he was alone. But Aubrey's story of stuffing the foul on Highgate Hill shows Bacon accompanied by the king's physician, conducting a serious experiment to test the preservative properties of snow and, on becoming indisposed, finding accommodation in the house of the Earl of Arundel.And so you take that same story and, as Anthony Powell says, you combine the story, the fragment preserved by Aubrey with some epithets, and you convey an oblique point. It's a biographical method for actually building up a picture of the person. And it really matters what you do with those fragments.So I think the fact that Aubrey is pretty pure about this, he gives you the fragments and another biographer might come along and think, okay, what's going on here with Venetia Stanley and dying in her bed after drinking Viper wine? Let's build up a story about that. And there was a rumor at the time that her husband had murdered her, et cetera. Aubrey doesn't comment. He just gives you the fragment. And I think afterwards, people have not only used the fragments in their own work, but they've also developed a technique of working up those fragments into whatever picture you decide as a biographer you are going to draw.OLIVER: Now as well as a historian, you are a literary critic. You review novels. You are a Hilary Mantel admirer. Who else among the modern fiction writers do you admire?SCURR: Amongst the modern fiction writers? I'm getting quite old, Henry. Lots of my people are dead now. Alice Monroe is someone I'm extremely interested in. Hilary Manel, obviously, Beryl Bainbridge, Penelope Fitzgerald. And I love the fact Penelope Fitzgerald was a biographer simultaneously with becoming a novelist.And I was thinking back to this actually, that Charlotte Mew and Her Friends—that's the title. And then the Anthony Powell is John Aubrey and His Friends. And I was thinking, is there something about these people who have a lot of friends and the biographical genre? It's interesting.In terms of younger people writing, I just read a wonderful short story by Gwendoline Riley in the latest Paris Review. “A–Z” it's called—very disturbing. Very, very good story. And Gwendoline has a novel coming out later this year, which I shall read with enormous interest. It's going to be called Palm House. I absolutely revered George Saunders, although I haven't yet read Vigil. I'm only on Substack for George Saunders and you Henry. That's it, basically.OLIVER: That shows very good taste.SCURR: Very good taste. Yeah. And a couple of others. My friend Danielle Allen's The Renovator, I also subscribe to, but very few. But George Saunders wrote a wonderful post on his Substack about maybe a year and a half, maybe more even ago, about how he found the solution to the beginning of Lincoln in the Bardo. And he wanted to find a way to tell the story of the death of Lincoln's son. It's so typical of him—and I love this—he said he didn't want the ghosts. He knew it was going to be narrated by the ghosts in the morgue. And he couldn't have them coming home one evening saying, “Oh, you know, I just popped over the wall and had a look in through the White House window. And guess what I saw?” So how was he going to get the voices in?And then he said he'd got these extracts from the letters and from the literature that he needed. And he ended up putting them all on the floor and thinking, what order shall I put them in? And that reminded me of when I was struggling to find a way to write about Aubrey. I suddenly had the idea that I could just put them as diary entries without comment.I would sort of curate these entries and things like that. So, that was a very interesting moment for me about sort of the construction and the choices that go in both to writing a novel and to writing, in my case, a sort of experimental biography.OLIVER: So Hilary Mantel, Lincoln in the Bardo, Penelope Fitzgerald, Beryl Bainbridge—there's a lot of historical fiction here. This is the genre you most enjoy. It's been a sort of golden age for historical fiction.SCURR: But those people aren't just historical fiction writers. It's very important. They have all written historical fiction, but actually they write other novels as well. It doesn't matter the order in their careers, they go in and out of it. So I would say that actually it's those people as writers and sensibilities that attract me.Anita Brookner is another example. I love Anita Brookner's novels. I also love her book on David, the revolutionary painter, that she wrote—Jacques-Louis David—that's a fantastic book. So there's a sense in which I see them as writers and the genre of historical fiction, you are right, it does cut across, but I don't think that's what I'm following. I think I'm following what I find on the page from a particular sensibility and of course a command of language, which is in all of those cases, absolutely extraordinary.OLIVER: Because they're all quite innovative as historical novelists as well. And it's not the main part of what is recognized as their achievement in a way.SCURR: No, no.OLIVER: It's been quietly a second great period of the historical novel. It seems crazy to say Hilary Mantel is our Walter Scott, but that is quite high praise.SCURR: So I think you deal much more definitely than I do with these sort of epoch-defining ideas. I think I'm just more intermittently focused on particular things that I like. I used to do an enormous amount of reviewing. I've had to stop it because—talk about being the whetstone.I was constantly reviewing when I was in my 30s and much of my 40s actually. And I don't regret it in the least. And one of the reasons I don't regret it, especially with novels, was because I would never have read all those novels if I hadn't been reviewing them.And even some of the nonfiction, I wouldn't. But here's an example: Because I'd been reviewing so much, I ended up quite early 2007, becoming a Booker judge. And part of that process is that anyone who's been on the list before they automatically get entered by the publisher—McEwen and Barnes, et cetera. Fine.And then the publisher can put forward two books they choose and they can be anything. And then they assemble a list of so-called call-ins. And those are the books where the publisher says, “Oh, please, please call this in. I mean, we didn't make it one of our two, but we think it's absolutely amazing and you must read it.” And you think, well, if it's so amazing, what were you doing not making it one of your two. But anyway, whatever, we call it in. And on that call-in list there was actually, Anne Enright's novel, The Gathering, and that ended up winning the year I was a judge.And I knew Anne Enright's writing because I had reviewed several of her earlier books, especially one called What Are You Like?, which is quite obscure. It's not the book people think of when they think about Anne Enright. But I knew because I'd done all that time in the reviewing trenches, as it were, how extraordinary Anne Enright is as a writer. And we were able to say, well, absolutely go ahead and call this in. And then sure enough it won.OLIVER: What about biography? Modern biography? You like Michael Holroyd?SCURR: Well, we've already talked about Janet Malcolm. She's a sort of anti-biographer in some respect, sort of subversive of the entire genre. I very much like and respect Antonia Fraser's historical biographies and especially her one of Marie Antoinette which, again, came out very close to when my Robespierre book came out. And it's like seeing the other side of the story and that was absolutely extraordinary.And one of the biographies I go back to over and over again I'm extremely interested in Virginia Woolf. You are obviously a fan with The Common Reader. I was looking at it, preparing for this, that she's got this absolutely hilarious short biography of John Evelyn, and it is called Rambling Round Evelyn. Do you know it?OLIVER: Yes.SCURR: It's so beautifully constructed. It's got the butterflies landing on the dahlias pretty much throughout the actual text of the short biography. But then it's got this brilliant bit where she sort of makes fun of John Evelyn. And she says, the difference between then and now is, if we saw a red admiral, we would admire it, but we wouldn't—and this is very mean of her—we wouldn't rush into the kitchen and get a kitchen knife in order to dissect the red admiral's head. Right? It's so ridiculous and it so makes fun of Evelyn.I was listening to the podcast you made with Hermione Lee. And Hermione was saying that she thought what made Woolf such a good critic was that she was very empathetic. But I also think she's capable of that kind of sharp, wicked distance as well, where she goes, I see you, John Evelyn, you are so proud of your garden, and you're actually—looked at from my point of view—a bit of an idiot in some respects as well.OLIVER: I like her because she's so judgmental, which is not a very popular thing to say, but she is. She is really capable of saying that, you know, as long as prose will be read, Addison will be read. But on the other hand, he's boring and rambling and not very good in many ways. Absolutely cutting.SCURR: No, totally, totally. Yeah.OLIVER: What about some of the sort of big names: Richard Holmes, Claire Tomalin?SCURR: Yeah. Oh, Claire, absolutely. I mean, goodness, they've been such influences on me, both of them. Absolutely Richard and his Footsteps and then of course, and those other books, The Ratters of Lightning Ridge and then The Age of Wonder. That's so important, so wonderful.Claire, I revere, I loved and still recommend to my students her book on Mary Wollstonecraft. I also, by the way, love Virginia Woolf's essay on Mary Wollstonecraft. I think that's a different sort of thing where Woolf describes Mary Wollstonecraft pursuing her lover like a dolphin. She won't let him go. He thought he'd hooked a minnow. He wasn't expecting a dolphin to come after him. It was Mary Wollstonecraft. So, Claire Tomalin, her Peyps, Hardy, absolutely hugely important books and deeply, deeply humane actually.And that's the other thing, I think biography, by definition, you do get the sharpness of Woolf or Strachey, but I think to put someone else's life at the center of your book, that's a humane act. It's to say, no, I'm going to spend this number years of my life preserving and communicating this other person's life. And that's a very wonderful thing to do.OLIVER: What do you think of the sort of standard criticism of biography, that it's just not accurate enough? So, for example, Austen Scholars will point to various things in the Tomalin biography where she's deleted the facts or said things to make the narrative flow, but it's just not really accurate enough. The novelistic tendency overwhelms the historical one or whatever. You've obviously avoided that with various decisions you made in the Aubrey book, but as a genre.SCURR: I'd never say that. That would be a real hostage to fortune, wouldn't it?OLIVER: Well, you know what I mean?SCURR: And saying, look at, look at this—OLIVER: Page 28.SCURR: —at this piece of nonsense you introduced. Well, accuracy is extremely important. What I think about that is it all contributes to knowledge. If someone comes along and finds a mistake or wants to bring in some other evidence—And actually Kate Bennett, she does this with Aubrey as well. She says that, oh, Aubrey's really got this wrong, or he's gotten in a muddle about that. She's not saying, and therefore let's just chuck it out because it's inaccurate. You need to see this as well as that. So I think of it more as a collaborative relationship about adding to knowledge and if somebody corrects a previous book or previous claim or something, or point something, then that's fine actually.Again, going back to Holroyd, he thought that that biography was an art form constrained by the facts. So he's got a place for art in it. And I know what he means by that. And I think ultimately that's probably why I couldn't write a novel about a biographical subject because of being constrained by the facts. And yet Hilary Mantel has written many historical novels that are absolutely constrained by the facts. It's just what they're doing besides the facts, alongside the facts. So perhaps some people are going to come along and contribute other information and other people will come along and contribute some imaginative answer to the whole. And both are fine. I think we should be liberal broad church here.OLIVER: Is the genre dying?SCURR: Not so far as I'm aware. We are always doing this about genres dying, aren't we? Those things are always dying.OLIVER: People talk about biography dying a lot.SCURR: Well, perhaps they do. I haven't been listening to that. Why do they say it's dying?OLIVER: Because you can't sell these 700-page lives of people.SCURR: We can't sell most books. I mean, if we're going to go buy sales . . .OLIVER: This, yeah. Well, this story in The Times recently as well, that all the nonfiction that sells now is trash and that the serious books aren't there. And the whole civilization's dying routine.SCURR: Well if it is, we just have to carry on doing what we are doing.OLIVER: Yeah. What do you think is going to be the future of biography? Because I think more than a lot of other nonfiction genres, it's so changeable, it's so flexible. If you look at any decade, you see so much variety in structure and form. What do you think is coming next?SCURR: I'm like Aubrey; I think that's going to be for posterity to decide. As long as there are human beings, we will tell stories and we will want to tell stories about ourselves, and we will want to tell stories about the people we have loved and or hated, or the people who we think matter, for whatever reason, in science, in art, in literature. There will always be a need for the story of the human life.I think it will inevitably change enormously in ways that we couldn't possibly imagine. Just as Aubrey knew that he couldn't possibly imagine what posterity was going to make of the information that he had collected, and he didn't think that was something that he should be constrained by. He thought it was about passing it on.OLIVER: And what will Ruth Scurr do next?SCURR: I'll ask her. I think she's supposed to be writing about Rousseau and is very excited about that, but has been massively distracted by the Royal Society of Literature and becoming chair of that. So, I'm trying to pull myself back into my project. And I was very excited actually, because again, when I was looking at The Common Reader I saw Woolf refer to the Montaigne, Pepys, and Rousseau as people who had provided these spectacular portraits of themselves. And I was very excited by that. So I'm going to write a book about Rousseau and his time in England.OLIVER: Very exciting. I look forward to it. Ruth Scurr, author of John Aubrey: My Own Life, thank you very much.SCURR: Thank you, Henry. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk

Les invité-e-s : Emilie Fissier et Frédéric Manfrin, du département d'histoire de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France, commissaire associée et commissaire principal (avec Vincent Ferré) de l'exposition TolkienL'événement : exposition « Tolkien, voyage en terre du Milieu », du 22 octobre 2019 au 16 février 2020 à la Bibliothèque Nationale de France.La discussion :Les origines de l'exposition « Tolkien, voyage en Terre du milieu », en lien avec la Bodleian library d'Oxford, et le « Tolkien estate » (1:15)Les choix d'objets mis en regard des œuvres de Tolkien (5:50)Un parti-pris de l'exposition : ne rien montrer de postérieur à 1972, pour replonger les visiteurs dans l'imaginaire propre à l'auteur (7:20)Le genre de la « fantasy », déjà en partie constitué quand Tolkien commence à écrire (8:20)Les anneaux de Tolkien ne sont pas le Ring de Wagner ! (10:15)L'enfance de Tolkien près de Birmingham, et la sensibilité à la nature, aux paysages, qui en découle (12:40)Le rapport complexe de Tolkien à Shakespeare, et à l'antiquité gréco-latine (15:10)L'invention linguistique comme source fondamentale de son inspiration (17:00)L'entrée en guerre de 1914, moment ambigu pour qui travaille sur les langues et l'aire germanique (19:10)La marque de la Grande Guerre sur l'œuvre de Tolkien, travaillée par la mort (21:00)Tolkien dans l'entre-deux-guerres, savant et écrivain pour ses enfants (24:20)Son talent graphique et la variété de sa palette (26:00)Le succès du Hobbit (1937) et le début d'une véritable carrière d'écrivain (28:30)Le travail propre de Tolkien sur la langue anglaise, et sa musicalité (30:00)La cosmogonie de la Terre du Milieu (31:45)La réception du Seigneur des anneaux, et son ampleur sur les campus américains dans les années 1960 en particulier (32:45)Les paradoxes d'une lecture pacifiste de Tolkien, alors qu'un personnage comme Faramir souligne la légitimité de la guerre (34:25)Le Moyen âge de Tolkien, antérieur à la conquête normande, et loin de la matière arthurienne (37:00)La juxtaposition de périodes et de régions dans le monde imaginaire de Tolkien : Minas Tirith, allusion à Byzance (41:20)Le thème de la quête, fonctionnant de manière inversée dans le Hobbit et le Seigneur des anneaux (42:40)Un Tolkien « médiéviste » qui va jusqu'à inventer une tradition manuscrite de son propre texte ! (44:10)Les sources d'inspiration de Tolkien pour les créatures fantastiques dont il peuple son œuvre (45:15)Un Tolkien qui ne sépare pas les créatures en « races » (48:00)L'apparence des manuscrits de Tolkien, qui évoquent à leur façon le Moyen âge (50:10)Quels objets, quelles œuvres ont le plus marqué les commissaires de l'exposition ? (51:50)Pour aller plus loin :Tolkien, voyage en Terre du Milieu, catalogue de l'exposition de la BNF, 2018.John Garth, Tolkien et la Grande Guerre, Paris, Christian Bourgois, 2014.Un podcast créé, animé et produit par André Loez et distribué par Binge Audio. Contact pub : project@binge.audioHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Criminologist Federico Varese joins Chris to talk John le Carré—David Cornwell—and what his fiction got right about power, corruption, and the criminal underside of the modern Russian state. Varese, a co-curator of Oxford's Tradecraft exhibition at the Bodleian, shares how he first met Cornwell in the early 1990s and later advised him on Our Game and Our Kind of Traitor, drawing directly on his research into Russian organized crime. From there, Varese unpacks the post-Soviet trajectory he traces in Russia in Four Criminals—how “free markets” without a strong rule-of-law state produced predation, oligarchic capture, and ultimately what he calls a “mafia state,” where independent organized crime is squeezed out by a system that fuses political and economic power. The conversation also gets into how Russian security services use criminals for deniable operations abroad and how cybercrime functions as a tolerated ecosystem—until the state needs it—turning hackers into a ready-made tool of hybrid warfare. Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, global issues, and current affairs. Learn more about Federico and his work: https://federicovarese.com Order Russia in Four Criminals: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=russia-in-four-criminals--9781509563609 Visit the Bodleian Libaries' John le Carré: Tradecraft exhibition: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/lecarre Please share this episode using these links Audio: https://pod.fo/e/36c963 YouTube: https://youtu.be/VfxAE8trReA Support Secrets and Spies Become a “Friend of the Podcast” on Patreon for £3/$4: https://www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies Buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/secretsandspies Subscribe to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com Connect with us on social media Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/secretsandspies.bsky.social Instagram: https://instagram.com/secretsandspies Facebook: https://facebook.com/secretsandspies Spoutible: https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Follow Chris and Matt on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/chriscarrfilm.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/mattfulton.net Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD. Music by Andrew R. Bird Photo by Bodleian Libraries & Federico Varese Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.

On this week's Spectator Out Loud: Nick Boles says that Ukraine must stand as a fortress of European freedom; James Ball reviews If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI, by Eliezer Yudowsky and Nate Sores; Andrew Rosenheim examines the treasure trove of John Le Carre's papers at the Bodleian; Arabella Byrne provides her notes on skip-diving; and, in the battle of the sexes, Rory Sutherland says the thing to fear is not feminisation, but emasculation. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's Spectator Out Loud: Nick Boles says that Ukraine must stand as a fortress of European freedom; James Ball reviews If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI, by Eliezer Yudowsky and Nate Sores; Andrew Rosenheim examines the treasure trove of John Le Carre's papers at the Bodleian; Arabella Byrne provides her notes on skip-diving; and, in the battle of the sexes, Rory Sutherland says the thing to fear is not feminisation, but emasculation. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever stopped to think about how your morning cappuccino came to be? From the coffee bush that yielded the beans, to the grass for the cattle – or perhaps the soya – that produced the milk, plants are an indispensable part of our everyday life. Beginning with some of the earliest uses of plants, in 50 Plants that Changed the World (Bodleian, 2025) Dr. Stephen Harris takes us on an exciting journey through history, identifying fifty plants that have been key to the development of the western world, discussing trade, imperialism, politics, medicine, travel and chemistry along the way. There are plants here that have changed landscapes, fomented wars and fuelled slavery. Others have been the trigger for technological advances, expanded medical knowledge or simply made our lives more pleasant. Plants have provided paper and ink, chemicals that could kill or cure, vital sustenance and stimulants. Some, such as barley, have been staples from earliest times; others, such as oil palm, are newcomers to western industry. We remain dependent on plants for our food, our fuel and our medicines. As the wide-ranging and engaging stories in this beautifully illustrated book demonstrate, their effects on our lives continue to be profound and often unpredictable. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

Since the first permanent settlers landed there more than a thousand years ago, Iceland has been perhaps the most unique and enchanting place in all of Europe. How fitting, then, for its people to have developed unique, enchanting, and captivating stories involving hidden people, trolls, ghosts, sea monsters, and more. In this episode, Jacke talks to Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir about the tales of love, revenge, and conflict gathered in her book Ghosts, Trolls, and the Hidden People: An Anthology of Icelandic Folk Legends. PLUS Jacke takes a look at a new exhibit devoted to the life and works of John le Carré. Special Announcement: The History of Literature Podcast Tour is happening in May 2026! Act now to join Jacke and fellow literature fans on an eight-day journey through literary England in partnership with ⁠John Shors Travel⁠. Find out more by emailing jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or masahiko@johnshorstravel.com, or by contacting us through our website ⁠historyofliterature.com⁠. Or visit the ⁠History of Literature Podcast Tour itinerary⁠ at ⁠John Shors Travel⁠. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠gabrielruizbernal.com ⁠. Help support the show at ⁠patreon.com/literature ⁠or ⁠historyofliterature.com/donate ⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature ⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Petersfield Area HIstorical Society started a typed bulletin in 1975 and they are celebrating 1,300 articles produced over the last half a century, that provide a huge amount of the story of Petersfield, and it’s in libraries across the country from the Bodleian in Oxford to Edinburgh. Current editor Bill Gosney, talks to Mike Waddington about some of the stories behind it and trails some new research about a mysterious fountain in Folly Lane and what it commemorates - keep listening for that! More at Petersfield Area Historical Society - Home See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Awakened from his dream by a foul odor, Dante the pilgrim finds himself fully out of tune with his surroundings: a bright new day on the mountain of Purgatory, beautiful sunshine at his back, and an angel whose feathers fan him on to the next terrace.He's even promised the curious "ladies of consolation" as a salve for his mourning.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at a difficult passage in PURGATORIO, the journey from the fourth terrace of sloth to the fifth terrace up the mountain ahead of us.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:45] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, lines 34 - 51. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find this particular episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[02:59] The Bodleian manuscript's illustration of Dante's second dream in PURGATORIO.[04:23] Dante's disorientation and his possible guilt.[07:14] Virgil and Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.[09:29] Disorientation in the passage: hope and despair.[11:28] More disorientation: an angel and the poet Dante in the tercet.[13:06] A return to the familiarity of the plot.[14:14] Four answers to the question of "who mourns?"[21:42] Those curious ladies of consolation.[26:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, lines 34 - 51.

This week the word is Biscuit so the nerds talk about biscuits (and cookies and scones). Then Keith reports on his recent travels, including to London (where he did a cool Taskmaster thing and visited the Bodleian library) and then Toronto (where he filmed another season of Legacy of Worlds). Then Andy talks about reorganization work he's been doing in the Looney Labs office, and future plans for the space. Next, they discuss their favorite cookies. Lastly, they talk about the season finale of Lower Decks.

We're back! Season 7 begins with a Books Special - plus a visit to a special exhibition at Oxford's magnificent Bodleian Library - 'Listen In: How Radio Changed the Home'. It's curated by Beaty Rubens, who has also written a book of the same name. I joined her at the exhibition for a tour and an interview, recorded live at the Bodleian. Thanks to them for their hospitality - and for caring for countless artefacts, including the Marconi Archive. And we have authors galore, all with different takes on broadcasting history - I think I count three professors, a doctor, and several yet-to-be-titled too.  We bring you: Beaty Rubens - Listen In: How Radio Change the Home: https://bodleianshop.co.uk/products/listen-in ...and the Bodleian exhibition of the same name: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/listenin David Hendy - The BBC: A People's History: https://amzn.to/3X3SDuU Simon J Potter - This is the BBC: Entertaining the Nation, Speaking for Britain 1922-2022: https://amzn.to/3CWfqSu Tim Wander - 2MT Writtle: https://marconibooks.co.uk  Edward Stourton - Auntie's War: https://amzn.to/4b463g8 Amy Holdsworth - On Living With Television: https://amzn.to/41keqRi Alan Stafford - Bigamy Killed the Radio Star: https://www.fantompublishing.co.uk/product/bigamy-killed-the-radio-star/ Martin Cooper - Radio's Legacy in Popular Culture: https://amzn.to/41iLTM6 ...and his blog: https://prefadelisten.com/ Paul Kerensa - Hark! The Biography of Christmas: https://amzn.to/4iuULoB / audiobook read by the author: https://amzn.to/4gdlYud   - Original music is by Will Farmer. - Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! - Paul's on tour: An Evening of (Very) Old Radio visits these places: www.paulkerensa.com/tour - come and hear about the first firsts of broadcasting, live. - This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. - Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. (Rerite that as an email address)   Next time: August 1923 on the BBC - new radio HQs in Birmingham and Manchester, developments in Scotland and Dublin, and the first radio gardener, Marion Cran.   More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

Have you ever wanted to protect your books from forgetful borrowers, merciless page-folders or outright thieves? Perhaps you have even wished harm on those who have damaged your books, but would you threaten them with hellfire, hanging or the plague? Book Curses (Bodleian, 2024) by Dr. Eleanor Baker contains a collection of some of the most ferocious and humorous book curses ever inscribed, from fearsome threats discovered emblazoned on stone monuments from the ancient Near East, to elaborate manuscript maledictions and chilling warnings scribbled in printed books. Book curses are entertaining writings in themselves, but they also offer a tantalising insight into how passionately texts and books have been valued by their owners and readers over the centuries. Here you will find an engaging introduction to the history and development of the book curse and perhaps some inspiration to pen a few of your own. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Experts discuss how the latest 3D recording technology has supported their research by revealing near-invisible markings from originals held at Oxford University Institutions The very latest in 3D recording technology has revealed near-invisible markings from originals held at Oxford University institutions. Imagery captured with this technology shows what has never before been possible to record. These recordings have assisted researchers in making exciting discoveries which will be shared at this event. In this presentation, a panel of experts will discuss how recordings have supported their research. Incised text from second century wax tablets, newly discovered designs found on the reverse of copper printing plates and examples of preparatory stylus markings from High Renaissance drawings will all be explored through these incredible new images. Recordings of specimens from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History will demonstrate how this new method for 3D acquisition could have the potential to assist in the classification of species. The technology used to create these recordings will be described and explained by their designer, and the Bodleian's imaging specialist. Members of Bodleian Digital Library Systems and Services will demonstrate online viewers to disseminate these 3D recordings, and newly developed tools which allow users to interact with them. ARCHiOx – Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Oxford – is a collaborative project bringing together the Bodleian Libraries and the Factum Foundation. Based in Madrid, the Factum Foundation specialises in high-resolution 3D imaging and has worked in cultural heritage institutions throughout the world, producing exceptional, three-dimensional facsimiles of artworks and artefacts. Speakers Adam Lowe is the director of Factum Arte and founder of Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation. Founded in 2001, Factum Arte is a multidisciplinary workshop dedicated to digital mediation for the production of works for contemporary artists. John Barrett is Senior Photographer for the Bodleian Libraries. Since 2005, John has provided photographs of Bodleian originals for numerous publications. His work involves the development of new methods of recording special collections material. John is technical lead at the Bodleian for ARCHiOx. Jorge Cano is Head of Technology at Factum Foundation. He has developed a multidisciplinary career working in the intersections of art and technology. Jorge is an expert in 3D recording, image filtering and Geographical Information Systems. Carlos Bayod is Project Director at the Factum Foundation. His work is dedicated to the development and application of digital technology to the recording, study and dissemination of cultural heritage. Richard Allen is a Software Engineer for Bodleian Digital Library Systems and Services where he works primarily supporting Digital Bodleian and the Imaging Studio DAMS. He is also CEO of an Oxford University spinout company called Palaeopi Limited that specialises in photogrammetry. Angelamaria Aceto is a Senior Research in Italian Drawings at Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Dr. Mark Crosby, FSA is an associate Professor and Director of the K-State Digital Humanities Center at the Department of English, Kansas State University. With an introduction by Richard Ovenden OBE, Bodley's Librarian & Head of Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) The project has been generously funded by The Helen Hamlyn Trust.

This week, Ben Hutchinson on the making of Franz Kafka, a century after the writer's death; and an interview with Roz Dineen about her vision of climate catastrophe and societal collapse.'Kafka: Making of an icon', Weston Library, Bodleian, Oxford, until October 27Accompanying book edited by Ritchie Robertson'Briefly Very Beautiful', by Roz DineenProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An bhfuil sé in am Annála Inse Faithleann a thabhairt abhaile go Ciarrai? Tá an láimhscríbhínn i leabharlann Bodleian in Oxford Shasana.

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales tell the story of pilgrims 'from every shires ende / Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende'. Experience these journeys, both real and imagined, through medieval manuscripts from the Bodleian collection live under the visualiser. Dr Alison Ray, archivist at St Peter's College, and Dr Andrew Dunning, RW Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries, will explore the new iconography that developed after Thomas Becket's murder, the impact of his death on Oxford's religious houses and how Canterbury became a significant pilgrimage destination.

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales tell the story of pilgrims 'from every shires ende / Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende'. Experience these journeys, both real and imagined, through medieval manuscripts from the Bodleian collection live under the visualiser. Dr Alison Ray, archivist at St Peter's College, and Dr Andrew Dunning, RW Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries, will explore the new iconography that developed after Thomas Becket's murder, the impact of his death on Oxford's religious houses and how Canterbury became a significant pilgrimage destination.

O episódio 7 é feito de mulheres inoxidáveis contra o ferro da tirania: da mais-do-que-corajosa Sophie Scholl à passageira inamovível Rosa Parks, passando pelo monumento Simone Veil e concluindo com a inquebrável Narges Mohammadi, vamos falar sobre gente de fibra. Que não quebra nem torce. Saber mais: #FandangoGate: Bohemian Rhapsody dos Queen Sophie Scholl Fotografias: https://mjhnyc.org/events/remembering-resistance-sophie-scholl-and-the-white-rose/ e 3.https://www.holocausthistoricalsociety.org.uk/contents/germanbiographies/hansandsophiescholl.html Annette Dumbach e Jud Newborn, Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, One World, 3ª ediçao, 2023. Alexandra Lloyd, Defying Hitler, the White Rose Pamphlets, Bodleian, ed. 2022. Harald Jähner, A Hora dos Lobos, A vida dos alemães no rescaldo do III Reich, Dom Quixote, Lisboa, 2023. Rosa Parks National Women's History Museum: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rosa-parks Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rosa-Parks BBC: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c5179z2v6dwo My Story de Rosa Parks, Perfection Learning, 1999 Fotos: https://www.aclualabama.org/en/news/rosa-parks-museum-reflects-her-legacy-anniversary-rosa-parks-arrest https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/media/rosa-parkss-symbolic-bus-ride-1956/ Simone Veil Uma Vida, a sua Autobiografia, Livros de Seda/Plátano Editora de 2008 Fotos: https://ajmonnet.eu/pt/members/simone-veil/ e https://eco.sapo.pt/2017/06/30/morreu-simone-veil-a-primeira-mulher-a-presidir-ao-parlamento-europeu/ Narges Mohammadi Nobel Prize: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2023/mohammadi/facts/ Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Narges-Mohammadi NPR: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/07/1204435309/nobel-peace-prize-winners-husband-speaks-of-her-dedication-to-human-rights Fotos: https://news.un.org/pt/story/2023/10/1821412 e https://www.cig.gov.pt/2023/10/premio-nobel-da-paz-2023-foi-atribuido-a-narges-mohammadi/

In this episode I am joined by Charles Manson, author of ‘The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi' published by Shambhala, and librarian for the Tibetan Collections at the Bodleian Library (Oxford University) and the British Library. Charles begins by discussing the remarkable life of Karma Pakshi, the second Karmapa, Tibet's oldest continuous reincarnation lineage. Charles traces Karma Pakshi's adventures as a yogic trainee, personal guru to Mongol Khans, figure of political intrigue, and reformer of monasteries. Charles goes on to tell the story of his own life, from brutal treatment at elite British boarding schools to undergraduate studies at the renowned Columbia University. Charles recounts how arrest and deportation saw his academic prospects dashed. After a period of homelessness, he became a master woodcarver training under craftsmen in England and Germany. Charles recalls his encounter with Buddhism, his contact with spiritual teachers such as the 16th Karmapa, his reckoning with the untimely death of his son's mother, and details his experiences undertaking 8 years of closed retreat including challenging group dynamics, the painful complications of energetic yogas, and the mechanisms of spiritual transformation. Charles also discusses his remarkable time with the terton Karma Rinpoche, receiving sacred chulen instructions and witnessing the mahasiddha miraculously press a footprint into rock; as well as Charles' own return to academia, with postgraduate studies at Harvard and longstanding work at Oxford University and the British Library. … https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep243-scholar-practitioner-charles-manson … 01:48 - Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa 07:57 - Summoned by the Khan 15:26 - Imprisoned by Kublai Khan 25:58 - The tulku tradition 33:18 - Interest in Karma Pakshi and the tulku tradition 39:02 - Childhood in Venezuela 45:28 - Suffering at boarding school 49:34 - Institutional cruelty and formation for empire 52:07 - Coping strategies and intellectual rebellion 54:33 - Attraction to Buddhism 56:18 - Love of reading and research 01:02:08 - Study at Columbia 01:04:42 - Changes in the UK private school system 01:07:30 - The social and political scene at Columbia 01:08:36 - Joining the Black Panthers 01:09:30 - Psychedelic experimentation 01:12:21 - Arrest and deportation 01:16:34 - Homelessness 01:20:32 - Resilience 01:22:30 - Searching accentuated 01:24:22 - Career as a woodcarver 01:28:07 - Unplanned pregnancy 01:28:41 - Finding Buddhism 01:31:07 - Seeking Chogyam Trungpa 01:36:17 - 16th Karmapa and ngondro 01:37:48 - Regrets about Sherab Palden 01:39:33 - Early days at Samye Ling and meeting Kalu Rinpoche 01:45:12 - The charisma of the 16th Karmapa 01:46:26 - What is charisma? 01:49:40 - How to develop spiritual power 01:53:21 - Private time with the 16th Karmapa 01:55:09 - Maggie's cancer and a sacred pilgrimage 02:01:53 - Regrets 02:03:54 - Maggie's death and the aftermath 02:07:44 - Entering into long-term retreat 02:13:20 - Were the 3-year retreats successful? 02:26:26 - Experience on extended retreat 02:26:57 - Spiritual obstacles 02:29:37 - Trulkhor heart attack 02:30:47 - Should 3-year retreatants call themselves ‘Lama'? 02:37:24 - Advice for those coming out of retreat 02:39:23 - Reintegrating into society 02:40:46 - Terton Karma Rinpoche 02:42:58 - What is chulen? 02:44:06 - Karma Rinpoche's siddhi 02:50:50 - Journeys to Tibet 02:52:34 - Mountain yogis in Tibet 02:56:40 - Chulen retreats 03:00:34 - Harvard and return to academia 03:06:46 - British Library and the Bodleian 03:07:38 - PhD work at Oxford and Paris 03:08:33 - Writing a book about Karma Pakshi 03:09:05 - 1000 year old Tibetan documents at the British Library 03:11:16 - The Bodleian collection and the John Stapleton Driver project 03:16:19 - Charles' teaching activities and other work … To find our more about Charles Manson, visit: - https://www.shambhala.com/authors/the-second-karmapa-karma-pakshi.html

In Part 2/2, your favorite sister duo discusses some of the smaller towns outside of London that are worth a visit, specifically: Windsor, Oxford, Henley, and Ascot. You'll learn about the prestigious schools in England that are essentially the real-life Hogwarts. They go over some tips for navigating London's public transportation system, and they discuss a few particular foods that make English cuisine so unique.(More) London Favorites:Windsor - home of Windsor Castle and Eton College (“public” boarding school)Oxford - Bodleian Library (Harry Potter restricted section of Hogwarts library), Bodleian's Divinity School (Harry Potter infirmary and Yule Ball dance practice scene)Henley - Henley Royal Regatta (every summer at the end of June/beginning of July)Ascot - Royal Ascot (horse race every June)Shopping - Bicester (outlet mall), Guildford (outdoor mall with cobblestone streets)Public transport apps - Train Line, TFLFood favs - digestive biscuits, crumpets, fish & chips, beans on toast (?)For all of the Love It There content: Visit our Website!Follow Love It There Podcast on Instagram: @loveittherepodPrefer video podcasts? Watch on YouTube! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Meadows is a pioneer of contemporary British documentary practice. A photographer, documentarian and digital storyteller. He returns to the Bodleian library to muse on his life and archive and the power of photography. Photographer Daniel Meadows is a pioneer of contemporary British documentary practice. A photographer, documentarian and digital storyteller, he has spent his life recording British society, challenging the status quo by working in a collaborative way to capture extraordinary aspects of ordinary life through pictures, audio recordings and short movies.   Fifty years ago, photographer Daniel Meadows set out in The Free Photographic Omnibus, a Leyland Titan double-decker remodelled as his mobile home, darkroom and gallery. He drove it around towns and villages and offered free portraits to the people he met on his travels. The photographs became a vast and beautiful archive, now safely deposited in the Bodleian Library. In this talk, Daniel Meadows triumphantly returns to muse on his life and work and the power of photography. He shows examples of his archive and reflects on a lifetime of creative work.   The Bodleian Library acquired the full Daniel Meadows Archive in 2018.

This episode features writer, garden historian and returning guest Caroline Ball. In eighteenth-century Bavaria a prosperous apothecary, Johann Wilhelm Weinmann began an extraordinary project, the compilation of an A to Z of plants, meticulously documented, and lavishly illustrated by botanical artists using the latest colour-printing methods of the time. He aimed to include thousands of plants from all over the world, describing their individual characteristics and commissioning magnificent colour illustrations of each specimen. The first complete volume of the Phytanthoza Iconographia, as he called it, was published in 1737 and the work grew to four immense tomes. The Iconographia gives an unparalleled view of the ornamental and useful plants that were known to botanists and gardeners in the early eighteenth-century. Caroline has written two books, A Splendour of Succulents & Cacti and A Cornucopia of Fruit & Vegetables, which document how this piece of work came to be collated and which reproduce many of the amazing images featured within.  Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Butterfly Tongues & Buddleia What We Talk About  Johann Wilhelmina Weinmann and his Phytanthoza Iconographia  Where Weinmann sourced the plants that were included The painters who documented the specimens Historical plant pots How the work was reproduced Matching the plants depicted to contemporary specimens Are historical botanical texts merely a curiosity, or can they inform our knowledge of horticulture in the present day? Some of the more surprising medicinal uses for plants that are documented in the book About Caroline Ball & the Phytanthoza Iconagraphia In eighteenth-century Bavaria a prosperous apothecary, Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, grew an ‘American aloe' that astounded all who saw it. He was also the mastermind behind an extraordinary project - a comprehensive A to Z of plants, meticulously documented, and lavishly illustrated by botanical artists using the latest colour-printing methods of the time. Weinmann aimed to include thousands of plants from all over the world, describing their individual characteristics and commissioning magnificent colour illustrations of each specimen. The first complete volume of the Phytanthoza Iconographia, as he called it, was published in 1737 and the work grew to four immense tomes. The Iconographia gives an unparalleled view of the ornamental and useful plants that were known to botanists and gardeners in the early eighteenth-century. Caroline Ball is an editor, copywriter and occasional translator who has written on many subjects, but has a particular interest in horticulture, garden history and plant-hunters. She is also a keen gardener. Caroline's books A Splendour of Succulents & Cacti and A Cornucopia of Fruit & Vegetables feature illustrations from an eighteenth-century botanical treasury, celebrating Weinmann's rare and precious volumes by theme.  Links A Splendour of Succulents & Cacti A Cornucopia of Fruit & Vegetables: Illustrations from an eighteenth-century botanical treasury Members of the public can explore the collections via the Bodleian's online image portal here. digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk Other episodes if you liked this one: Heritage Apples with Caroline Ball Herbs with the Herb Society Patreon

Customs officers raided the London bookshop Gay's the Word on April 10th 1984 and seized 144 titles. A campaign was mounted after the directors were charged with conspiracy to import indecent books. Dr Sarah Pyke tells Diarmuid Hester about an oral history project which aims to raise awareness of Operation Tiger and how it ties into wider work on a history of queer reading. Dr Ina Linge has been looking at the way LGBTQ+ people used autobiographical writing to critically engage with the science of sexology and how their writing was used by and critiqued the work of sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and a book based on this research called Queer Livability: German Sexual Sciences and Life Writing is coming out in 2023. Ina also hosts a sex and nature salon https://www.comedysalon.co.uk/ and along with other researchers at Exeter University held workshops for LGBTQ+ teenagers exploring climate activism https://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/socialinequality/lgbtqplus/ https://ies.sas.ac.uk/people/sarah-pyke is taking part in an event at the Bodleian on June 8th Queer Bibliography: A Discussion Diarmuid Hester is at the University of Cambridge and is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council https://www.diarmuidhester.com/ His book Nothing Ever Just Disappears: Seven Hidden Histories is out in August 2023 You can hear him discussing Rita Mae Brown's novel Rubyfruit Jungle on an episode of Free Thinking called Stories of Love https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hxhk This New Thinking episode of the Arts & Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. You can find more in a collection called New Research on the Free Thinking programme website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03zws90

A research collaboration between the Bodleian Libraries and the Factum Foundation The Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation is a not-for-profit organisation, founded by Adam Lowe in 2009 in Madrid. The Foundation was established to demonstrate the importance of documenting, monitoring, studying, recreating and disseminating the world's cultural heritage through the rigorous development of high-resolution recording and re-materialisation techniques. Using technology conceived and developed at Factum Arte, the ARCHiOx Project will use both a prototype photographic system (Selene Stereo Photometric Scanner, developed by Jorge Cano) and 3D scanning (Lucida 3D Scanner, developed by artist-engineer Manuel Franquelo and the team at Factum) to bring to life relief surfaces of some of the Bodleian's most celebrated artefacts. This relatively unexplored path to mapping and digitisation should in turn present fascinating new avenues of exploration and research, as it reveals aspects of the item hitherto unrealised or recorded. ARCHiOx will provide a free exchange of knowledge and approaches between the academic and technical team at the Bodleian and Factum Foundation's experts, as we explore and demonstrate the potential of applying non-contact digital technologies to the study of materials held by the Bodleian Libraries. This session demonstrates how the technology is used and the benefits it brings to researchers of manuscripts

Inga, from Russia and Rebeca, from Spain, took part in this recorded mock exam with interesting things to analyze. They were both living in Oxford by the time they did this recording, and you can tell that they show a wide range of strong features in her speaking skills. Inga as Dphil student and Rebeca as part of the Bodleian libraries at the University of Oxford. Grab a notebook and make your notes as I offer my impressions of their performance. The visuals for this test can be downloaded from here. I don't want to go without letting you know about the courses I'm planning for August. To save a spot and read all the preliminary information, go to the following websites: C1 Advanced Intensive course C2 Proficiency Intensive course If you still have questions, please send me an email to podcast@languageteaching.es, and I will gladly give more information. I hope we can create a wonderful community of motivated learners. Not only will you be able to ask me any question you may have (directly), but you will make fantastic friends over that month that I'm sure will last for a lifetime. My current students have become great friends and they're even making plans to visit each other in the future. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/whatyousayinenglish/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/whatyousayinenglish/support

Join our experts in conversation as they consider the thinking of two great 19th century women writers exploring the boundary between human and machine Using the notebooks of Sir Humphry Davy, an influence on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the surviving manuscripts of the novel itself, Professor Sharon Ruston will consider Shelley's thought-process in writing and how far the Creature might be thought of as crossing a boundary between automaton and man. Professor Ursula Martin will reflect on Ada Lovelace's work exploring algorithms finding patterns in nature and her conjecture on the capabilities ‘beyond number' of Charles Babbage's unbuilt Analytical Engine. She will discuss Lovelace's letter speculating on how a ‘calculus of the nervous system' would aid understanding of the human mind. The event is part of ‘Imagining AI', which celebrates objects in the Bodleian's collections that explore the boundary between human and machine.

We're talking about a new exhibition at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, which celebrates touching, tasting, seeing, smelling and hearing books. It looks at the sensory appeal of reading physical books from flip-books to pop-ups and even a book made from processed cheese slices. They even bottled the smell of books. Our guest is Kate Rudy, Professor of Art History at the University of St Andrews, who is one of the co-curators of this exhibition

A latter-day Austen, an academic, a romantic, a comic, a caustic chronicler of the commonplace . . . The novelist Barbara Pym became beloved and Booker Prize-nominated in the late twentieth century, yet many rejections, years in the literary wilderness and manuscripts stored in linen cupboards preceded her revival. Paula Byrne, author of The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym, and Lucy Scholes, critic, Paris Review columnist and editor at McNally Editions, join the Slightly Foxed team to plumb the depths and scale the peaks of Barbara Pym's writing, life and loves. From Nazi Germany to the African Institute; from London's bedsit land to parish halls; from unrequited love affairs with unsuitable men to an epistolary friendship with Philip Larkin; and from rejection by Jonathan Cape to overnight success via the TLS, we trace Pym's life through her novels, visiting the Bodleian and Boots lending libraries along the way. There's joy in Some Tame Gazelle, loneliness in Quartet in Autumn, and humour and all human experience in between, with excellent women consistently her theme. We then turn from Pym to other writers under or above the radar, finding darkness in Elizabeth Taylor, tragicomedy in Margaret Kennedy and real and surreal rackety lives in Barbara Comyns. To round out a cast of excellent women, we discover Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca was foretold in Elizabeth von Arnim's Vera, and we recommend an eccentric trip with Jane Bowles and her Two Serious Ladies, as well as theatrical tales from a raconteur in Eileen Atkins's memoir.  (Episode duration: 57 minutes; 16 seconds) Books Mentioned We may be able to get hold of second-hand copies of the out-of-print titles listed below. Please get in touch with Jess in the Slightly Foxed office for more information. Flora Thompson, Lark Rise and Over to Candleford & Candleford Green, Slightly Foxed Edition Nos. 58 and 59 (1:39) Paula Byrne, The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym (2:11) Aldous Huxley, Chrome Yellow is out of print (4:28) Barbara Pym, Quartet in Autumn (6:33) Barbara Pym, The Sweet Dove Died is out of print (8:16) Barbara Pym, Some Tame Gazelle (14:07) Barbara Pym, Excellent Women (19:06) Barbara Pym, A Glass of Blessings (22:14) Barbara Pym, A Few Green Leaves is out of print (32:28) Nicola Beauman, The Other Elizabeth Taylor (36:33) Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (37:00) Elizabeth Taylor, Angel (38:27) Barbara Comyns, The Vet's Daughter (41:16) Barbara Comyns, The House of Dolls (42:16) Barbara Comyns, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (42:45) Barbara Comyns, Our Spoons Came from Woolworths (43:03) Barbara Comyns, A Touch of Mistletoe (43:46) Elizabeth von Arnim, Vera (47:47) Margaret Kennedy, Troy Chimneys, McNally Editions (48:59) Jane Bowles, Two Serious Ladies (50:37) Eileen Atkins, Will She Do? (52:39) Related Slightly Foxed Articles Not So Bad, Really, Frances Donnelly on Barbara Pym, Issue 11 Hands across the Tea-shop Table, Sue Gee on Elizabeth Taylor, A Game of Hide and Seek and Nicola Beauman, The Other Elizabeth Taylor, Issue 58 There for the Duration, Juliet Gardiner on Elizabeth Taylor, At Mrs Lippincote's, Issue 13 Sophia Fairclough and Me, Sophie Breese on the novels of Barbara Comyns, Issue 42 Other Links McNally Editions is an American imprint devoted to hidden gems (2:47) In the Paris Review Re-Covered column, Lucy Scholes exhumes the out-of-print and forgotten books that shouldn't be Lucy Scholes is the host of the Virago OurShelves podcast The Barbara Pym Society Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No.3 in E Major by Bach The Slightly Foxed Podcast is hosted by Philippa Lamb and produced by Podcastable

Discover the treasures that illustrate how exchanges between England and the Netherlands have shaped literature, book production and institutions such as the Bodleian itself, on either side of the North Sea.

Dr Martin Holford and Dr David Rundle explore how the Italian Renaissance led to major changes in how manuscripts were made, written and decorated in England.

Focusing on four very different maps of Oxford - each of the maps has its own tale to tell, some showing Oxford as it was; others showing Oxford as it might have been; and others how Oxford never was. This webinar will be focus on four very different maps of Oxford from the standpoint of why these maps were made. Each of the maps has its own tale to tell, some showing Oxford as it was; others showing Oxford as it might have been; and others how Oxford never was. Each has an agenda aiming to depict a city under the influence of the military, mass delinquency, motor vehicles or moles. Nick Millea, Map Curator, and Stuart Ackland, Principal Library Assistant, Map Room, will focus on each map's aesthetic charms, their functionality, and how they have visualised such a well-known city in such unusual ways. Join us to be surprised, alarmed and charmed in equal measure as we appreciate the purpose of these of maps but never lose sight of the powerful image they are able to convey.

In the 3rd talk in our Meet the Manuscripts series, you will learn how singers lived with change in their favourite songs, and hear carols of the Middle Ages both familiar and new. Have you ever come close to fisticuffs with a friend over the tune to which ‘O little town of Bethlehem' should be sung? You're experiencing a very old problem. The Bodleian's Selden Carol Book is a famous collection of Christmas songs that only barely made it into modern consciousness: many of them survive in no other books, but have been modified in the manuscript itself, meaning that we have more than one version to choose between. How do we deal with phenomena of scribal correction, error, and variation in late medieval carols? What can this tell us about performance and the oral culture of the late medieval period? Speakers: Micah Mackay, doctoral student in the Publication Before Print Doctoral Centre and Andrew Dunning, R. W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts

In this online event, Ana Paula Cordeiro, the creator of Body of Evidence, speaks from the workshop in New York City where she produced it. She will be joined in conversation by Merve Emre, Associate Professor of American Literature. Body of Evidence (2020) is an artist's book that examines the role of documentary evidence in defining national and individual identity. The red, white, and blue of the printing and binding echo a national story, viewed from the perspective of an immigrant, with quotations from Rebecca Solnit, Emily Dickinson, William James, Agnes Martin, and Fernando Pessoa. We open the conversation by examining the book's unique structure, moving on to consider the questions posed by the book's theme. What qualifies as a document? When does a document become evidence? And what does this evidence prove about an individual or a nation? How can an individual's narrative assert their integrity in face of dehumanization? The conversation will be launched after a live presentation of the copy of this book now in the Bodleian. Originally from Brazil, Cordeiro is based in New York and composes her book works at The Center for Book Arts in New York City, from where she will speak. In 2020 she was awarded a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Her artist books are collected privately and institutionally. Book Arts programme from the Bodleian Libraries Centre for the Study of the Book. Supported by a generous donation to the Bodleian Bibliographical Press.

In this online event, Ana Paula Cordeiro, the creator of Body of Evidence, speaks from the workshop in New York City where she produced it. She will be joined in conversation by Merve Emre, Associate Professor of American Literature. Body of Evidence (2020) is an artist's book that examines the role of documentary evidence in defining national and individual identity. The red, white, and blue of the printing and binding echo a national story, viewed from the perspective of an immigrant, with quotations from Rebecca Solnit, Emily Dickinson, William James, Agnes Martin, and Fernando Pessoa. We open the conversation by examining the book's unique structure, moving on to consider the questions posed by the book's theme. What qualifies as a document? When does a document become evidence? And what does this evidence prove about an individual or a nation? How can an individual's narrative assert their integrity in face of dehumanization? The conversation will be launched after a live presentation of the copy of this book now in the Bodleian. Originally from Brazil, Cordeiro is based in New York and composes her book works at The Center for Book Arts in New York City, from where she will speak. In 2020 she was awarded a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Her artist books are collected privately and institutionally. Book Arts programme from the Bodleian Libraries Centre for the Study of the Book. Supported by a generous donation to the Bodleian Bibliographical Press.

An interview with Rachael Marsay about the William Morris and E. R. Eddison collections at the Bodleian Library An interview with Rachael Marsay about the William Morris and E. R. Eddison collections at the Bodleian Library. This covers the illuminated manuscripts of Morris, and the letters, drafts, and juvenilia of Eddison. Rachael Marsay is the Roy Davids Archivist at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. l

An interview with Catherine McIlwaine on the Tolkien archive at Bodley and the exhibition of 2018 - Part 2 Interview with Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Archivist at the Bodleian. This second part deals with the 2018 exhibition itself, putting it together, and feedback from visitors.

An interview with Catherine McIlwaine on the Tolkien archive at Bodley and the exhibition of 2018 - Part 1. Interview with Catherine McIlwaine, the Tolkien Archivist, by Stuart Lee on the Tolkien archive at Bodley. Part one contains details about the history of the archive, its relationship to the collection at Marquette University, how the collection came to be at Oxford and what it contains.

Matthew Holford, Tolkien Curator of Medieval Manuscripts, and Martin Kauffmann, Head of Early and Rare Collections, in conversation about the artists, patrons and significance of three extraordinary manuscripts. Some of the greatest treasures of medieval painting are not displayed on museum walls but lie hidden – relatively speaking – in manuscript books. Our experts at our introduce some of the lesser-known treasures of the Bodleian and leaf through the pages during the live event recorded on Zoom. Sessions will include manuscripts from German-speaking lands which are being shared online for the first time as part of a Polonsky Foundation digitization project.

25th May 2021 An online lecture by Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian, University of Oxford, and author of Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge (John Murray Press). Richard Ovenden's lecture will discuss the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the United Kingdom's Windrush generation. He will examine both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He will also look at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process. The event will include a response by Helen Shenton, College Librarian and Archivist, Trinity College Dublin. About the speaker Richard Ovenden has been Bodley's Librarian (the senior Executive position of the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford) since 2014. Prior to that he held positions at Durham University Library, the House of Lords Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the University of Edinburgh. He moved to the Bodleian in 2003 as Keeper of Special Collections, becoming Deputy Librarian in 2011. He was educated at the University of Durham and University College London, and holds a Professorial Fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, the Royal Society of Arts, and a Member of the American Philosophical Society. He was awarded the OBE in The Queen's Birthday Honours 2019. Richard serves as Treasurer of the Consortium of European Research Libraries, as President of the Digital Preservation Coalition, and as a member of the Board of the Council on Library and Information Resources (in Washington DC). He has written extensively on the history of the book, on the history of photography, and on current concerns in the library, archive and information worlds. Previous Books Burning the Books, A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge (2020) John Thomson (1837-1921): Photographer (1997) A Radical's Books (with Michael Hunter, Giles Mandelbrote, and Nigel Smith) (1999) About the Out of the Ashes Lecture Series This three-year lecture series explores the theme of cultural loss and recovery across the centuries, from the destruction of the Library of Alexandria in antiquity to contemporary acts of cultural loss and destruction. Across twelves events, a panel of world-leading experts has reflected on how societies deal with cultural trauma through reconstruction and commemoration, and on how the international community should respond to cultural loss. The series has been global in scope, pan-historical and multi-disciplinary in approach, and featured international scholars and practitioners of the highest calibre. The Out of the Ashes lecture series is generously supported by Sean and Sarah Reynolds. This evening lecture forms part of a day-long research showcase from the Beyond 2022: Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury Research Project marking the centenary of The Custom House Fire, 25 May 2021, organized in association with the Local Government Archives and Record Managers and supported by the Government of Ireland, through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, under Project Ireland 2040

Stuart Kells' life as a bibliophile began with one ancient, leather-bound, blue book (R)

We breakfast with Lyra and Pan in this strange new world, as she carefully crafts her first ever omelette with pride. Will and Lyra discuss their next move, as two strange children appear in the deserted town and explain where they are and why everything is so quiet.Join us, as we review the weird and wonderful history of processed food, rage about toxic femininity and take you on a virtual tour of real-world Oxford!------More on William Parry the explorer here.Virtual tour of Will's Oxford:The place where will and Lyra get off the bus is here.Viewing Balliol college from Broad street - here.Inside one of Balliol college's quadrangles - here.A view of the Bodleian library from Catte Street (Lyra's ‘Bodley's library) - here.A view inside one part of the sprawling Bodleian library (Duke Humphrey's Reading room, one of the oldest parts of the library) - here.------Music by: Jaymen Persaud, performed by Claire Wickeswww.thedarkmaterialpodcast.comPatreon: www.patreon.com/darkmaterialpodcastTwitter: @darkmaterialpodInstagram: @thedarkmaterialpodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/thedarkmaterialpodcast

In episode 121 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed considering photographic ethics, common decency, empathy, inclusion and the importance of rules and knowing when to break them.  Plus this week photographer Daniel Meadows takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer's the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?' Daniel Meadows is an English photographer born in 1952. Meadows studied at Manchester Polytechnic. While a student he was inspired by a lecture by Bill Jay and rented a barber's in 1972, inviting people to come into the Free Photographic Shop to have their photographs taken for no charge. Inspired by what Jay had said about Benjamin Stone's travel around Britain, and for 14 months from 1973 he travelled around England in the Free Photographic Omnibus. Some of this work was published in Meadows' first book, Living Like This, 1975. Meadows went on to photograph the northwest of England and Factory Records in the 1970s and in the 1980s to study the people of a middle-class London suburb of Bromley the latter published as Nattering in Paradise. In 1983 David Hurn invited him to help teach the Documentary Photography course at Newport College of Art and Design. From 1994 he has taught at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. From 2001 to 2006 Meadows was creative director of Capture Wales, a BBC Wales project. The Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford acquired his archive in March 2018. In autumn 2019, the Bodleian celebrated the acquisition with an exhibition of Meadows' work, Now and Then, accompanied by a book. www.photobus.co.uk You can also access and subscribe to these podcasts at SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/unofphoto on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-photographic-life/id1380344701 on Player FM https://player.fm/series/a-photographic-life and Podbean www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/i6uqx-6d9ad/A-Photographic-Life-Podcast Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Taylor Francis 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Taylor Francis 2019). His next book What Does Photography Mean to You? will be published in 2021. His documentary film, Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay can now be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd47549knOU&t=3915s. © Grant Scott 2020

Join Rebecca Abrams in conversation with Samuel Fanous to discuss her riveting and beautiful new book, edited with César Merchan-Hamann, Jewish Treasures from Oxford Libraries. You can purchase the book https://bodleianshop.co.uk/products/jewish-treasures

Frank Close tells the story of Klaus Fuchs and the Bodleian Library. Trinity was the codename for the test explosion of the atomic bomb in New Mexico on 16 July 1945. In this talk, Frank Close tells the story of the bomb's metaphorical father, Rudolf Peierls (Prof Close's one time mentor in Oxford); his intellectual son, the atomic spy Klaus Fuchs; and the ghosts of the security services in Britain, the USA and USSR. Close's meticulously researched book, Trinity, reveals new insights into Fuchs' espionage from MI5 files in the National Archives, documents of the FBI and KGB, and – this talk's focus – from the Bodleian Library. This includes correspondence between Fuchs and Peierls, which, with other letters in the Bodleian's Peierls Collection, strongly suggests that Fuchs passed more to the Russians than has been previously realised. The Bodleian possesses the original letter from Fuchs, written in Brixton Prison in 1950 to Peierls' wife, Genia, in which Fuchs' resistance to preserving the spying code of secrecy finally broke. A new Bodleian collection of photographs, previously unseen and still being catalogued, gives a profound glimpse of the intimate relationship between Fuchs and the Peierls family, for whom Fuchs was "like a son" and the discovery that he had betrayed their trust, along with the country that had adopted him, was devastating. This lecture was hosted by the Friends of the Bodleian. For almost a century, the financial support, advice and expertise of the Friends of the Bodleian have helped ensure we remain one of the world's premier libraries. Friends enjoy a range of benefits, including exclusive events, member-only discounts and the chance to see all our exhibitions before the open to the general public. Become a Friend today and enjoy closer access to the Bodleian inspiring collections and beautiful libraries. To join, renew and find out more, go to https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/friends-of-the-bodleian

David Armes (Red Plate Press), the Bodleian's Printer in Residence 2019-20, describes artists and ideas that influence his work, asking how meaning can mutate through the process of production. And, what impact the physicality of materials has, and how we can read narratives created through improvisational production techniques.

For 21 centuries, mathematicians worried about a fundamental assumption made by Euclid of Alexandria: that parallel lines must meet at infinity. Could geometry ‘work' without this assumption? The answer caused mathematicians to reassess the nature of mathematics itself.

Dr Karl Kinsella introduces a 12th-century manuscript which explores the mystical visions of the prophet Ezekiel and contains some of the earliest architectural drawings in existence.

Anne McElvoy explores some historic tussles over who read what, when, how and why. Bodleian scholar Dennis Duncan reveals how disputatious monks took the book out of the monastery; the novelist and New Generation Thinker Sophie Coulombeau uncovers public frothing over political pamphlet reading in pubs in the 18th century; 19th century literature expert Katie McGettigan celebrates a loophole in copyright law which resulted in American literature dominating British bookshelves; Katherine Cooper from Newcastle and another New Generation Thinker reveals the role of women in expanding the horizons of literature in the 20th century and Matthew Rubery, author of The Untold Story of the Talking Book, reflects on the way technology spread reading across society and he gives us a demonstration of the Optophone - an early machine to bring books to the blind.Pres: Anne McElvoy Guests: Katherine Cooper, University of Newcastle Sophie Coulombeau, University of York; author of 'Rites' Dennis Duncan, The Bodleian Centre for the Study of the Book Katie McGettigan, Royal Holloway University, London Matthew Rubery, Queen Mary University, London; author of 'The Untold Story of the Talking Book' forthcomingThe Optophone appears courtesy of Blind Veterans UK. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio programmes. You can find more programmes in the BBC #LoveToRead campaign http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b5zz8/members And hear more over the #LovetoRead weekend 5-6 November.Producer: Jacqueline Smith